So many lives...

Tsunami hits Indian ocean nations and kills over 100,000 people….

It sounds just like any other news headline if you say it quickly enough. Over one hundred thousand people lost their lives…and the numbers are still climbing as I write this. We, here in America, just go on about our daily activities. Many of us haven’t even stopped to take notice because it hasn’t affected us.

Most of the people killed were the poorest in already poor countries. The poor don’t have the material possessions that Americans and Western Europeans have been blessed with. What they have…had…were families. Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, aunts, uncles, grandparents...that’s what the survivors lost. Sometimes the only thing that makes poverty bearable is family…and that was taken away from thousands and thousands of people in only a few hours.

The loss is incomprehensible to me. To those who survived the loss it was their child or their parent, perhaps their neighbor, perhaps all of those. It was personal. I can only think of the quote by John Donne: “Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

I don’t have the ability to help any victims of this cataclysm directly…but the survivors are in my prayers. I take note that humanity has lost a great deal in the last few days. They’re not strangers or aliens to me…they’re human beings, made in the image of the Living God…they’re part of my family. My heart goes out to my family. May the hand of the Most High bless and comfort His children. May He heal the hearts, bodies and spirits of those left behind...eventually. May we open our hearts and our purses to our family in their time of need. Humanity has the opportunity to show it's heart in this too. May we all stop and take note that the bell tolls…

Well in Europe they say...

After listening to the talking heads on TV, my little sister who went to school in Switzerland, and a neighbor who lived in Belgium for far too many years… I’m a little put off by the weight some people keep putting on the opinions of ‘Europeans’ about the goings on here in the US. Most of the branches of my family came to this country before it was the United States. My ancestors fought the British in the Revolutionary War. The fact is that all my ancestors came from Europe at one time or another. They left countries were they were persecuted for their religious beliefs or where they had no futures because of the crushing weight of poverty thanks to the cultures ‘Europeans’ developed. Our ancestors came here and founded the greatest country in the history of the world!

This nation has poured out it’s money, it’s sweat and the blood of it’s young men to free the oppressed peoples in every corner of the world…including ‘Europe’. In fact if not for the selfless service of hundreds of thousands of Americans the ‘Europeans’ would all be speaking German today! And after soundly thrashing the Germans in the field we paid to rebuild their country and to rebuild the countries that they had pounded into the dirt…and then forgave the debts!

We’ve provided a military umbrella to shield the Europeans from the threat of Communism for almost fifty years and the ‘Thanks’ we get is to be snubbed and told we don’t do enough in the United Nations!! We started the United Nations! We put the headquarters on our soil and let most of its’ members get away with breaking the laws of their host country. We have footed the bill for most military and humanitarian actions that have served to make the world a better place and all while the ‘Europeans’ look down their noses on us!

I say let’s leave the Iraqis alone, go to war with Europe and make them all learn English! They need a lesson in respect since they haven’t learned anything from the lessons of history!

The Passion of the Christ

I recently watched Mel Gibson’s ‘The Passion of the Christ’. True to it’s advertising it was very brutal… But it brought many things to mind. The first thing I thought was that people haven’t changed at all since that time. There are still politicians that make decisions not out of conscience but out of pressure from the populous. There are still cruel people who take pleasure in inflicting pain on others. And there are still hypocritical religious leaders that are more concerned with their positions among men than they are with the things of God.

For God the Son to step out of eternity and into the form of a human being is still mind boggling to me. For God to love me so much that He was willing to suffer indescribable pain on every level…I take that very personally. Knowing that He could have wiped humanity off the face of the earth at any moment during His humiliation at our hands serves to make His sacrifice even more incredible. These are thoughts that many of my fellow Christians share.

The thing that stuck me the most was that Christ made it possible for me to go straight to the thrown of God. Christ is my High Priest and my Intercessor. I don’t need to belong to a church to go to God. Even among many Christian churches that is a fact that is barely addressed. It is even underplayed. To focus on that fact would be to undermine the authority of the church. Too many religious leaders couldn’t have that! Remember that the ones who wanted Christ dead were the religious leaders. The people loved Him. The leaders of the synagogues feared Him. They still do.

The thing that was missing from the movie was the message of the Christ. Almost all Christians agree on the person of the Christ…that may even serve as a loose definition for a Christian. His message is in dispute among the various sects however. And of the number that actually believe He meant what He said…the number that really try to live by it is infinitesimally small. He loves us…scripture tells us that if we love Him we’ll keep His commandments. Instead too many Christians would rather argue with each other about what is necessary… It’s a shame.

I can just imagine a national football team spending millions on a new coach because they ‘believed in him’…then not doing what he told them to do on the field. We agree on the coach. How many of us trust Him enough to actually ‘DO’ what He commands on the field? The world could be a much better place if we’d stop our in-fighting and simply live what we understand. Now that would spread the gospel!

Life Lessons

When I was a boy I was fascinated by all things Native American and everything that had anything to do with the outdoors. Spending so much time out of doors I was bound to encounter some of the ‘less-than-desirable’ aspects of nature. When I was about twelve I had one such encounter…with poison ivy. I got it all over me! I was miserable for two weeks itching and trying not to scratch. My favorite uncle, who shared my love of outdoors, told me that he knew a sure fire way to never suffer so again. He told me when he was a boy an old Indian woman taught him the secret to avoid my misery. “An old Indian woman”…that got my attention! He told me she taught him to spit on poison ivy and poison oak whenever he saw them in the woods and he would never suffer their ill effects. I had to try that!

Sure enough over the years when I would see poison ivy or oak I would spit on them. And I have never suffered their ill effects since! I guess it was sometime in my early twenties I was backpacking through the woods when I came across a thick patch of the evil weeds and, true to the old Indians teaching, I spat on them. I then walked around the outgrowth and realized in that moment that every time I had spat on the plants over the years I walked around them. I had to smile at my uncles’ wisdom. He knew that if I would consciously identify the plants I would avoid them and their ill effects. The spitting was just a way to get me to pay attention. I have wondered over the years if there ever really was an old Indian woman. My uncle has long since been dead but I owe him so much for the things he taught me and the ways he did it. That was just one of many things…

I have long suspected that God has attempted to teach us in a similar fashion. He didn’t try to explain to the ancient Israelis that bacteria was the cause of many communicable diseases, He simply gave them laws of sanitation and quarantine and ordered them to follow the law or be cut off from their people. They observed those directives in a ritualized manner for centuries. During the Bubonic Plague in Europe, in the mid fourteenth century, it is estimated that 25 million people, about a third of the total population, died from the disease. The bacteria was carried by rats but the fleas that infested them transmitted it to humans. Once in humans it spread rapidly.

