How sweet it is

Mary is going to be away for our 36th anniversary. Will be the first time in all those years we've been apart on that date. She's heading out west to attend the birth of our fourth grand child. Would have loved to have tagged along, just could'nt swing the time off.

We went out to Concordia club last night to dine and dance. We love dancing. We we're closet dancers for years. Some of the circles we spun in in our early days didn't approve of dancing. Late at night when the kids were in bed and the shades we're drawn we'd put the tunes on low and go for broke. On ocassion a glance toward the door way would reveal four or five giggling heads peeking around the corner. Good times..

We've never taken lesson's, but we're pretty good. We're really not umpa-pa people, but a party is a party and we love to party. There were some pretty serious customers dancing circles around us. We had a blast.

Couple of the things that drew me to Mary in the first place were her wit and free spirit. Not to mention her gorgious gams. She has a smile that lights up the room and a laugh that melts my heart. Get a couple beers in her and she becomes really animated... I digress. We had a hoot and she was full of mischief as we twirled around the dance floor.

As the evening went on i got to thinking about how much i thought i loved her thirty six years ago. I could never have imagined then what we have now. How deep, how full, how rich.

... how sweet it is to be loved by you.. oh yeah

the photo is one of a series shot by our daughter Maggie for our 30th anniversary

Auto Men in Washington

Was interesting watching the auto chiefs in Washington the other with their hands out. How'd they get their? Private jets.

Answer they recieved. No plan no money

I don't think they get it. The north american auto industry is a dinosaur. The times they've a changed and the big three have been left in the dust.

The whole thing kinda reminds me of the Swiss watch makers. In the sixties when some japanese guys showed up at a trade show with a digital contraption. The swiss watch kings chided "thats not a watch..." it'll never sell. The swiss had been on top fpr so long doing it one way. Their way for so long. In there minds there was no other way to do it. Today how many poeple own a swiss watch. Ever here of digital. Alright you get the point.

The big three have gone on buisness as usual for decades. When somthing came along that challenged their pardigm.. they bought it, destroyed it, drove it out of biusness or turned a blind eye. Case in point the electric car.

They just kept building em bigger and more expensive. They've dragged there feet when it came restructuring there industry or developing and marketing sustainable alternitives. Now they're caught with there hands out and can't figure why North American governments are reticeint to throw cash at them. Wake up boys... you missed the boat. Change or vanish... like the swiss watch.

Getting used to criticisim...

here is an intersting piece by Frank Viola author of Pagan Christianity and Reimaging the Church

If you are the author of books or articles that are “edgy” or that challenge mainstream/traditional thinking … or you’re aspiring to be such … you must get used to a few things. In fact, you must learn to live with them.

Here are eight that come to mind. They are in no particular order:

1. expect some reviewers of your work to completely misrepresent what you believe and have said and engage in masterful straw-man argumentation.

2. expect some of the people who read their reviews to believe the misrepresentations and to begin the bashing machine without ever reading the work themselves to find out if the review was accurate or not.

3. don’t expect those who have read your work and understand it to know about these reviews. In other words, don’t expect them to respond to the misrepresentations.

4. don’t expect any of your critics to challenge you in a public debate or discussion on your work. (Whenever this does happen, you will be pleasantly shocked.)

5. always remember that all things come from God’s hand — both negative and positive — so never defend yourself, but learn to trust the Lord with all of it. If what you have written carries His anointing, it will stand, and He will use it to change lives, despite any opposition.

6. remember that if you have something worthwhile to say, it will attract disagreement, hostility, and opposition. The servant is not greater than his or her Master.

7. how you respond to your critics speaks volumes about you and the message you carry.

8. always be open for correction, adjustment, and more light. Never entertain the delusion that you have “arrived.”

Proclaimers of Woe Baffel Me

I've had quit a number of links come across my path from conservative christian organizations proclaiming the woes of the US election results. Some of the comments quit frankly baffle me.

Some rant about how the scriptures that proclaim God has placed authority over us are not being inturprited properly because It wasn't God's will for Barak Obama to be elected. How christians failed in there duty to vote properly. No doubt many of these would be the same people that would have cried out "don't touch the lord's anointed" when voices were raised up in protest to Bush.

Proclamations have been made that if you are a christian and you voted for Obama you are now under God's judgement. I if you are a pastor and you we're silent and didn't exhort your church to vote against Obama you are now under judgment. If you are a pastor and you encouraged your people to vote for Obama your entire congrigation is now under judgement.

We are warned by these folks that America has been sold out. That Obama is weak, young, and inexperienced and will draw terrorist fire to the country. His associations are dubious. He's a communist. He is a bell weather for the new world order... But most of the fur is flying around his "pro-choice" position.

I'm often confused because a large portion of the anti abortion voices are pro-capital punishment, pro-war, and pro-big buisness.

Being prolife involves much more than one issue. To be prolife is to be slow to exact an eye for an eye. To be more concerned with forgivness and restoritive justice. To be pro-life is to seek a more Christ like solution to retaliation than just war theory. Love your enimies, do good and bless those... To be prolife is to seek justice on behalf of the explotated poor. To be prolife is to be opposed to dehumanising people and seeing them only as a commodity market. To be prolife is to concerned about the social wealth fare of the aged the sick, dispossed, minorites, the mentally incompasitated, and living as well as unborn children. Who is my nieghbour? Add to this list the care for God's good earth. These are are prolife issues*.

To emphisis one to the ignoring of the others, let alone their rejection borders on ludicrus.Many of the articles make a point of driving home the fact that due to America's choice of Obama judgment is coming to their nation in the form of finacial woes, natural disasters and more homeland violence. I scratch my head in wonder.

The greatest finacial disaster in American history happened under who's watch? George Bush. The most sever natural disater in American history, hurricane Katrina, happend while who was president? George Bush. The most horrific attack on American soil happend while who was guardian of the nation? George Bush.

I guess my burning question is: Under Bush's watch was all this woe the savage attack of satan on america or God's judgement? Hey just a question.

[* to fair and balanced I'm just as preplexed by those who are pastionate about saving the planet, whales, baby seals, yet are in favour of killing unborn humans]

Contented Memories

We put our christmas tree up on the 16th or 17th of November every year. We've been doing this for as long as i can remember... ( that is since we've been putting up a tree, that's another story). We discovered 8 years ago that it coincides with the begining of the Celtic Advent which like Lent is 40 days long.

Each year on that day we have our grandchildren to help trim the tree. This year just about everyone came home (that is everyone in the vicinity). We had a house full. It was wonderful.

It took me back to a time over twenty years ago when we lived in Cottam. Far and away from family. A freind was visitng. It was snowing out side and toasty warm inside. We had just finished putting up our tree and a passel of my children were curled up on my lap. He commented that I looked exceptionally content.. I was... still am... I thank the Lord some things havn't changed.

In Rememberance

from the war diary of Harold Culver*

Nov. 9th 1916
Battalion came out of trenches. No casualties. letter to Sarah. weather fine.

Nov. 18th 1916
Boys went over and took objective. raining hard. 300 prisoners taken. few casualties. weather rotten.

photo Morris Culver, my grandfather (right) Harold Culver, his brother my uncle (c) and their friend Frank (l) taken April 20th 1916

* Harold was my Grand Fathers Brother. He would have been my Dad's Uncle. More on him  to come.

Change has Come to America! Thank God

Barak Obmama delivering his victory speech, 4 November 2008, Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois

video link to Obama's historic acceptance speech

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/27546437#27546437