Day: April 7, 2026

For the last year of my little Doxie “Hoosiers” life, I did pretty much everything for her. I got her out of her crate in the mornings, sometimes as early as 5 am, because she was whining to go out, and carried her outside and then carried her back in and fed her. I put her up and lifted her down off the chair where she sat with my wife. We put down pads on the chair because her bladder control was so bad, and we changed them a couple of times a day. There was nothing to be done, because her kidneys were failing, and she was practically blind from cataracts on her eyes. I did this and more every day for her until one day she choked a little bit on a bite of food and it set off a spell of coughing which resulted in one small seizure and then went into a coma, and in several hours she passed away with my wife and me right by her side. She was 15 years old. Other than being incontinent and half blind during that last year, she was not in pain. Our granddaughters loved her, and loved to pet her. She died in May of 2020 and they still ask about her, even our youngest who was only 2 years old still remembers her and asks if she “went over the rainbow bridge” I never, ever would have considered abandoning her, or even putting her down, since she wasn’t hurting. I had a toy poodle before her who did have cancer and was in such pain at 12 years old that I had to have her put down. The vet asked me if I wanted to leave the room while she did the injections and I told her heck no! I would not leave her alone at that most critical time in her entire life and have her think I abandoned her. I’m sorry to be so long winded, but I just don’t believe in abandoning family members.

A New Attitude about Death?

I’m afraid of heights. I also don’t like flying. I don’t
like big crowds and speaking in front of a group of people terrifies me. Funny how things that are
simple and basic to some people make other
peoples knees turn to jelly.

I don’t know where a lot of these fears came from.
Some of them have just developed over the years.
Some fears we have always harbored. I have always been afraid of death. I never even wanted to think about it until the last few years. It’s a subject that most of us definitely want to avoid. I think sometimes we feel like if we talk about it, it might jinx us and we will end up on the “mortar board” at some funeral home before the days out. Also, it’s a pretty depressing subject to broach. Nobody wants to be depressed, so nobody talks about it. I can’t remember the first time I thought about it, and was scared. I think it was when I was about four years old. Really, it’s true. As a little kid when I should have been thinking about playing cowboys and Indians, I was mulling over the great unknown. It’s been a bummer over the years.

Lately, I have come to the conclusion that by
talking about death maybe we can make it less
scary. I am not as afraid of it as I used to be. It’s not the little kid fear of going to hell and burning up in a blazing fire type fear anymore. It’s more of just an apprehension of something unknown.

It’s a disappointment that I might not be around to see my loved ones complete most of their journey that they have started. It’s the conversations and contact with my family that I don’t want to give up.

The touches and looks of people you love, and who love you. Most of all, it turns out that it’s a selfish thing. Imagine that. I have so many selfish reasons for living that I don’t want to die and give them all up.

I don’t want to give up the beautiful sunny days like the one we had today. The walk I had out back with Ellie…watering dead flowers, drawing chalk on the patio, and her “helping me” fill the bird feeders. I want to Eli play ball again, and Rue turn cartwheels across her yard, and have Evie teach me “Minecraft”.

I want to see Jessy, Auttie, Livy and Chelsea move forward in life too with their families…Livy with school.

I don’t want to give up reading good books. I really don’t. I don’t want to give up watching movies with Paula, and laughing with her….

But, it’s not what we want that we get is it?
There are so many theories and theological thesis
about what happens to us after we die. It’s hard to
pin one down and stick with it. One thing that I can assure you though is that it will be different from any of those ideas we have. I don’t think that man has been given the knowledge, through any type of religion or science of what really happens. What really happened. I have some really different spiritual beliefs and I know most people are not the same as me. I’m really ok with what anyone believes….as long..as we don’t hurt each other with those beliefs!

It may be that we just have peace.

Peace would be nice;

I’ve seen a lot of people going through
unbelievable suffering, or who no longer know who or what they are who would take peace too. There was once a little old lady who was “rooming” next to my Mother a nursing home who was there one day and gone the next. She was in bad shape. She was ready for a rest, and she got it. I think if you could have broken through the wall of her senility she would have told you she was. A lot of times people outlive the desire to live, and when they do that, they are ready for peace. I am sure she wasn’t scared of it. Maybe welcomed it.

As long as we have the desire, then we should
“keep on truckin'” as we used to say back in the
70’s. It’s when we lose the desire, due to things
that are happening to us physically, that it becomes a hardship to keep on keeping on.

So, I guess as my perspective has changed from
that little shivering four year old kid, who shouldn’t have even known what death was, to the more knowledgeable but equally unknowing 75 year old that I am now am. I still have my desire to live and hope that I keep it for a long, long time to come. I hope all of you do also. But, when we are ready for peace, I hope we find it and that it turns out to be better than we ever imagined.

