I am to a point this lovely Christmas season that I am tooooooo busy for my own good. I am going to put blogging on a hold until after Christmas. Until then, I wish each one of you a wonderful Christmas Season and for those that do not believe in Christmas… I wish you a wonderful season of whatever you believe!
..…it’s just another Ordinary miracle today!
My previous post got a lot of slack from some of my fellow bloggers and a few one timers. I suppose I didn’t explain myself… but my title was “Things That Make You Go Hmmmmm……“
First… I never meant to offend anyone by this post.
Secondly… I do agree with some things Mr. Stein said. But let me quote myself… “I can see where he is coming from here…. and Things That Make You Go Hmmmmm…..”
I read into his message/article… whatever the heck you want to call it… as… “Can’t throw away the cake and eat it too.” Which some of my fellow bloggers and email writers agreed and some strongly disagreed.
Christmas, God and Faith…. go hand in hand.
We, as a society, went through and some are still going through… what words to use when it comes to the Christmas holdiay season…. “Merry Christmas” or do I stick to saying “Happy Holidays” or do I not say anything at all and just give them a festive thumbs up. Saying “Merry Christmas” has gotten big companies in trouble and little people, like me, in trouble for those two words when mentioned, in the best intentions, to people that don’t believe in Christmas. Although, I have also had my butt chewed by a customer because on the billboard outside of a company I previously worked for, I put “Merry X-mas”. My client threatened to take her account some where else because I replaced Christ with an X. I believe that people these days take things to personal. Either way… it’s a lose, lose situation.
My personal belief is… I believe in God and Christ. I don’t like being called, in a nice way, an idiot because I do believe that Christ died for my sins. However, I am not one to preach the “word”. I am not one to convince others to come on over to the “Christian” side. My beliefs are my beliefs and these beliefs are some that have gotten me through a lot of bad times. I don’t condemn those who do not believe… it isn’t my place and frankly, who am I or anyone else to judge. It blows my mind that I sit back and let people condemn me for my beliefs… yet, I do not condemn them for theirs. That is who I am… I just don’t judge and if people want to judge me for my beliefs…. Heaven let them. BUT… I do know one thing, I am not an idiot… or maybe I am for not standing up for myself and my beliefs.
There are a lot of people who call themselves Christian… yet, do not live that life. They are the ones a lot of times that run Christianity into the ground in a very bad way. Also, there are those that when something bad happens they are quick to judge and ask “Where is your God now?”… Yet, when something beautiful happens nothing is ever mentioned about how God helped it happen.
In light of recent events…terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O’Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn’t want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.
I don’t really agree with throwing someone’s name in and insinuating that they were killed because of not wanting prayer in school… HOWEVER, why take prayer out of school? If you don’t want to pray… do not pray. It’s that simple. No one is holding a gun to your head screaming “You have to Pray”…!!!!! and if they are, it should be a choice. Now I believe the “technical term so we don’t get back lashed” is called a “Moment of Silence”. Will my child be condemned because in that “Moment of Silence” he chooses to pray? People scream “My Rights”… Where is my right? I want my kid to pray in school… my rights have been taken away. I sit back and let those around me take away little things that matter to me. I question what good I really am.
“Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren’t allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that’s a sign that I’m getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to. “
I strongly agree here with Mr.Stein… We are so caught up in the juicy gossip of other peoples business that we are not opening our eyes to what is really happening around us.
“I don’t like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don’t think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can’t find it in the Constitution and I don’t like it being shoved down my throat.”
This hit me like a ton of bricks. I keep quite about my beliefs because I don’t want the backlash of others. I suppose I am not like my Christ. If I even mention God in certain places… I am always questioned. If I mention I pray… “Did your God answer your prayer?” Well, hell fire and brimstone “YES, my God answered my prayers”…!!!
“She said, “I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we’ve been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?”
I believe in this… however, as far as having religion in school… I do believe that every religion should be taught… Gothic, Atheist, Mormon, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, etc… I do not think those who aren’t Christian should be forced to learn about a God and Christ they may not believe in.
“Now we’re asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don’t know right from wrong, and why it doesn’t bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.”
This point I am not so sure about… I believe this has a lot to do with parenting. I do believe “WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.”
“Funny how you can send ‘jokes’ through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.”
