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.