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My advice to people…speaking from experience is too not accumulate too much “stuff” At least not stuff of the physical kind. There’s a difference between the physical stuff and the spiritual stuff. Over the past almost 43 years I have accumulated WAY too much physical “stuff” I hate to throw anything away. I have things which will NEVER be used again, but…I start to throw them on the “give away” truck and I say “well, I MIGHT need this again someday” and back it goes into the pile. I have been battling this demon a lot lately and I think I have won. I have gotten disgusted with all the physical stuff we accumulate in this world. I have gotten rid of several truckloads last week, and will continue to haul it off until there is not much left except what I really need. I don’t think you can accumulate too much spiritual “stuff” though. At least not the good kind. There’s a possibility you CAN accumulate to much of the bad kind: hate, envy, spite, vulgarity….such as that. You can never accumulate too much of the other kind: love, caring, compassion, giving. Their is a space in our heart for these kinds of things which can NEVER be totally filled. There is always room for more. The more you drive out the negative spiritual feelings the more room for the good feelings. Keep that in mind today when one of the “baddies” jumps into your head. Oh and by the way…..could I interest anybody in a load of junk??

We need to all remember during this election year that nothing, and I MEAN nothing you are going to hear on TV (99.9%) will be totally true. Some of it will be WAY untrue…some of it will be a little untrue. No matter which side it comes from, extremists are the ones now controlling what we see and hear about what’s going on. Running the gambit from MSNBC to Fox. We must remember that out of all we hear, the truth…the real truth lies somewhere in between, somewhere in the middle. Neither candidate will be as good or as terrible as they are depicted. This is American politics in the 21st century and we should get used to it. We should also try and hold back our most “passionate” comments….things we may regret saying later, and simply remember that 90% or more of the people in this country already have their minds made up about the election and the negativity that occurs between now and November is a dogfight for the other 10%. (my statistical “guessing” I haven’t seen any polls…nor would I believe them anyway) We can discuss and debate, but let’s don’t cuss and hate.

The creator gave me some wonderful souls with whom to be associated. My wife, our children and grandchildren. Those who have passed on, who I have loved and missed so dearly. They have been and continue to be my anchor.

I have an obligation to fulfill to each person I meet, in the name of honesty as well as I can discern it. People deserve honesty, fairness, and caring. I revel in showing little tots how to hit a ball off of a tee. I am awed by the speed with which new babies learn so quickly as they transition into toddlers. I am surprised at how most people react when you simply smile and say hello.

This is a crucial and critical time in our country. It’s a time when families of all kinds must learn to understand themselves, and then learn to bond with other families. Some say the church is one place to do this, and perhaps it is, but I think we should come together at the level where ALL families can be involved. If the church cannot accept all types of families then it is not the ideal place for families to learn to bond. I see SO many good families both in person and online that I know if we worked together there is nothing we could not accomplish. We only lack a leader with the strength and fortitude to pull us together and not apart.

Most of all we, me must practice our kindness. I am afraid for the most part it is a learned trait. Start small and grow larger. Kindness often costs nothing but careful thinking.

We can bring this world back from the brink of disaster if enough of us want to. Our worst enemy is apathy and our worst trait is hesitancy to get involved in trying to make a difference. We humans are better than this, we just need to get our heads out of the sand and into the fight.

May is almost here, and on the 10 day weather forecast I see 80’s starting to show up. Hot weather. Where I’m not much of a fan of it now, I certainly once was.

May meant school was almost over, and a three month vacation was just around the corner.

The fishing rods and cane poles could be dusted off, and new nylon fishing line would replace the previous summers scum encrusted old stringy line. We’d cut the old rusty hooks that had been holding the line to the top of the rod off, and tie on a shiny new barbed hook and lead sinkers, or a snap leader, so we could use a shyster or a plastic black worm to entice a bass.

The Chattooga river was barely a rock throw away, and I could hear that water pouring over the dam, and feel the spray hitting me as I stood on one of those limestone rocks, casting out towards the middle…looking for a sweet spot. I can still smell it even now.

We’d get our baseball gloves out of the closet and rub a tiny bit of Vaseline into the dry leather, and then just put the glove up to our nose, and smell the scent of baseball. Visions of games with new clean uniforms, and wooden bats contacting those brand new white baseballs, perhaps even shattering the bat if you hit it too high up on the handle, well…those visions danced in the heads of us Trion boys more so than any candy cane at Christmas time ever did.

I can see Jess Emory chewing on a cigar, and hear J.W. Greenwood or Cherry Crisp calling: “strike three, you’re out” more often than I wanted to!