I have to agree with this… I think twice and rarely send… again, afraid to offend someone. Maybe I am a “In the closet Christian”… maybe I am a bad Christian because I second guess myself because I am afraid of what other people think and don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.
Look… I have seen miracles happen. Miracles that can’t be explained. I believe there is a higher presence than just us aliens here on earth. If you don’t, that is your choice…
If you don’t like the word God or Christ, don’t say it. If you don’t believe in God or Christ don’t celebrate. If you don’t believe in prayer, don’t pray. Because I do, don’t be so quick to judge me… I do not judge you.
I obviously read into this post totally different than some…
Religion is a touchy topic… I rarely speak of religion… now I know why. I forget that sometimes, my beliefs are condemned… maybe I should take up for them more often. Maybe this “small mind” should speak up and out! Just because I have 2 small children that I am trying very hard to keep up with and I am very tired… when I post something I know what I am posting… I suppose I need to explain myself better. The “sound bites” I liked ended up being more than one or two and I am sorry that people may not agree with me on this… Your opinions are yours and mine are mine. This dingbat isn’t so dingy…
My rant is over and I am through speaking my mind about this… this post also was not intended to offend anyone… but I felt as though I needed to take up for myself, my belief and my post.
You must say… everyone did go hmmmmm….
..…it’s just another Ordinary miracle today!
Although Ben Stein and I have different views on a lot of things (politics, etc…) I can see where he is coming from here….
The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.
My confession:
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees ‘Christmas trees’. I don’t feel threatened. I don’t feel discriminated against. That’s what they are: ‘Christmas trees’.
It doesn’t bother me a bit when people say, “Merry Christmas” to me. I don’t think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn’t bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a crèche, it’s just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.
I don’t like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don’t think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can’t find it in the Constitution and I don’t like it being shoved down my throat.
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren’t allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that’s a sign that I’m getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.
In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it’s not funny, it’s intended to get you thinking .
Billy Graham’s daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her “How could God let something like this happen?” (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response.
She said, “I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we’ve been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?”
In light of recent events…terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O’Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn’t want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.
Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.
Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn’t spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock’s son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he’s talking about. And we said OK.
Now we’re asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don’t know right from wrong, and why it doesn’t bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.
Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with “WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.”
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world’s going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send ‘jokes’ through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.
Are you laughing?
Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you’re not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.
Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.
Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it… no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don’t sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.
My Best Regards.
Honestly and respectfully,
Ben Stein
…it’s just another Ordinary miracle today!
Every year the local paper interviews the children at the pre-school my son, William, attends. They ask different questions such as how their mother’s cook holiday meals. This year my son was asked “How does your mommy cook a turkey?”…..
He answered, “She puts chocolate on it, puts it on the stove and cooks it as long as a dinosaur.”
See, I told each of you I couldn’t cook… even my son has noticed and he is only 3 years old.
I love him to death… he is so honest and innocent!
……it’s just another Ordinary miracle today!
Even though my pregnancy means the world to me… this post means a lot toooo. I have put it at the top of the page. I haven’t been feeling so well so I am not sure how much I’ll be around the blogging world the next few days. While I am gone… please take time to read William’s story…
I have read and read and read about him. I have worried myself to death about what exactly I was going to write about someone I really didn’t know… I had no clue how to put my words into type. I struggled and struggled. This past Wednesday I finally found the words… well, they found me in my dreams…
I sat in the fog outside a little cafe off of a street that looked like what one would see in a painting. You know, the paintings with the little cafe, people sipping on their coffee as the water colored blob people walk down the street going into little shops along the way. It seemed I knew where I was and that I knew who I was waiting for… although I really felt I had no clue (does that make since?)… Out of the cafe came a handsome man… white/grey hair, glasses and a stature of brilliance gleaming around him. I stood up and waved as if I knew him. He didn’t hesitate; he waved back and started walking my way.
I said something of the sort “Thank you for coming. I am so excited to finally meet you. I feel as though I already know you.”
He smiled with a little goofy grin and said “I enjoy having visitors.”
As I took a drink of my coffee I looked at him. He had a look on his face as if he had so much to tell me but didn’t know how.
I asked “What is on your mind?” as I sat my coffee on the table.
“My life, my life” He whispered.