The Jews were the segment of the population least infected by the outbreak. Many Christians accused them of an international conspiracy to kill Christians since they didn’t seem to be so devastated by the plague. But the Jews were simply observing the laws of sanitation and quarantine that had been passed down for centuries as a part of their faith. When the cause of the disease became understood centuries later the importance of sanitation and quarantine practices began to be understood more widely. Had the Jews not practiced the laws that had been revealed to them in the Bible they would have been just as devastated as the rest of the population of Europe.

Our Creator wove spiritual laws into the fabric of the universe just as He wove physical laws into it. Human beings seem to intuitively know that we need to live in harmony with the universe we are a part of. We sense, on a semi-conscious level, that to fulfill our ultimate purpose we must find a way to live in harmony with the laws of Creation. To the extent that we obey those laws we are blessed because we are in harmony with the fundamental operations of the universe. Ultimately every religion teaches some form of this concept. Though our understanding of why may be lacking…God has revealed the ‘what’ to us.

Parents universally teach their children what to do before attempting to teach them why. As the children grow up they learn the whys. Just like a child may want to eat only deserts at a meal, a wise parent knows better than to let them because to do so would eventually harm them. What is needed is a more balanced nutritional approach…even if it must be forced at first. Sometimes to to encourage their children to eat more nutritionally, parents give their children a reason to that may not be related to "just because it's good for you". In a like manner the Israelites would not have been ready for understanding the real purpose behind some of their laws had it been given to them, but they did understand..."if you don't do it, you'll be cut off from your people". The Christian population of Europe had flat out rejected the very knowledge that had been handed down to them in the form of scripture. They threw out the very thing that could have saved many of their lives.

God’s laws were given for our good, some were given to aid in our understanding of spiritual things and some to ensure that the physical, psychological, and social aspects of our lives would be in harmony with the way the universe works. We may not know why some of His laws were given and we may never be able to find their ultimate purpose in this life. An element of faith is always present in the practice of religion. Perhaps to have faith is also to live in harmony with a fundamental law of creation.

In Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the three great Western religions who base their respective faiths on a body of scripture, there is the additional element of obedience or submission to the will of our Creator. Some laws revealed in scripture may simply exist for the purpose of teaching us obedience. To yield one’s own desires to the laws of God is a true act of worship. To reject those laws is to find ourselves outside of the harmony of creation...dis-ease and death often follow. Our understanding of some of those laws has grown and our observance of them may no longer be necessary because they’ve taught those who have obeyed them the lessons they were intended to teach. Often times, in our stubbornness, we have rebelled against the laws of God because we, like the average seventeen year old, think we already know better. The Christian population of Europe during the Black Plague didn’t think the laws of sanitation and quarantine were any longer necessary because they ‘knew better’. They were privy to the same body of scriptures that the Jews they hated were privy to. The Christians rejected obedience to those laws and they paid a heavy price.

Christians today argue over what parts of the law bind us. We believe many are unnecessary because we ‘know better’. What I have come to wonder is whether we have indeed learned the lessons the law was meant to teach us? Like my experience with poison ivy in my youth, perhaps we should simply obey the advice of a much wiser source and err on the side of obedience rather than rashly disregarding it. If we really believe it's for our own good...what could it hurt? It could be that what is has to teach us…we have not learned yet.

Generations...

It’s funny to me how the things we are drawn to in life can teach us the lessons we need to learn. I have always loved gardening for example. I’m one of those folks who have always had potted plants everywhere but when I bought my home I finally had my own place to have a real garden. I never expected to learn the lessons it would teach me. I learned to let things take their own course instead of trying to control them every day. I can’t make things grow! I learned patience on a much deeper level than I had known. And I learned the importance of a healthy environment in which to allow things to grow. Now, you might think those things are fairly obvious and I should have already known them. I did…in my head. I just didn’t understand them in my being until gardening instilled them in me.

Another thing I’ve always been drawn to, and found so many lessons in, is genealogy. I find it related to gardening in a way. Seeds are planted, plants grow, they bear their fruit and they die. Human life is pretty much the same.

I’ve spent years scouring the countryside for old family photos and stories. I’ve asked everyone I know and met cousins I never knew about. I’ve found other genealogist’s around the country in every branch of family I have. I have to say that as a group they are some of the most generous people I’ve ever encountered. I’ve had people I’ve never met send me reams of information just because I emailed them once!

As I’ve looked into the faces of my ancestors through their photos and heard their stories I’ve learned so many things about myself and about life. Besides just learning where my bald head comes from I’ve learned something of just how temporary this life is. All who came before me were born, lived their lives, and passed on. Sometimes they left their marks in the lives of their descendents. Sometimes the only testimony of their lives are the silent monuments in forgotten cemeteries. They, like all of us, had a certain number of breaths. How they spent them has been largely forgotten.

When I began I wanted to be able to claim a famous ancestor somewhere…someone who had made their mark in history. What I found for the most part were farmers and blacksmiths. Oh, I have one ancestor who fought in the Revolutionary War, another in the War of 1812 and several who fought in the Civil War, including one who served on both sides! None were famous though. I find that I’m just as happy knowing that as if I’d found one who was a king. In a way I’m even happier to know they were all just ordinary people.

The long lines of begotten in the scriptures took on a new significance to me. Adam begat Seth, Seth begat Enos, Enos begat Cainan and so on, down to today. I now see in them a direct connection to God. All of us had ancestors that lived during every event in history. We are all directly connected to the past. Somehow that makes it all more real for me.

I’ve learned in a visceral way that we really are all related. And I’ve learned that we let most family connections just slip away through the years. We forget that we are connected because we become focused on our own day-to-day lives and the people in our immediate families. That’s what family reunions are supposed to remind us of. We are connected. They Re-unite us. I’ve become close to cousins that I never knew existed a year or two ago. I can only wonder what life on earth would be like if we all realized that we’re related. We’re family.

Finally, I’ve realized that what I do as a genealogist is not ultimately for me. The photos and histories I’ve compiled belong to the next generation. They are the lessons yet to be taught...the insights waiting to be shared. I think everything we do should be seen in that light. My garden is healthy because the people who farmed my land before me took care of it. It falls to me to take care of my environment so it will be healthy when I pass it on. It falls to all of us…because our time here is only a few breaths and then we’re gone.

Believing In...

I’m not a gambler. I’ve never even bought a lottery ticket. It’s not from any particular doctrinal belief…it’s from thinking: “I have a dollar in my pocket now that I’m sure I have…why should I give that away for a one in a 25 million chance of winning more?!”
I’m told it’s a Scottish thing…

There is one thing I would gamble on though. I’d gamble on God’s picks…. Imagine that you were at a racetrack and you knew God was there…incognito of course. Say you found out which horse He was betting on… Which one would you bet on? See what I mean?!