I really don’t care for Franklin Graham. He personally think he’s a sycophant who’s piggybacked of off of his Father’s fame and fortune.

This past Christmas season he preached what was a sickening sermon at the pentagon categorizing God as a God of Hate and War.

Graham states:

Graham’s holiday sermon was built on two passages from the Hebrew Bible, Exodus 17 and 1 Samuel 15. The first passage has become a well-known Sunday School story: Israel will triumph over their enemies on the battlefield as long as Moses keeps his hands up in the air. After a while, Moses’ hands grow tired, but with a little help from Aaron and Hur, Moses keeps up his hands and his people prevail. Afterwards, God commands Moses to write about the victory, and promises he’ll one day “utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under Heaven.” 

The second passage, 1 Samuel 15, shows God making good on that promise, Graham said. The story starts with the prophet Samuel commanding a newly anointed King Saul to destroy the Amalekites—including children, infants, and animals. Well, for whatever reason, Saul doesn’t totally obey and lets Agag, the king of the Amalekites, live. He also decides to spare the best of the animals. As we might expect, God reveals to Samuel that King Saul didn’t follow his instructions, so Samuel confronts him, strips him of his royalty, and kills Agag himself. God finally gets his way.

Graham told his audience that while these stories might sound harsh, they depict God as he really is. “That’s not the God I believe in. Well, you’d better believe in him.”

Why?

I’m not even sure God believes in that God. Nor am I sure that Samuel knows this God as well as he thinks. For instance, during his scolding of Saul, Samuel says that God neither lies nor regrets. But the chapter concludes by telling readers that God “regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.” So, it seems that Samuel has gotten God wrong. And if he’s wrong about God’s ability to regret, what else is he wrong about?

However, if Jesus is also God himself could me down to earth, his philosophy was greatly different. Just go read the beatitudes:

He said:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you,persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad,because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

He said:

“the two greatest commandments that uphold all law and prophecy are to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself. These commandments summarize the core of Christian belief, emphasizing total devotion to God and selfless love for others”.

I didn’t see anything about war or hate in any of those words.

He said:

Key insights on Jesus and war:

• Non-Violence & Love: Jesus taught, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44) and instructed followers to “turn the other cheek,” promoting a life of non-violence.
• The Sword Warning: When a disciple drew a sword to defend him, Jesus commanded, “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will die by the sword” (Matt 26:52), suggesting a rejection of violent conflict.
• Kingdom Not of This World: Jesus stated that his kingdom was not of this world; otherwise, his servants would fight to prevent his arrest, distinguishing his mission from political warfare (John 18:36).
• “Wars and Rumors of Wars”: In Matthew 24:6, Jesus mentioned that conflict is inevitable before the end times but told his followers not to be alarmed.

Hegseth has been pushing “holy war” all along. Pushing Christian nationalism and “warrior ethos” and today Trump said that he was making war on Iran “because God wants it”. My personal opinion is that he is wrong about that. Franklin Graham is wrong. Paula White is wrong. Pete Hegseth is wrong. If he indeed exists, God does not want innocent men, women and children murdered. He does not condone things which are unjust. Donald Trump is threatening an entire civilization. He must think he is a God. In my opinion, his actions are sacrilege and are an anathema to God. He is one of the most evil men to have ever existed. His demented actions will be paid for by the entire world.

Hate and War are wrong in the eyes of any God who would exist. How can a God have “Thou shalt not kill” as one of his holy commandments, but condone the murder of innocent human beings? I’m so intrigued by people who have been anguished and have beat their chests and wept for decades over abortion, but are ok with this war, and the killing of innocents. I saw very few to none that I know personally who even said a word about the hundreds of schoolchildren who were killed on the first day of the war. Such hypocrisy!

That hypocrisy is almost as bad as Trump and White comparing him to Jesus Christ on Easter morning: “During a 2026 White House Easter event, Donald Trump and his spiritual adviser, Paula White-Cain, drew comparisons between Trump and Jesus Christ, drawing backlash and accusations of blasphemy. Trump noted, “They call me king now,” regarding his supporters. White-Cain likened his political struggles to the persecution of Jesus”. Trump compared himself to Jesus by referencing Palm Sunday and noting that he is now referred to as a “king” by his followers. Spiritual adviser Paula White-Cain compared Trump’s political and legal challenges, including being “betrayed and arrested and falsely accused,” to the suffering of Jesus.

In closing, I can only say that if there is a God who condones the kind of hatred and war that is being perpetrated right now by the U.S. and Israel, I reject that God. Also, if Trump is like Jesus Christ, the Christ was a whole lot different than what I know about him.