“What about your life?” I curiously asked.
He looked me dead in the eye and a chill came over me as he softly replied “Did I make them proud?”
“Who Proud?”
“Them.” He blankly stared.
“Yes, you should read everything that has been written about you, my friend. Your family and friends have made it well known what a brilliant, funny, loving man you were. That is why I just had to meet you. You are/were amazing.” I quickly responded.
He leaned back in his chair and spoke with every bit of proud ness he could manage to come out through the tears in his voice “My dear, they are the ones that are amazing. My mother, my father, my sister, my wife, my step-son, my daughter… my, my, my whole family and my friends… They are the ones who are amazing for letting my legacy live on. I have never been so humbled as I am each time I hear any words being uttered about me through them. They have not forgotten… They have not forgotten me.”
I didn’t know what to say except “No one will ever forget… and no one that loves you or ever came in contact with you, will ever forget”
With that being said, he and I both stood up and leaned in over the table as if we were going to hug each other… I heard a faint whisper echo “I enjoy having visitors… if only in their dreams.” I suddenly awoke… I awoke crying. I realized through my dream… I met him.
Maybe my dream was just a fluke because I have been thinking about this man I didn’t know for over 2 months now… Maybe it is because of the baby within me is making me have crazy dreams… maybe he just wanted me to visit him… who knows, whatever the reasoning behind it… I’m honored.
William E. Caswell
William (Bill to his friends and family) was a third-generation physicist. He worked for the US Navy as a senior scientist. He received several navy commendations on his work, one of which cites his role in a “highly successful top priority Chief of Naval operations project of unprecedented technological complexity . . . developing a profoundly new capability for the US Navy.” His work with the Navy was so classified that half the time his family knew very little about his job. His family didn’t know exactly why he was headed to Los Angeles on the American Airline Flight 77 on September 11. His mother stated “It was a trip he often took. We never knew what he was doing there because he couldn’t say. You just learn not to ask questions.”
One of the most interesting facts I read of William was from Physics Today…
Bill was born on 22 June 1947 in Boston. He received both of his degrees in physics: his BS from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1968 and his PhD from Princeton University in 1975. Bill’s thesis, for which one of us (Callan) was the adviser, contained the first calculation of higher-order renormalization group quantities in non-abelian gauge theory. He was a third-generation physicist: His grandfather, Albert, received one of the first PhDs in physics from Stanford University, and his father, Randall, held an MIT physics PhD.
William came from a long line of genius.
Putting aside his career, he was a beloved son, brother, husband, father and friend. From everything I read, before he parrished, he and his daughter, Jennifer who was 17 at the time of his death, were looking into colleges for her. She too, was headed in the same direction as her father in the world of science. Her education was one of his top priorities.
His wife Jean, step-son Sean, his mother Jean and father Randall, his sister Julia, and his brilliant daughter Jennifer… were a very warm and close-knit family. Every word I have read of him makes me long to have known him.
One More Memory
Andrew Ang, Matthew Tishler & Sara WestbrookI was lost
In the dark
Confused and afraid
Not knowing what was wrong
A few lost thoughts
Forgetful moments
I never thought
That it would come to thisOne more memory
To remember me
For a lifetime come and gone
Goes on and on
When my memory fades
Think of me this way
It’s my mind that’s leaving me
It’s not my heartForgotten names
Forgotten faces
I don’t even know
The ones I’ve always loved
When I say
Things I’d never say
Know that my love
Will stay forever strong
Hold this in your heartOne more memory
To remember me
For a lifetime come and gone
Goes on and on
When my memory fades
Think of me this way
It’s my mind that’s leaving me
It’s not my heartTake my hand
And try to understand
My memories are gone
But my love for you lives on
Remember me for who I was
And not who I’ve becomeOne more memory
To remember me
For a lifetime come and gone
Goes on and on
When my memory fades
Think of me this way
It’s my mind that’s leaving me
It’s not my heart
This brilliant, humble, family man past from us on 9/11/2001 aboard American Airlines Flight 77 which crashed into The Pentagon.
At a Memorial event in Rockville, Maryland, William’s sister, Julia, brilliantly stated “He was a bright star…”
Thank you, William, for letting me get to know you… if only in my dreams.
…and the music plays on!
