“Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen.” — Mark Twain

Hello and welcome to our time together for today, Wednesday, July 29, 2026. As you already know, I am slouching my way towards my 80th trip around the sun. I am honest here. I never expected I would be here on the planet this long. I am thankful to God for giving me this time, and I sincerely desire to fulfill His purpose as best I can until I draw my last breath. One thing I do know: You lose much of what you thought was important to you earlier in life. The other day, the child technician who did my EKG said something when we finished that hit me pretty hard. "The good news, sir, is these electrodes will be easy to remove since you don't have much hair on your chest." Really? You could have said anything other than that. There was a time when my hairy chest was a feature of my identity. I now have professional proof that that is no longer the case. Oh well, I will not need to shave it off if I find myself involved in an athletic endeavor needing a reduction in aerodynamic drag. See? You can always find a positive outcome to occupy your thoughts. Sports that shave their chests include competitive swimming, wrestling, body building, and running. I even have choices. Wow! Is this a great country or what? 

 

Looking at the network distribution statistics of my blog, it is always surprising and encouraging to note how many page views come from outside the USA. I've explained before how this might happen. The blog is out there in the public domain. Being the wordy writer I am, there are lots of potential hits coming from internet word searches. I'm not saying all the page views reflect those who actually read my blog, but some might. When they do, hopefully they will come in contact with the message of hope that comes only through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let me quickly add that God can do anything at any time He so chooses, and He has often used what we think is a coincidence or accident to speak. Many testimonies attest to this truth. For instance, "Isolated tribes deep in the Amazon rainforest found a single battery-powered radio locked permanently onto a Christian shortwave frequency playing Bible stories in their native dialect, which they had never written down." Far-fetched? Not to me, my friend. If God chose to chastise a hireling prophet by having a donkey talk, well, He can use something as insignificant as a homespun blog to communicate truth. He can. He really can! (The donkey speaking can be found in the Book of Numbers, Chapter 22.)  Amen.