Now I know the scriptures seem to be against gambling and my analogy of God coming down as a human being and picking out a specific horse to win a race some may find less than flattering, but you get my point.

From the beginning of my association with the CoG I’ve wondered about the concept of God’s ‘Calling’. Who are the elect?

I’ve come to believe that being ‘called’ happens in degrees. If someone reads the Bible and God opens their mind to understand one thing and that person goes away and lives that one thing as an act of worship because they believe God expects it of them…I think that is the first step. They’ve been called to understand one thing. Whether they are capable of more understanding or more obedience is for God to determine.

I expect, though I don’t ‘know’, that if God opens ones mind to understand one thing and that person goes away and doesn’t live it…their calling may end there. We will be judged by what we understand…and to give someone more understanding if they are not faithful in the little they know…well, that could greatly endanger them.

To whom much is given much is expected… That’s a scary scripture to me! We in the CoG believe we have been made privy to a correct understanding about quite a few things. Now it seems to me that whether we are correct or not…we are bound by what we believe we ‘should’ do. We’ve bound ourselves by what we accept as truth.

If in fact, we are called…I think of it as being picked by God. They Real Good New is that He believes in us! He’s put His money down…so to speak…and the race is on!

I’m always moved by the power of belief in someone. King David had some pretty shady friends early on in his career. He let them know that he believed in them and it transformed them into “Mighty Men of Valor”!

I’ve seen children go through some dark periods in their lives when they thought no one believed in them so they may as well continue on a downward spiral. When they met that one adult that saw something more in them they were transformed by that one person believing in them. If you let someone know you see integrity in them…many times they’ll make every effort to become the person reflected in your eyes.

Believing in someone and letting them know it is a powerful thing! It can reclaim lost lives. It can turn around someone headed for destruction. It can uplift and redeem someone who’s lost the power to believe in themselves. And it’s a gift that all of us can give someone else.

If you understand something that you believe God expects…live it. To do so is an act of worship to the Most High.

He believes in You…That’s His real gift to you. Now who would you bet on?

This is WAR!

I came into the church out of the military. I had planned to stay in much longer but circumstances and personal conviction put an end to that plan. I’m still drawn to the military lifestyle. When I became a Christian I made mental notes about how many military analogies there are in the Bible. It’s full of them. That’s because Christians are in a fight for their lives. This is war!

Make no mistake about it…this is a fight to the death! We have enemies that would like nothing more than to destroy us and they will use any means necessary to do so. We should never forget that.

It's easy to become distracted by the day to day things in our lives. But it would be a huge mistake to forget the Big Picture, to take our minds off our goal. “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God”. Unlike a hand to hand fight our battles are with ourselves. That is where our enemies strike...inside us. They know all of our weaknesses far better than we do. And we are completely surrounded by them…quite literally.

This always makes me think of one episode of military history. During the Korean War when the U.S. and it’s United Nations allies had beaten the North Koreans back to the Yalu river some 200,000 Chinese came across the border and began what was in affect a new war. Seven divisions encircled 20,000 UN troops at the Chosin Reservoir. Beginning November 26th 1950 and lasting till December 11th one of the bloodiest battles in human history followed. It was fought in the dead of winter in some the most bitterly cold conditions anywhere on earth. The 7th Infantry of the U.S. Army retreated leaving their weapons and equipment behind. The First Marine Division with units of South Korean and British Royal Marines recovered the weapons and equipment.

When he was asked if the Marines were retreating too, the commander of the First Marine Division, General O.P.Smith said: "Retreat, hell! We're attacking in a different direction!"

Colonel Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller, who would become the most decorated Marine in history, replied: “They have us completely surrounded, that simplifies the problem...now we can attack in any direction!”

The Marines collected the weapons and equipment left behind by the 7th Infantry and proceeded to inflict more casualties against their enemy than any unit in history. They disabled all seven Chinese divisions and the "Frozen Chosen" made it out of North Korea safely leading to the stalemate that still exists between the North and South. The Battle of the Chosin Reservoir is considered one of the finest moments in the history of the United States Marine Corps.

General Smith and Colonel Puller set an example for their men of absolute confidence. They knew they would not survive, they would not adapt…they would prevail! Such were the leaders and the men that won that battle. As Christians we should be confident of the same thing. If God be for us…who can stand against us?!

There is an incident in the life of Elisha the prophet recorded in II Kings 6 when the Syrian army surrounded the city Elisha was in. When his servant looked out and saw them he was overcome with fear. Elisha wasn’t troubled at all. He prayed for God to open the eyes of that servant. When God opened his eyes he saw an army of angels surrounding the Syrians! I can almost feel the hair going up on the back of his neck!

In a like manner we are surrounded…but the army around us is too! A third of the angels in heaven followed Lucifer in his rebellion and became demons. But they are outnumbered two to one! Not to mention that they are fighting against the Most High God!

If you come to think in military terms, you can come to think strategically…how we fight in the big picture. We are in enemy territory. We are completely surrounded and our enemy will do anything it takes. There are no Geneva Accords here.

So how do we fight? We stay close to the Heavy Artillery…and we act as a unit. We stick together. And we call in an air strike when it gets too hot...That's what prayer is you know! Any Marine will tell you that in a fight he wants another Marine on his left, one on his right and one behind him! When We Christians are behaving ourselves we want our brethren around us to help lift us up when we fall. And we stay close to the Big Guns! (I don’t know that anyone has ever compared God to heavy artillery before!)

How do we fight tactically…in our small scale day to day skirmishes? We never surrender. We never compromise! Sin is sin…make no excuses for it. When you commit it…repent. When you’re near it put it away from you. Never compromise with it! Resist evil and it will flee from you. Keep your eyes on the goal...the Kingdom of God.

Besides having The Creator of the Universe on our side we have the aids He has given us for our fight. Put on the Armor of Light! Learn to use your double-edged sword in close quarters…you’ll need it! Never forget this is a fight to the death!

And finally…Be Strong and of a Good Courage! I’ve seen the end of the story and we win!

Goodnight Chesty!

The REAL Conspiracy!

I am hesitant to write this for fear of being uncovered… But with the state of the world such as it is I feel a sense of urgency to share some things that I have uncovered. It will no doubt bring the spotlight of government scrutiny down on me…but I cannot hold my silence any longer! Many of us have long suspected some kind of government conspiracy behind many of the events in recent history. I now have proof of such a conspiracy!!