I took a Brillo pad and shined up my golf irons. I took a Phillips head screw driver and made sure the metal plates on all my woods were tight. Me and Dad, and Tommy and Mike Brown would go golf ball hunting to stock up for the summer. We boys would spend hours a week playing and practicing so we could be as good as Darrell Broome, or Faye Brown. We’d caddie during the times we couldn’t play for Otis Tanner, or Mr. Florence. We would get real good tips during the Trion/Ware Shoals match. I’d always try and get Donnie Davis or Mr. Munns from Ware Shoals. They paid good.

It’s funny the things you remember when the weather starts to turn. I’m glad I grew up where I did, when I did. I could write more, but the sandman calls.

My advice to people…speaking from experience is too not accumulate too much “stuff” At least not stuff of the physical kind. There’s a difference between the physical stuff and the spiritual stuff. Over the past almost 43 years I have accumulated WAY too much physical “stuff” I hate to throw anything away. I have things which will NEVER be used again, but…I start to throw them on the “give away” truck and I say “well, I MIGHT need this again someday” and back it goes into the pile. I have been battling this demon a lot lately and I think I have won. I have gotten disgusted with all the physical stuff we accumulate in this world. I have gotten rid of several truckloads last week, and will continue to haul it off until there is not much left except what I really need. I don’t think you can accumulate too much spiritual “stuff” though. At least not the good kind. There’s a possibility you CAN accumulate to much of the bad kind: hate, envy, spite, vulgarity….such as that. You can never accumulate too much of the other kind: love, caring, compassion, giving. Their is a space in our heart for these kinds of things which can NEVER be totally filled. There is always room for more. The more you drive out the negative spiritual feelings the more room for the good feelings. Keep that in mind today when one of the “baddies” jumps into your head. Oh and by the way…..could I interest anybody in a load of junk??

I sometimes wonder when the Universe was created, what the creator had in mind?

Is the Universe like the wonderful, super high quality pocket watches that the immensely talented Swiss watch makers create? So good a product, that you simply wind them up on a regular basis, and they keep on running day after day for decades. They rarely ever needed cleaning because the cases were so tight and dust proof. The jeweled movements were so accurate that men in the streets would look at their watches when “Big Ben” chimed in the streets of old London, and say: “Hrummp, forty seconds off according to my Bregeut..”.

Yes, they were that good, and today’s modern timepieces are even more accurate! But wait, the discussion started out with a discussion about the creator of the Universe! I regress a bit, or do I?

When God created the Universe, Time was also created. We humans, in our tiny attempt to understand God, have created our own small way of attempting to keep up with one small aspect of that incomprehensible creation. It’s one of the most logical and true ways, however. Would that our philosophy of all other things having to do with religion and the treatment of our fellow man, be as logical, humane and high quality as our ability to keep up with time.

When the bill comes due one day, I suspect that even our logical ideas concerning God’s time will be archaic and childlike. Where then will the sum and substance of all our other less logical philosophies fall? I can’t even really wrap my mind around it.

If faith is really the answer, what then is the real question?

“When I was a kid I watched a black and white TV, Cowboys on that tiny screen were like superman to me.”

The opening line in a song I wrote a while back. I loved that old Philco television with the round dial that had the numbers 1 through 13 on it. We only got three channels back then though. All 3 out of Chattanooga. I thought the world emanated from there.

My world was small back then.

I worried over nothing. Then suddenly I grew up. The world became a complicated and dangerous place. People hate each other for every possible reason. Makes me think of the song “Every day People” by Sly and the family Stone. Google it and read the lyrics. They say it all. Hate…

Sometimes I wonder if there will ever be a day when humans are at peace with one another. When Jesus comes back? When the Aliens come back? When the two mile comet hits us? When the bombs fly? When will we learn? When will we ever learn? (Dylan)

I swear to you, I will be at peace with anyone and everyone who will be at peace with me. I swear I hate nobody for no reason.

I’d like to go back to that small world for a day. Watch Hoppy and Roy and Gene. They had guns….yes that’s true. They always got the bad guys. You knew who was who because one wore white hats and one wore black. Now, you can’t tell. It’s all so muddled. It’s all so complicated. We have made it that way.

Can we undo the damage we’ve done? Can we leave a world for our descendants? I’m gonna sleep on it and hope I dream a solution.

Don’t lose hope.

Why is it that although we know “scientifically” that human thought and emotion comes from the brain, we FEEL as though the emotions and thoughts we have for others come from the HEART?

I believe that Love comes from the heart.

When someone hurts you, your heart is broken…..

When you feel grief, does your head hurt, or do you feel the tightness and pressure well up from inside of your chest?

