Psalm16:8

 Psalm 16:8:  I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

Luke 9:37-43

 Luke 9:37-43: Jesus casts out a demon from a young boy.

Political parties

 I read an article in the Saturday NYT about the disarray in the DNC and their money problems. I'll be honest with you. I think the American people are moving on from parties. I think most American voters are independent. If they are registered for a party it is only so they can vote in a primary which ought to be open anyway. Like Karine Jean-Pierre, I recently changed my party registration to independent non-affiliated in Oregon. I'll never vote for someone in a party again.

Most voters want policies somewhere in between the extreme party platforms of either party. They'd rather vote for independent candidates who are honest and have integrity who can pursue policies that are right for the whole country and not just further the power of the parties. Why should we have to vote for the better of two evils?

It just doesn't make sense for us to vote for parties that try to put in place policies that just the extreme wings of the parties want. We want common sense ideas that can be implemented in a reasonable length of time. We want laws that can be written in a few pages that are fair for everyone, and not 2,000 page bills that have as many loopholes as a sieve.

Some people are worried about Artificial Intelligence becoming self-aware and taking over things. But can it be any worse than now with do-nothing politicians?

Let's put the parties out to pasture. Vote for independent candidates.

Silence

 1st Kings 19:11-12: He said to Elijah, "Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.

Galatians 3:28: There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

Luke 8:26-39: Jesus casts out a demon from a Gerasene man and sends the demon into a herd of pigs and they stampede down a hill into the lake and are drowned...... Even if it's just a story, seems like killing off a herd of pigs is not right, even if they are non-kosher. It's like in crime novels when they have gratuitous murders. They could have burglaries, or embezzlement. Bad enough killings in real life. Why do it in fiction books?

Words of wisdom

 Isaiah 59:8: The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.

Matthew 9:27-34: Jesus heals 3 people, but the Pharisees say he is working for the devil.....Why would anyone be against healing? Heck, they'd be able to work and pay taxes, then. I think that the author of Matthew was just trying to to cast a bad light on the Jewish leaders just to distance Christians away from them when the Jews were rebelling against the Romans.

Ruling class

 Daniel 1:1-21: Nebuchadnezzar sacks Jerusalem and takes some of the uppity-ups back to Babylon with him, including Daniel, Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego. They decide they won't eat the kings non-kosher diet and turn out in better shape than the others who ate the luxurious food. They become the King's advisors....... 

Meanwhile back in Israel, the regular people are enjoying a little peace and quiet. But 70 years later, here come the religious higher-ups with their fully developed theology and the people are again burdened by temple taxes and rules. Would that we all had the oath of allegiance that Catalonia and Aragon had with their count back in the 13th century. (from the book, Barcelona by Robert Hughes, p.119):

 We, who are as good as you, swear to you, who are no better than us, to accept you as our king and sovereign lord, provided you observe all our liberties and laws-but if not, not.

Illegal pays more to the few, than legal does to the many

 The powers that be have no reason to want a reformed legal immigration process, even though they are always clamoring for it. Non-profits that help illegal immigrants would be out of work. ICE and Border Patrol and companies building walls would lose funding. Cartels and coyotes that ferry people across the border would lose money. Farmers and the hospitality industry would have to pay higher wages to legal immigrants. Other countries don't have to mend their ways as they can de facto say to their people, go to the U.S. if you don't like it here. School districts love illegal immigration because they get paid on a per student basis.

What's in it for the greater good? Legal immigration would cost less taxpayer dollars. Although it would cost companies more to higher legal green card holders, they'd have a consistent flow of workers and not have to worry about the complexities of dealing with undocumented workers. Although there will still be illegal immigration, a smaller enforcement group, could deal with it. Countries that used to have a huge outflux of people, would have to hopefully make reforms to make life better in their countries. Communities in the U.S. would have more time to gradually absorb a more consistent flow of immigrants. And with the U.S. population aging, the U.S. would have workers coming in to keep the economy going.

Congress had that new immigration law ready to go before Trump put his kibosh on it. It's hard to understand why Congress caters to him. I suppose it's always easier to do nothing and collect their salary than to govern the country. Since Hamilton started sending treatises to Congress back in the late 1700s, Congress had deferred to executive law making. It's time to get the power back to the people and curb the federal bureaucracy.

Terry Moran

 Terry Moran, long-time ABC news reporter, was fired by ABC for posting that supposed Trump advisor Stephen Miller (is he really a government employee being paid with our tax $? Hard to believe) was a hater. Why does ABC care what he posts? I suppose they think they will be perceived as being partisan toward the left. But back in the day, when every city had at least 3 newspapers, every paper had a partisan slant. Now that there are thousands of news outlets, every one should take a stand in some direction. 