A few years back while camping in the New Mexico desert just north of the Trinity site, the site of the explosion of the first atomic bomb, I made note of some very disturbing facts. The first was that there were so many dried old bones scattered across the desert. What, I asked myself, could have killed and eaten so many large animals right down to clean bones? The next thing I noticed was the number of old abandoned vehicles that had been stripped and rusted out. Now what could have done that I asked?

I thought at the time it was merely coincidental that the land there was pock marked with unusual mounds full of holes of various sizes. In the daylight no animals were ever near them? It wasn’t until I remembered the so-called ‘science fiction’ movies from the fifties that things began to fall into place! Stories abounded with giant grasshoppers and spiders having become mutated by the radiation given off by those early atomic tests… They were just too poorly acted to have truly been fiction. I realized that they were in fact documentaries produced by patriots during that time!! Oh, the government was quick to divert our attention with phony fears of Communism and the like. Joe McCarthy craftily diverted our attention from the Real conspiracy of our time to focus on the innocent peoples of Russia and elsewhere. All the while the Real story was contained in the documentary film ‘Them’… That’s right...GIANT ANTS!! They are among us! Most live in deserts you know...the rest in Los Angles!

And while our attention has been diverted to think Jews are the conspirators I, in fact, can prove that it is the French that are the real conspirators our government is secretly working with! Just think of the sheer brilliance of it! While groups of patriots are focusing their attention on innocent Jews and Communists they’ve allowed Frenchmen to come and go among us as they pleased! The French, who have been careful not to win any battle since Waterloo! What could we possibly fear from them? It is the French that have continued their atomic testing in the Pacific to continue to mutate ants to do their bidding! It was the French that didn’t want us in the deserts of the Middle East. Ever wonder why!?!? A second documentary film…”Phase IV” shows the real threat to our freedoms… Intelligent ants! That's right...ants with the same level of intelligence as Frenchmen!

It is a fact that ants have stripped the bodies and old vehicles left in the desert for food. And all while the world sleeps to their coming domination under the French! Do you think it was an accident that Fire Ants were introduced to the Southern United States? Just ask any Southerner how prolific they have been in spreading across the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave!

The Bible has tried to warn us of our impending doom in a verse that was intended to be prophetic…Proverbs 6:6 “ Go to the ant thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:” But this godless generation has not heard that warning!

While we go our ways they are literally working beneath our feet! They scour the landscape to increase their numbers while their giant brothers hidden away in the deserts like weapons of mass destruction patiently await the day that they make their move!

How many of us have found ants in our homes? They are forward scouts gathering intelligence I tell you! How many of us have heard unexplained buzzing in our ears? They are watching!

Don’t be misled by tales of innocent Zionists America! Look beneath your feet for the real enemy! That is where the French machine of war prepares itself! If you doubt me…just buy a can of ant spray and the next time you see a Frenchman douse him in the face with it to see his reaction! They don’t want us using ant spray on them! Now why would that be?!?! They don’t bathe…so the smell shouldn’t bother them!

It’s time to wake up America!!! Just put your ear to the ground and you’ll hear French! THEY are coming!

Real Men...The Rules...

For any of you that haven’t yet gotten THe newsletter some new rules have been voted on by the council. As always this information is NOT to fall into the hands of women. In the event that you allow your wife or girlfriend to learn of your affiliation with THe organization all affiliation will be disavowed. You may not be invited back to the meetings as well so Mum is the word!!

As you know Real Men don't eat quiche... Included in the category of foods to avoid now are sushi, strawberries and champagne together...separately they are fine, caviar, escargot and pretty much anything considered French (Except for French Fries of course..)

Colors to be avoided...Pink is always a NO NO, in addition any color that wasn't learned in grade school. Blue, Red, Yellow, Green etc. are all fine... Mauve, Taupe, Fushia and especially Periwinkle are always to be avoided!! (Even being able to spell them can make you suspect..)(A woman was consulted on the spelling of the above..)

Clothing to be avoided...Lace is never permitted, any clothing having more than four colors is not permitted...with the exception of flannel of course.

On a related note... THe Council of '01 forbade the watching of 'Will and Grace' on TV...the new addendum forbids 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy' as well. (Also to be avoided are 'Regis and Kelly' and 'The View'....'Oprah' is only permitted when one's relationship is in trouble.)

All theater movies are allowed...the council, of course, knows that the woman in your life may drag you to some of the less desirable features. ( If you do happen to tear-up you are to say that your 'sinus problems are acting up'..)

Colognes that may be used... Old Spice is still recommended by the council but all American and British colognes may be used in moderation. NO French colognes or so called 'Toilet Waters' may be used.

Hair length is to be short. Under no circumstances is it to be below the shoulders. Some parts of the country are exempt from the rules of the council of '76...see your delegate in your area for clarification.

Jewelry may still be worn with the following exceptions...no more than one gold chain (not binding on men of African American or Italian descent), no more than two rings (wedding bands exempt), No jewelry may be worn in the hair (Sorry...no exceptions..)

Lava lamps, tie dyed clothing, bell bottomed pants and all 'psychedelic' colored furniture are all considered banned now by the council... No Real Men should own them... Sorry, no exceptions will be made...

Real Men may engage in any of our traditional activities...Football (American only), Baseball, Basketball etc. are all acceptable sports. Sorry...soccer is only allowed for those of European or Latin American ancestry. Bowling, Pool, Golf and related games are no longer permitted to be called 'Sports' but may be engaged in.

Hunting, fishing and camping are all fine... but Skateboarding and bicycle trick riding are forbidden after ones teen years. Again...no exceptions can be made.

Alcoholic beverages are permitted with the following exceptions... Zima is never allowed, Wine Coolers may be enjoyed but only when the event includes women, Mixed drinks with 'frilly' names are to be avoided...

Poker, while always allowed, may no longer be played with women. Hearts and related card games may only be played by married men...and only when their wives are present.

The T-Rush (Testosterone Rush for you newbies..) May be sought after in different ways around the country. In the West for example Bull riding can fulfill the need. Other acceptable venues for seeking a T-rush include, but are not limited to, sky diving, white water rafting, car racing and boxing. Those venues that are likely to draw blood...IE: The best forms...are strictly forbidden to women! (Sorry no exceptions can be made.)

Military Service is always preferred... especially in the United States Marine Corps, United States Army and the United States Navy... United States Air Force service is allowed...but only provided that one actually breaks a sweat in Boot Camp....Again, no exceptions.

New Dating rules...please pay strict attention here as the rules from the council of '85 have been slightly modified.

1.) No Real Man may date any woman that can beat him arm wrestling (No exceptions..)
2.) No Real Man may take a date to a 'Tea room' ..( the only exception will be for those who have become engaged).
3.) No Real Man may EVER be permitted to hold or carry his dates purse in public... (No Exceptions..)