When you pick up a baby, so sweet and innocent….do you hug them to your head?

I’ve looked at all the explanations of how it’s all a “chemical reaction” that takes place in our brain.

But, I wonder how scientists know where our soul really resides within us? I think we all have that spark within us, and I think it resides in our heart.

I got out an old pocket watch the other day while I was selling stuff at Trade Day and I got to thinking about things while I was winding up that old watch.

I had watched a show a few days ago on Youtube, taking a break from watching “The British Baking Show”, about the science of quantum physics. It made me think that although we humans think we are REALLY smart, there are SO many things we have yet to discover….

I feel like we have only seen the tip of the iceberg, and know nothing about what lies beneath, under the cover of the ocean.

It’s all seems so complicated…this Universe, but then…just think, like I thought Tuesday at Trade day, how complicated some of the pocket watches that the Swiss used to make were. SO many moving parts, and yet…they kept time better than anything ever made. Also, when those wonderfully smart watchmakers’s got through with them, they knew all the new owner was going to have to do was “wind” the watch. They knew the quality of what they had made. They knew the time and precision and pride they had put into the making of those watches.

Now then, if HUMANS can make something that complicated, and make it work so well, just think what the creator of all things can do! What seems SO complicated to us in the existence of our Universe is a “pocket watch” to God.

We are only starting to realize his wonders.

Some days, some of the junk I read on Facebook makes me reluctant to associate myself with the species of Homo sapiens sapiens. The latin translation of Homo sapiens is “wise person” which makes me laugh. There are damn few of those around, and the ones who do seem to be somewhat wise get trolled and hated.

People get murdered and instead of uniting us as it has sometimes done in the past, it just seems to tear us further apart. The so called “media” pundits from both sides, and the politicians couldn’t agree on the rules for a game of checkers. It seems their only aim is to further divide us.

Everyone is an expert. Everyone’s stance is the right stance. Everyone has a solution. Fifty percent of everyone, disagress with the other fifty percent…so who is right?

I submit that neither of them are right. In my opinion 99.9% of all the “experts” in the fields of politics, religion, business, world affairs, and tiddly winks take their opinions on things straight out of their “agenda” playbook, which is mostly given to them by powerful organizations like the NRA, the Chamber of Commerce, the AMA, AARP, Americans for Prosperity, MoveOn.org., AIPAC, the AFL-CIO, NARAL, or the NAACP.

Perhaps they may be taking cues from the Koch brothers, Michael Bloomberg, Tom Steyer, Sheldon Adelson, George Soros, Rupert Murdoch, Bill and Melinda Gates, John and Laura Arnold, Penny Pritzker, or Warren Buffet. Maybe from Jeff Bezos or even Mark Zuckerberg.

Or perhaps maybe it’s Franklin Graham, or Jerry Falwell Jr. Howard and Roberta Ahmanson. David Barton, Douglas Coe, Charles Colson, Luis Cortez, James Dobson, Stuart Epperson, Michael Gerson, Ted Haggard, Billy Hybels, T.D. Jakes, Diane Knippers, Tim and Beverly Lahaye, Richard Land, Brian McLaren, Joyce Meyer, Richard John Neuhaus, Mark Knoll, J.J. Packer, Rick Santorum (yes…Rick Santorum) Paul Crouch, Joel Osteen, Archbishop Timothy Dolan…etc., etc., If you have never heard of some of these people, maybe you should.

I could go on…but I hope the point is obvious.

Then you have every Tom, Dick and Harry who can use a keyboard and who knows how to prepare memes, sending out bogus BS after bogus BS. Who do you believe? You try and source your information, but before you can get it researched good, things change. It’s like trying to shoot a dime out of the sky with a bb gun.

The reliability factor on what we see on social media is very low…very low. I’d almost rather read op-eds from people who I know have half way decent walking sense. At least you know its their opinion.

Acchh…I’ve droned on and on like some of the people I’m talking about. I’m going to go and read a book now. Before I go though, I’d just like to say, when it comes to people getting murdered, or tragically killed, I’m going to try and reserve my thoughts on those matters for those people who are suffering. I’m going to try and not politisize it, and point fingers. I have my opinons on who is responsible for what. You want to know what I think? Message me. I’ll tell you in no uncertain terms. But for now, I handle this latest attack on humanity the same way I have the previous umpteen ones, and the way I will handle the next one. I mourn. I don’t read the Bible much anymore, but I remember that Jesus said: “Blessed are they which mourn for they shall be comforted.” Short and to the point. No old Testament archaic stuff. Nothing from the Apostle Paul. Just the words of Jesus.

I have great admiration for that man.