The problem is news outlets are getting like sports outlets. They want access to the powers that be, so they buddy up and embed themselves. But you really don't need access. Whether it's a sports front office, player, White House or government agency, they either say inane things, or embellish or withhold reality. You have to wonder if reporters are worth the money if all they can do is sit around the White House press office and ask questions that never get a straight answer. Get out in the real world and observe and listen. Same way with these people who've just had their home blown away in a tornado. Why do these reporters bother them? Just observe and listen.

Just watch the game, political or sporting, tell us the facts and give your take on it. We don't need to hear what these primadonas have to say or what their lives are like. Like Joe Friday said in Dragnet,"Just the facts, ma'am."

Discussion group

 Luke 2:41-52: When he is 12, Jesus and his parents go to Jerusalem for Passover. When it is over, his parents head back with their group, but Jesus stays behind to talk to and ask questions of the elders at the Temple. His parents are perturbed when they find him a day later, but Jesus is unfazed, saying he wanted to learn more about his heavenly father.

A new theory of the beginning of the Universe

 https://www.port.ac.uk/news-events-and-blogs/blogs/space-cosmology-and-the-universe/what-if-the-big-bang-wasnt-the-beginning-our-research-suggests-it-may-have-taken-place-inside-a-black-hole

Probably makes more sense than my hair-brained theory: The last thing I had in my head was a flat infinite universe. I read where even in a vacuum there was a virtual energy field. And so theoretically there would be virtual black holes. And Hawking theorized that black holes would leak radiation over time. So if you have matter antimatter particles popping out near the event horizon, normally they would come together and cancel each other. But what if one antimatter particle falls back in the black hole, and the other matter particle stays out, then you have a real particle. And in an infinite universe, over time, that's a lot of particles that would coalesce into gas clouds, stars and galaxies.

You don't always get what you pay for

 Numbers 24:1-14: King Balak of Moab is upset because he had hired the prophet Balaam to curse the Israelites and Balaam had blessed them. Balaam said, I can't go against what God commands.

Religiocentric

 Ezekiel 11:14-25: God tells Ezekiel to tell the exiles in Babylon that they will be brought back to Israel.

1st Corinthians 2:14: Paul says, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God..... Hmm. Really? Seems like every person has access to the Spirit. Seems like the hierarchies of any religion want you to believe that they have the inside track on spiritual insights. Maybe people shouldn't divide the spiritual and the physical. A person is all one entity until they return to the dust and become part of something else. We should look at all aspects of situations from whatever means we can gather. It's amazing that in the Bible, there's no incident of someone telling Paul to be quiet and listen.

Simple words

 Joel 2:28-32: See Acts 2:17-21

1st Corinthians 2:1-11: Paul says, I come not speaking fancy words like the wisdom of men, just Jesus Christ and him crucified.......Why was that the main thing for Paul? I think it was like Jesus said at one point, a seed has to be buried in the ground and die before it sprouts forth new growth. I don't think Jesus had to die as a substitute for our sins, or that he even had to die. But it's not good for devotion to be centered on one spot. That would be like the idols of old. Jesus had to go, so that God could send the Holy Spirit through the seed Jesus had started. The Spirit is like a vine that goes everywhere and can sprout anywhere there is love and community.

Pentecost

 Acts 2:1-21: the Holy Spirit is bestowed on the disciples of Jesus and they speak their message in different languages in Jerusalem. People say what's going on? or They're drunk. Peter says, we're not drunk, it's only 9am. What's happening was prophesied by the prophet Joel long ago.(Joel 2:28-32) Young people will prophesy and see visions and the old will dream dreams and everyone who calls on the name of God will be saved.

Genesis 11:1-9: People gather to build the city and tower of Babel, but God confuses their language so they can't understand each other and give up and scatter....... This is still happening because no one can get anything built now. Bureaucracy rears it's ugly head.

Romans 8:14: Paul says all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. Led or not, we all have stardust DNA.

Fiery chariot

 2nd Kings 2:1-15: Elijah touches his mantle to the Jordan River. It parts and allows him and his assistant Elisha to cross. Elijah is taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot. Double his spirit is bestowed up Elisha. Elisha picks up the mantle or cloak, touches the Jordan, it parts and he walks back to take up his prophetic duties.

Luke 1:5-17: The priest Zacharias hears from an angel that his wife Elizabeth will have a boy who will be the prophet John the Baptist who will bring many people to God.