4.) A Real Man will ALWAYS show courtesy to his date... pulling out her chair at the restaurant, opening her car door, holding the door open for her to a private or public building etc. (The only exceptions will be for those whose dates strongly object....in that event seek the advice of a council member or older member of the organization for further information.)

As always the PRIME DIRECTIVE is to NEVER, EVER harm a woman or child. This includes physical and emotional harm.... BEWARE...violating this directive will automatically disbar you from the organization!! (NO EXCEPTIONS!)

Weaker males IE: Girly men...may be harmed emotionally only! Physical confrontation will no longer be permitted.
For further clarification please see your delegate...

Signed,
Terrell G. Perkins
Union delegate...136th tactical div.

Scotland Go Brach!

I’ve heard it said in these times that there be some who’ve likened the manly kilt of that noble folk the Scots to the skirts worn in these parts by women… I’ll here tell ye a tale to bring to mind the history of that noble folk.

In days gone by our forefathers were called the Celts. The Celtic folk followed no leader yet conquered the continent called in these times Europe. There they ruled and raised their children near a thousand years. They hung the heads of their enemies from the manes of their horses.

When the Romans came the Celts were driven back to the isles in the West. Tales are still told of the blood the Romans spilled when their Caesar faced the Celt ‘Vercingetorix’ and was almost felled by his hand. Still the Roman tide came and drove the people back. Aye, but they charged the Caesar for every inch in Roman blood! When the cost became too great and the Romans grew weary of the fight, they built there their wee wall still called Hadrians.

Those what wore the kilt remained undefeated in their Highland homeland! O’er time they became one people with the naked, wild, blue-faced Picts who had also spilled the blood of the Romans. For near a thousand years there they grew and raised their children a law and a people unto themselves.

From the East again came another people with eyes to conquer…the Normans with their fleur-de-lis. These too could not conquer those what wear the kilt! With a respect earned the Normans blended their strength with those Celtic folk. The two became one people. The Fleur-de-lis still frames the flag and Lion Rampant of that people. Celts from the Emerald Isle in the West poured into the Highlands in the North to settle among their kinsmen. What had been called ‘Caledonia’ became the Land of the Scots!

The Scots remained undefeated by enemies without. In time the Anglos of the flatland in the South put their boots on the neck of the Scots folk. But it was not by a stand up fight that that sorry state of affairs came to be. Aye, it was the treachery of our own lairds who knew naught but greed for Anglish gold! In those times the noble kilt was banned on pain of death! So too the highland pipes that had struck fear in the hearts of their enemies for a thousand years!

The Laird of the Heavens out of His favor for the Scots folk sent them Wallace and the Bruce for their deliverance. With kilts about their knees and the sound of the War Pipes in their ears they threw out those treacherous lairds and the filthy Anglish that murdered Scotland’s sons and raped her daughters for nigh a hundred years!

In time peace was struck with the Anglish and the Scots grew to be respected as warriors and scholars among their former enemies. Together they built the greatest empire in the history of the world and showed many an enemy the gates of hell!

The sight of the kilt and the sound of the Highland pipes became known in every corner of the world. In the Great War called the First that near consumed the whole world the Scots faced an old foe on the continent. The Teutonic peoples, in these times called German, were an ancient enemy of the Celts. When the Scots faced them on the field of battle dressed in kilts and led once more by the War Pipes that had taken so many a Scot home, they struck fear in the hearts of the German folk. The pipes sounded in their Teutonic bones of their ancient enemy! So great was that fear that they called the Scots the ‘Ladies from Hell’ with a respect earned for the kilts about their knees!

What this story would have you to remember is that those folk, the Scots, have been cast down but Never defeated!! So when you gather around the hearth or camp fire raise a pint or a dram o Scotch and say ye a toast to the Celts! Bring to mind Hadrian’s wall and those that bled with Wallace and the Bruce…Remember ye the Ladies from Hell and their noble kilts! And when you tell their tales give ’em the respect they’re due!

Terrell Perkins of the Clan Gunn (Aut Pax, Aut Bellum!)

The Myths and the Mysteries

If you’ve ever been a student of mythology you’ve probably noticed some recurrent themes throughout many cultures in history. Have you ever looked into the heart of them?

One such theme is the idea of a perfect city somewhere. Somewhere there is a place where there are none of the problems that humanity has had to deal with…sickness, old age, death, greed, corruption etc. It’s Utopia or perhaps it’s Shangri La. It 's a place where human beings have a different nature…a higher nature. The very dream of it seems embedded in our collective unconscious. It’s almost as if it’s in our spiritual DNA. In our genes we somehow know that it’s out there…somewhere.

Another recurrent theme in mythology is the idea of a virgin giving birth. Her offspring is something, someone special…someone coming from a woman of a pure, chaste nature…untouched by a man. She appeals to our higher nature too. She’s unsullied by the profane. Only goodness could come from her…

Even the idea of a savior is recurrent. We all suffer from the influences of the darker aspects of our nature. We somehow always tend towards self-destruction…but from somewhere that one being is coming who will save us from ourselves. Even in 21st century America that mythology is alive and well. We all know about a man who looks like us but is far superior to us. His wise father sent him to us to help us, to save us from ourselves. He’s Superman! (Known secretly as Clark Kent!) Something about the story appeals to us on a deep level. It makes us feel safe to think he’s out there…somebody who knows better and doesn’t partake of our dark nature. He’ll save us!

I think these are some of the reasons why stories like ‘The Lord of the Rings’ appeal to us on such a deep level. They evoke our inborn images of a special city, a pure woman and a powerful savior. We see through to the truth of the story. We understand the battle is to the death. Like it was written into our very nature, we understand the story and it makes us yearn for the reality of it.

There is mystery connected to our yearning too. We are titillated by the unknown. We need mystery in our lives to give us purpose. We NEED to know what’s on the other side of the veil… It’s a part of our nature.

The problem is when someone realizes the needs we have…they can manipulate us. Just like our bodies need good nutrition, our spirits need good-ness. But even that can be counterfeited. Our bodies can be tricked by what tastes sweet…but it only destroys us. Our spirits can be tricked by something that seems good...but the ends thereof are destruction.

We have to see through to the truth of a mystery. Some can draw us like a calf to its’ mother’s milk. And some can draw us like a moth to the flame…to our own end.

What is the truth of it? What are the ends thereof? As Christians we know we need the Holy Spirit with our spirit to make us complete, to give us the discernment to see through to the truth of the mysteries that draw us…and we still only see through a glass darkly.

