My Grandmother Anna Kongslie imigrated to the United States from Norway.  Her youngest son served in the army during WWII.  After Alfred died, I found this letter among his papers.

Our Dear Boy

               And so you are across the waters.  I was getting somewhat suspicious.  We thought that maybe you were just on a maneuver and were unable to get mail thro.  Am glad you are safe.  We still don't know where you are of course, but it is a consolation to me to think of what you said once when you were small, maybe about 8 years old.  You did not exactly like to go up alone in the dark.  Still you did not just think you should be afraid.  But you were getting sleepy and I said, “I will go with you if you want me to.  Not that there is anything to be afraid of.  But I will go along anyway because it would be fun.”

 “Yes,” you said, “if you will.  But there is nothing to be afraid of because God is here when it is dark, too.  Isn't it kind of funny to think, Mamma, that God is so big and so great He is all over the world at one time and sees everything at once. Still He is so small that He can get into this house even when all the doors are closed.  Now He sees them that are downstairs, He sees them that went to choir practice, and He is here and sees you and me, even now when there is only our heads sticking out.”

 We sometimes come to places where we find as there is only our heads sticking out, but still He sees us.  Yes, Al, we shall put our trust in God and everything will come out just fine.  We have an anchor that keeps the soul, steadfast and sure while the billows roar. Fastened to the Rock that can not move.  Grounded firm and safe in our Saviors love.  It's been such a consolation to me to remember this, and I wanted to remind you, as I knew you would feel the same.  

The Blessings of no Cable

      The best thing about giving up my cable is that I found four Seventh Day Adventist channels on my antennae.  I watch one of them first thing in the morning and last thing at night, and sometimes in between.  They have programs dealing with every aspect of life.  One of the items this morning was a report about research that demonstrates that nothing helps a child’s development more than teaching them to sing.  It was not a new idea to me.  I have always known that it is not reading or math that is fundamental; it’s music.

               But another item this morning really struck a chord, a sermon about the importance of finding rest in Christ.  In that I found the answer to a question that I have long pondered: how my parents managed to create such serenity in the lives of me and my seven brothers and sisters. 

My oldest brother Tillman used to say, “We were poor, but we didn’t know it.”  Well that was not exactly true for me.  I knew.  Other people had running water and electric lights.  They had lovely china and crystal.  My friends had their own bedrooms, carpeted and filled with many dolls and lots of toys.  My father farmed big in the years that were plagued by drought and infestations.  We lived on wild meat because we saved what cattle we raised for market.  After he gave up on farming and began following construction, we lived in a series of one or two bedroom houses, all piled together in a loving puddle like great big puppies, and yet we never felt as though life had dealt us a bad hand.  We never felt as though we deserved better.

This morning I understood why.  My parents were always able to find “Rest in Christ.”  No matter what happened, there was joy.  My parents moved 28 times during my father’s working years, and my mother never complained.  Before one of those moves, my father came home from work and said, “Well we have to pack up.  We’re moving to the Miller place.”  My mother, smiled and said, “Do I have time to finish my coffee first?”

They never focused on the negatives.  There was always a blessing behind every shadow.  When my father cut off all the fingers of his right hand in an accident with a saw, he didn’t despair.  The first thing he said was, “I can be so lucky.  I could have lost my whole hand.” Always a blessing.  Always “Rest in Christ.”  Oh, and by the way, our house was always filled with music.   We sang.  Oh my yes.  We sang.  

The longest sentence I found on the net.

We are going to be gifted with a healthcare plan which we are forced to purchase, and fined if we don't; which purportedly covers at least 10 million more people without adding a single new doctor, but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents to monitor the program; written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it; passed by a Congress that didn't read it; but exempted themselves from it; and signed by a president who smokes; with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes; for which we will be taxed for four years before any benefits take effect; by a government which has already bankrupted Social Security and Medicare; all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese; and financed by a country that's broke.

Lloyd Marcus is right

            Lloyd Marcus has it right.  Who gives the left its power?  We do!  We cannot control the main stream media, but we can control our response to it. “ When people on our side (conservatives) misspeak, misquote a stat, or make a clumsy innocent comment, I will not sing in harmony with the left’s choir, calling the conservative an idiot.  Nor will I submit to the left’s demands that the targeted conservative be denounced.  To do so is, in essence, providing aid and comfort to our enemies.”