D-Day 81 years ago

Today we remember over 2,000 U.S. soldiers dying on the beaches of Normandy in order to push back Hitler's armies. Do we need to do it now in Ukraine? We did it in 1991, when kicked Iraq out of Kuwait. Our current and former presidents seem averse to sending forces into Ukraine. Everyone is leery of nuclear war, as well we should be. Maybe NATO minus the U.S  will go in. Can we allow Putin to take Ukraine and maybe the Baltic states and part of Poland and Finland? Can we allow Xi to take Taiwan? Congress needs to decide these things, because they are the branch of government constitutionally tasked with deciding to go to war and sending U.S. forces into harm's way.

Fruit of the Spirit

 Galatians 5:22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance.

Responsibility

 Ezekiel 3:12-21: God tells Ezekiel that he's responsible for telling people to repent from their iniquities, and if they don't change he's not responsible.......That's what people do today. Put up billboards, have rallies, stand on soap boxes yelling repent and then figure, well, we told them, let them go to hell; instead of walking alongside them in their distress. We're all in the Universe together. Religions seem to separate people more than bring them together. 

Luke 9:18-27: Jesus asks the disciples who they think he is. Peter says the Christ of God. A little further in the passage Jesus says, he whosoever loses their life for my sake, shall save it......  Is this encouraging martyrdom? I've never been a fan of martyrdom. Sometimes in an emergency situation you have to make decisions about risk to help someone else survive, but just to die for some belief doesn't make sense to me. That's where a belief in eternal life can lead you to make idealistic decisions that maybe aren't so smart in the long run.

Ark of the Covenant

 2nd Chronicles 5: Solomon brings the Ark of the Covenant containing the two tablets that Moses had received from God, into the new temple in Jerusalem.

Tabernacle

 Exodus 40;16-38: Moses set up the Tabernacle. And it was covered with spirit of God in a cloud by day, and fire by night. The Israelites stayed where they were as long as the cloud was over the Tabernacle. But when the cloud lifted, the Israelites moved on.

Acts 16:35-40: The magistrates of Philippi sent word to the jailer to let Paul & Silas free. But Paul said, you have beaten and jailed Roman citizens, let The magistrates come themselves and set us free. So the magistrates came and let them out and asked them to depart the city. After they had seen Lydia and the other believers, they departed.

Hudson's Bay Company

 Today was the last day of HBC existence. Although my son said, 355 years is a good run. But how can you not market a name like Hudson's Bay Company? It's synonymous with North America. A friend of ours took his son to a store that HBC ran in Montreal, The Bay. He said there was no HBC branded merchandise. How can you run a store where you don't even market your own merchandise. I'd pay big bucks for a sweatshirt that said Hudson's Bay Company 1670 and I live in Oregon. And speaking of Oregon, it would have had a rougher time getting started if not for John McLoughlin, the HBC factor at Ft. Vancouver, who helped more than a few Oregon pioneers with a few cows and seed to get started, much to the dismay of his minders in Montreal, who were trying to keep the Americans out. Maybe this was the start of their demise. HBC was cutthroat fighting their fur trapping competition and I'm not sure of their record in their dealings with First Nations peoples, but I'm sure they helped their share of wayward travelers.

My family and I were at a cider tasting event today at Stone Circle Cidery. We were talking this and that and got to talking about the Snake River canyon, which made me think of the Snake River dams, which brought up that my 5th grade granddaughter went on a field trip to the Clackamas River dams. So the day before all the 5th graders came home and announced, Oh! my DAM field trip is tomorrow. Which made me think of beavers, the original hydrological engineers. Their dams and dens are structures of perfection. Maybe HBC's demise is their comeuppance for hunting to near extinction a lot of the beaver population in North America.

Good and bad, HBC has left their mark on North America, and they will be missed.

Soon

 Acts 16:16-34: Paul casts out a spirit of divination from a slave woman, so that her owners couldn't make money anymore on her fortune telling skills. They convince the authorities to flog them and throw them in jail. At night, there is an earthquake and the cell doors are opened. The jailer thinks he's a goner for letting the prisoners escape, but Paul says, we're all here. The jailer asks Paul for baptism and then he dresses their wounds and gives them food to eat.

John 17:20-26: Jesus prays for his disciples and all believers who come after.

Revelation 22: Jesus says, I am coming soon. .....Soon: famous last word. Parents: We'll be there soon. Kids: we'll be home soon. Politicians: there will be justice soon. Boss: the company will be able to give raises soon. Employee: that project will be done soon(as soon as hell freezes over). We just have to look at the situation now(SNAFU- situation normal, all fouled up) and make our decisions, because soon means nothing.