Have you looked into the heart of the mystery? Have you exercised your Spirit today? The One on the other side of the veil is calling...

Vini Vidi Vici

There is something inherent in human nature that seeks to conquer, to gain mastery over. It is yet one more quality that separates us from animals and makes us human. Without this quality civilization as we know it would be impossible. And, like most qualities uniquely human, this one has degrees. The lowest level most of us would consider barbaric…it is the level where men seek to conquer each other by killing each other and simply taking what they desire. Though we may hate to admit it, this quality is a part of all of us. It is one of the things that we are at war with in our inner selves. It is ironic that our REAL fight is to conquer ourselves. Traditional human wisdom from many cultures tells us that it’s not the man who conquers a thousand cities that is superior…it is the man who conquers himself.

I have often pondered what it is to conquer oneself… I have come to believe that one of the qualities of a man who has done this is his willingness to participate in natural processes without trying to control them. The most natural process in the world for men is the desire to have relationships with women. Mothers and sons, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, friends, neighbors whatever…

Now I should say that I think women are the Greatest Creation God ever came up with! I love them…the way they look, the way they smell, the way they move…and I especially like the way they are with each other! They open their hearts to each other in ways that men never do. (I can just see the reaction of one of my hunting buddies if I told him his jeans really brought out the color of his eyes!)

The trouble is, I’m like most men…I don’t understand them. Unlike some of my brothers though…I don’t feel the need to. I just appreciate them. Some men feel the need to conquer them... I think that destroys the very things that make them beautiful. Having been a counselor I’ve sat across the desk from couples in which the ‘men’ (and I’m loathe to use that word in describing them!) have so beaten down the women they ‘love’ that only a shell sat before me. If you listen closely when these women talk…you can hear the sound of a spirit breaking.

There are some sounds that I love…The sound of an infant cooing fills my heart with a quiet joy. The sound of swords meeting in battle and the sound of an eagle crying stir my blood! The sound of striking hot steel with a hammer on an anvil makes me feel powerful! But the sound of a spirit breaking…. it’s almost imperceptible…and it’s the worst sound in the universe to me…

You can see it too. It’s when the light leaves someone’s eyes…. Now I’ll be the first to tell you that I have a temper. I’m suspect of anyone who doesn’t. An old friend used to tell me that mine came from an Apache ancestor. And I’ll admit there were times when I wanted to come over the top of my desk and scalp the ‘man’ responsible for breaking his woman’s spirit! (My bosses assured me that it wouldn’t do well for future business if I were to do so…And it might tend to throw a small kink in my efforts to help the couple if I gave in to those feelings...) I would beg to just be able to slap the guy around a little!! But…I have my own battles to fight and that’s one of them.

I had the wife of a minister ask me once if all men wanted a woman who was a submissive ‘wall flower’… I told her she was asking the wrong man…I love fiery women! (I know… God Help me! …Please pray for me!) And yes…I’m still single…

I think I’ve learned a few things from some of the women I love. I’ve seen spirits broken and I’ve seen some open up like roses in the Spring. Why anyone would want to conquer them is even more of a mystery to me than they are?

I’ve also learned about participating in natural processes from the animals I love. I love horses. Some people will tell you they love the smell of newborn babies…I do…but I also love the smell of horses. Even the…less desirable…aspects of being around them…(those left behind in their stalls). Smells like home to me! I love a spirited horse especially! I have NO desire to break their spirits…just the opposite in fact. I embrace their wildness and their freedom! I wouldn’t change them if I could!

I feel the same about birds of prey. I get a rush from seeing a Peregrine falcon in a stoop for its’ prey. A peregrine can hit 225 miles an hour in a stoop! They are the fastest animals on earth. I’ve ridden the wind with them in my heart and mind. I’ve watched them slice through the air ...sleek and efficient and deadly like an F-15. I’ve participated with them in their wildness. There is no other feeling on earth like holding out a gloved hand and watching a bird of prey come to land on it!

I don’t equate women with horses or raptors at all… But I’m attracted to them for some of the same reasons. Far from wanting to conquer them…I just want to be around them to participate with them. If some of my brothers only knew that feeling…

God's Personal Plan

Ever wonder why God’s plan is the way it is? I don’t mean His plan as symbolized in the Holy Days. I mean the crux (pun intended) of God’s plan…that His own son would die for us. He certainly could have used another plan. He could have done anything He wanted I suppose! Of course God had untold billions of years (if eternity can even be measured in such ways) to devise the perfect plan to increase His family and I’ve had only a couple of decades to ponder it…so my speculations are bound to only scratch the surface.

It seems to me that there are some very profound psychological reasons for His plan to work the way it does. It also seems to me that some Protestants are closer to understanding some of them than some of us in the CoG tradition. The key is to take things personally.

The Bible wasn’t written for us to hit each other over the head with it or to sit in judgment of each other…it was written to each of us…personally. I’m convinced that when someone reads it and comes away understanding say…one thing…that stealing is wrong. If that person goes away and doesn’t steal I think he will be blessed for obeying what he understands. He took the admonition personally.

We must accept the sacrifice that Jesus the Christ made for us…personally. For His sacrifice to be meaningful in our lives we have to realize that it was OUR sins that made it necessary. I, personally, have disobeyed the will of my Creator. The result of ‘my’ disobedience is death…it demands blood so that I understand the seriousness of acting contrary to His will. I have to take that to heart...personally.

For God to forgive ‘me’ because someone else paid the price for ‘my’ disobedience…I take that personally… I’m forgiven. I feel...loved… That is one of the most powerful forces in human psychology to incite change…maybe the most powerful force. Just think of how you have felt when you’ve wronged someone and they forgave you.

It is common for counselors to hear that many people feel like others wouldn’t like them if the others knew what they were really like. Most of us have our outer selves that we let people see…and our inner selves who we think we are really are. Most of us at some time or another think that people wouldn’t…like us, respect us, accept us, whatever… if they knew what we are really like. When we wrong someone, when we trespass against them, it usually comes from someplace deeper in us than our outer self. When they forgive us they are telling us they see a glimpse of what we are really like and they still accept us. That's called Love and it has the potential to form a bond between people that can be deep and lasting…if we take it personally.

God, our Creator, our Sustainer, our Redeemer will forgive us…if we take His sacrifice for us…personally. We should take at least a moment each day to reflect on that. If we do we will come to feel that this life is a gift…something we didn’t earn…it was given to us. God’s forgiveness is a gift. He loves me…personally. To show my love for Him…I have to show love for the rest of His family…personally.

So what is good…what does the Lord require of us? …To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God…personally.