               Marcus shows how Democrats make cruel, evil, outrageous claims, no one pays any attention.  (Obama: “I’ve visited 57 states so far.” Or Rep. Andre Carson: The “Tea Party would like to see blacks “hanging on a tree.”)  But when a conservative makes a blunder, “we eagerly rush to blogs and media microphones to beat up on our courageous conservative freedom-fighters whenever they make a mistake.”

Roark and Lia's marriage homily

       I want to thank you all so very much for making this trip to San Diego today to help us bless this union, to watch and pray and celebrate with us as these two lovely people dedicate their lives to one another.

And thank you, Roark and Lia, for extending to me this honor, the privilege of conveying my personal blessing on your marriage in this special way.

       Roark and Lia, this day, enter into a mystery, a profound fellowship before which poet and songwriter falter in their feeble attempts to describe.  I am sure each of you treasures the memory of one great marriage, a marriage that survived and flourished on the rich loamy soils of love and disappointment, hope and despair, a marriage wherein the trials and tribulations of life only served to enrich the union, deepen the respect, and deliver the couple more deeply into that profound mystery, that holy place that great marriages enter into.

And that is my prayer for you today, that when hunger and longing break your hearts, your commitment to one another will serve to heal them again and make two hearts one. 

               It is love that sustains us.  In a letter to the Corinthians, Paul says, “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and have all knowledge, but have not love, I am nothing.”  To those of you who gathered here, by your very presence have committed yourself to sustaining the love that brought these two together. 

          Roark and Lia do not need Waterford Crystal and Irish linen.  They need all of us, just knowing that we will be there for them, share their joys, support them in sunshine and in rain.  The rings they are about to exchange are an ancient symbol, round like arms that embrace, like the circle of love that given comes back around again and again.  

       So as Roark and Lia now join hands to dedicate their lives to one another, I would ask all of you that all of you come forward and create that circle of love around them, link your hears and hands and recommit yourselves to the love that bind s us all., that great love that passes all understanding.   

Too much money, Too much power

         When we stick to the issues, we find that we agree most of the time, but our emotional attachment to labels confuse the issue.  The movers and the shakers use their millions to make government bend to their wills.  Democrats are very good at demonizing Koch brothers hoping we will not notice the one- per centers who grease their palms.  

         Elon Testler spends millions of dollars on Democrat candidates.  He has already been given over half a billion in subsidies and those who can afford to buy one of his cars get $7,500 in tax rebates.  Those of us who could never dream of owning a Tesla help the rich buy them.  George Soros spends millions of dollars on Democrat candidates to insure that the Keystone pipeline project is squelched.  After all he makes millions of dollars every day shipping the oil on his railroad.   

            They saved the big banks and passed new regulations that put the small independent banks out of business. Tom Steyer, Mike Bloomberg, Amber Mostyn, Eric Schmidt, and Haim  Saban are just a few of the other excessively rich who donate millions to Democrat candidates in order to insure that their corner of the world gets a nod, gets permission to pick our pockets and line theirs.

            We have to recognize that it’s a problem on both sides of the aisle and direct our attention to solving the problem at its genesis:  There is too much money, too much power in Washington.  

The Popular Vote.

The Popular Vote.   

         State legislatures all across the country are being bombarded by proponents of the Popular Vote.  Supporters, backed by huge amounts of money, want to get rid of the electoral college.  Their strongest appeal is to the notion that the popular vote would mean that “every vote counts.” That’s their biggest lie. 

        The framers of the Constitution established the Electoral College to give smaller states a voice against larger states when selecting the nation’s leader.  Each state gets the number of electors based on population, plus 2 which means smaller states have a bit of an edge.  If the Popular Vote bill passes, candidates would have to campaign in as few as 11 states in order to win an election.  Flyover country would matter not an iota. 

        Robert Hathorne is absolutely correct when he says that the National Popular Vote initiative would fundamentally change America by shifting the national political system from a representative democracy to a pure democracy.

        Our Founding Fathers spoke eloquently at every opportunity about their fears of an unfettered democracy. They were students of history and they knew that it always led to tyranny.  They established a republic, not a democracy.  They created a system that respected the sovereignty of the states.  The popular vote would undermine that important principle.