Connections

Ever been in a party and watched the door for the people coming in?
You’ll notice that the first thing they do is look for someone they know. Their eyes will search the room trying to find a connection.

That’s what we humans do all our lives… We look for connections. We want to know where we fit in.

It is interesting that one of the functions of all religions is to tell just that. Religion defines our relationship to the Supreme Ultimate…God. It defines our relationship to our fellow man and tells us how we are to get along to each other. It defines for us where we fit into the picture. It defines connections.

In Buddhism the focus is on the fact that we are all ONE. They believe that a kind of veil clouds our minds to keep us from seeing that. The function of enlightenment is to lift that veil. Think of how a fish might perceive you if it couldn’t see above the surface of its’ water and you opened your hand and put your fingers in the water. The fish would see five different, and apparently unrelated, things in its’ environment. Beyond its’ veil those five different things are all part of one greater.

In the three great Western religions Judaism, Christianity and Islam the message is the same but told differently. The real focus of Genesis is not that we all come from Adam and Eve….it is that we all come from God.

Anyone who has done genealogy for some time will tell you that it has dawned on them that we are all ultimately related. When I began doing it the long lists of bloodlines in the scriptures began to take on new significance. Adam begat Seth, Seth begat Enos, Enos beget Cainan and so on. It is a way to remind us that we are all directly connected to God!

Even scientists are beginning to understand our connections. Biologists have traced our origins back to a common mother and father. We are all Brothers and Sisters in the same family.

Cosmologists tell us that we all came from the same source. The matter that we are all made up of was created in the stars. The stars themselves all came from a single point wherein all time, space, matter and energy were one. Everything is connected.

What is ironic in the human psyche is that while we crave connection…we also crave independence. Just ask the parent of a teenager! We all want to be seen as separate, independent and unique.

These two aspects of our reality are at odds in us. We are at war with ourselves. Sometimes we cooperate with each other…sometimes we compete with each other. Secretly most of us believe that there is a kind of caste system among our kind. We are better than… But we are not quite as good as….

I find myself falling into that too often. I have come to remind myself when I look in the face of a stranger that this is not some alien. This is a human being …made in the image of the Living God… We are not separate…we are family. We share the same potential, the same flaws.

We are…connected.

Integrity

All is fair in love and war …and in business and life. That’s the creed our society lives by…if it can be called a creed. It stands in stark contrast to another creed, one that embraces personal integrity.

Integrity, honor…Now, those are words you don’t hear much anymore. They have fallen out of vogue in favor of expedience. There was a time in our culture when they were some of the most highly valued attributes of men and women. Honor is a synonym for integrity. To have honor means that you have integrity. There was a time when if a gentleman gave you his ‘word of honor’ you could count on it. It was expected because gentlemen were expected to have integrity.

It meant that there was a common set of values that individuals in our society were expected to live up to. Though integrity is not necessarily a value connected to Biblical teachings…it is certainly found in them.

One definition of integrity relates to structure, to soundness. When the hull of a boat or ship is damaged it is said to have lost its’ integrity. If you were climbing on a cliff that lost its’ integrity you would likely lose your footing and fall because it couldn’t be counted on. In a similar way when a person lacks integrity we’re not sure we can’t count on them.

Over the decades as greed and self-centeredness have come to dominate American society, the idea that anything goes has eroded away the concept that there is a higher code of conduct, one that should guide our lives. Saying someone has integrity, that they are honorable is a way to say that you trust them to act or react in a way that is guided by a higher code of conduct. It is a way to say you know they won’t waver from their moral center.

When couples are married they vow, they give their word of honor, to be true to each other. When someone counts on another to be true to their vows they are assuming the other person is honorable, they are assuming that person has integrity.

The word honor is related to the word honesty. When someone is honest they are truthful about the past or the present. When someone is honorable they tell the truth about their behavior in the future. When an honorable man says he will do something you can count on it. That’s a part of honor, a part of integrity. He has bound his future conduct to his moral code.

We all have things that we believe…and things that we just think or say we believe. When tempted or tested in some way we prove what we really believe. Scripture tells us to ‘prove’ all things. To prove means to test. You can prove an axe you’ve just sharpened by chopping down a tree with it. When we’re proven, we find out what we really believe….we find where our true moral center is. Sometimes we don't know ourselves until we are proven.

There is something intrinsic in us that hopes others have integrity even if we don’t. We hope that people will live up to a higher standard because we need that. We need to believe it’s part of being human. Because we all draw from the well that is humanity…we are all partakers of the same attributes. Honor and integrity uplift us all.

Have you ever looked into the eyes of a child that looks up to you? They want you to behave honorably…they need you to. It assures them that you can be trusted to be true to a higher code. It is a foundation that makes them feel safe in your presence. It assures them that there is a higher way that they can aspire to and your living up to it reassures them that they can reach it. It appeals to their higher nature.

As Christians we have the ultimate example. Our Savior stepped out of eternity and partook of our nature. He drew from the well of humanity and did it as one of us, partly for us to see that it’s possible. He lived an unwavering honorable life that every Christian should aspire to. He let’s us know that we can trust Him. We can feel safe in His presence. He has appealed to our higher nature.

As humans we will fall, we will waiver from time to time. We are being proven here and now. What do we really believe? Where is our true moral center? Do you live your life in such a way that a child could look up to you and want to be like you?

Let’s bring back integrity as a value. Let’s expect it in our politicians and of each other. When someone asks if you are questioning their honor….tell them you're counting on it.

Illusions

Illusions and delusions... They are quite different. Psychologically our minds will create order from what they perceive whether such 'order' exists or not.

To a New Guinea tribesman an event may surely be perceived as the work of an evil spirit because that fits into his paradigm or world view. To a modern American the same event might be considered swamp gas because that fits into ours. Now the event may actually BE the work of an evil spirit but because that doesn't fit into the world view of most modern Americans they wouldn't see it. One of our observers here perceives an illusion.

Our perception is a product of our awareness... When we learn a new word, for example, all the sudden we hear it everywhere. It was being used all along but in our selective awareness we missed it entirely. Once we become aware...the world becomes a little more complex...but a little more understandable too. We now perceive the new word. Before our perception changed we were illusional....we made the facts fit our view.

Illusion is a fact of human existence. It is an attempt to make what we perceive fit into our world view. As our awareness grows and we perceive more....we must either change our world view to fit the new facts...or make the facts fit our old world view and thus create a 'Procrustean bed'.

Making the facts 'fit' happens a great deal in religion... Our religion IS our world view ultimately...we tend to perceive facts that support it and to 'unconsciously' ignore those that don't. In a sense all religion has some element of illusion.

The analogy of a Jigsaw puzzle might be more clear... If we had to put together a 1000 piece puzzle without having seen the picture on the lid of the box we'd be working without an accurate world view. Anything our minds projected as the 'Big Picture' would be an illusion. The problems arise when we try to make the pieces fit 'our view' without having seen 'The View'... That would be delusional. When we get new pieces/facts and we alter our view to fit them we are being psychologically healthy because we are adapting to changes in a constructive way. We may still be perceiving an illusion but we're not holding onto it to the exclusion of new pieces/facts.

Applying this to people who don't perceive new facts as we may perceive new facts is tougher... We can't make someone see a truth or bigger picture they aren't ready for. We are all on a journey, in a sense, to continually grow in awareness and perceive bigger and bigger parts of the Big Picture. The only real problem is when we stop growing and try to make the facts fit our view. Psychologically that is unhealthy. Spiritually it is when we become dogmatic and the spirit stops being able to work in us because we no longer let it.
There is a kind of safety in the latter...it is known territory. The former doesn't feel quite so safe...but it allows us to grow. I'm comfortable living in an illusion because I'm willing to change it with new facts. I haven't seen the picture on the lid of the box yet...I've only imagined what it looks like!!

It all comes down to what one of my favorite bumper stickers says: "I'd know what to think if I knew who to believe!!"

Cortez and the Aztecs

 

I'm a history buff. One of my favorite stories in history is that of the Aztecs and Hernando Cortez. If you haven't ever read it, and are interested in such things, one of the conquistadors that was with Cortez wrote an account of those events in The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico (by: Bernal Diaz del Castillo).

The greatest feat in the history of arms was wrought by Cortez and his men with their native allies. Cortes and 900 conquistadors armed with body armor, swords and crossbows, conquered 200,000 Aztec warriors and ended the Aztec empire. The conquest culminated in the battle of Otumba at the site now known as Teotihuacan outside Mexico City. The conquistadors won the day!

You see the Spanish had been occupied by Moroccans for 700 years...when they finally threw the Muslims out of Spain the Spanish figured God was on their side and they could do anything! It was an attitude somewhat like Americans had in the last century. (It is no wonder it was the Spanish who conquered the two greatest empires in the New World...the Aztec's and the Inca's.)

The thing that I wanted to point out was the prophecy that the Aztecs had. They believed that Quetzalcoatl, (The Feathered Serpent), a god-like individual that had prophesized hundreds of years before that he would return in 1519 to reclaim his throne might have indeed returned with Cortez's arrival. Cortez did fit the descriptions of the prophecy. The leader of the Aztecs, Monctezuma, was so shaken by the arrival that he wavered in whether to welcome Cortez or turn him away. That indecisiveness cost him his empire... You can read about the details that led up to and happened that day in Diaz's account. It really is a great story!

The thing I think is most relevant is the concept that believing something, like a prophecy, will unfold a certain way and being 'locked into' that interpretation can spell disaster. Our own beliefs can be used against us. The above story is only one example in history...

On the personal psychological level... I've taught Japanese Karate and self defense for over 25 years now. The first thing I've had to address in classes like Rape Defense are the inner beliefs that many women have. ...If you believe it is wrong to harm another person; that 'ladies' don't do such things...then the moment you have to face an attacker your biggest battle is with yourself. If you aren't completely convinced of your right to defend yourself in that moment...you'll likely fail and be robbed or raped or...

What we believe inside can strengthen us for a fight....or it can weaken us. The Aztecs had to fight their own long-held religious beliefs deep inside of them before they were prepared for the conquistadors. The battle in our hearts and in our heads is the one that must first be fought. If your mind is prepared for the fight you've already won half the battle. If not...you've already lost it.

I'm a Blacksmith

I’m a blacksmith. I don’t do it for a living mind you...but I would if I could. My grandfather was a blacksmith, his father was before him, his before him, and his before him. You could say I have the black metal, iron, in my blood! (I guess anyone could say that now that I think of it.)

I think the greatest thing on earth is steel! You can keep your gold and silver. You can make jewelry and pretty trinkets. Give me steel and I’ll build you a civilization! I’ve never been an artist. I can’t sing or dance. (Really…they’ve passed laws in every state where I’ve lived outlawing my attempts!!) But give me a forge, an anvil and a hammer and I understand the power of creation… I remember the first time I heated steel with fire and molded it with a hammer, an anvil and my will… It touched something deep in my soul. My eyes still light up when I’m in the forge. Earth, fire, water and will acting together to create something new in the universe. I love it!

When you heat steel to white hot and quench it by plunging it into ice water it can make it almost as hard as diamond! When you then spot heat it and allow it to slowly cool it changes colors… each color represents a stage of hardness. When you reach the stage appropriate for what you’re making you quench it and set the hardness. That's called 'tempering'. I liken the moment steel is tempered to the times in life when human beings are changed in inextricable ways…

There is a story about Richard the first, the King of England. He was renowned for his bravery in battle. One of his trusted aides whom had been at his side in every battle was beside him again when Richard and his men were overwhelmed. In the confusion of the battle Richard turned and began to run away in retreat. The aide who had been so steadfast at his side couldn’t believe his eyes! He called out: “King Richard…remember who you are!” Something reached into the king’s heart … He stopped running…he turned around…and Richard the Lion Heart took the day! It was in that moment…that his hardness was set. He was going the distance!

The moment for the British Empire was when Sir Winston Churchill addressed the Canadian parliament and said the French generals had predicted if France fell to the Nazis the Germans would have the English ”like a Chicken by the neck” within two weeks. When Churchill said…”Some chicken!…Some neck!" the Parliament erupted in applause! The hardness of an Empire was set.

Moments like that come in all of our lives. They are few and far between but they are moments that can change us for a lifetime. I sometimes wonder about the moments that changed the apostles. I think when Thomas touched the nail holes in the hands of the resurrected Christ and said…”My Lord and My God” that was his moment. At that moment Thomas, who was a doubter before, knew he had found something worth dying for. He took the temper…his hardness was set.

I suspect that all believers will have such a moment in their faith. So far many of us have been believers…because it’s easy. But the time is coming when some of us will have to die for our faith... Everything else in our lives will pale in comparison to that moment. It seems to me that the only way we will be able to do it is if we’ve taken the temper and our hardness is set.

Right now we're between the hammer and the anvil. We're going to take a few hits...but it’s nothing compared to the moment that we’ll take the temper. Too many Christians are fighting each other. That’s a sign that we’ve lost our temper…we’ve forgotten who the Real enemy is! I’m as guilty as anyone in that...

Maybe it would help all of us to REMEMBER WHO WE ARE! Hold our temper…and let our hardness set!