Life Illumined

Ohhhh yehhh!

2008-12-01T21:55:00.004-05:00

I fired our group's first shot of opening day and took down this 8-point buck with my muzzle-loader. Its rack measured 18-inches inside.

6 dies!

2008-11-05T08:26:00.002-05:00

At least one good thing happened in the US for the cause of conservatism. Issue 6 (Ohio's ballot initiative which was a Constitutional Amendment introducing casionos to Ohio) lost. Hey, grab onto whatever bright spot you can.

Palin 2012!

2008-11-05T08:17:00.005-05:00

I'm not shedding tears right now. I did my grieving back when Mike Huckabee lost. I hope that this has taught the Republican party a lesson. If they want our support, then they need to offer us a real conservative. And, no, Sarah Palin does not count. It would have taken a death to put her in the top office. But I would like to see her back in 2012!

You said WHAT?!

2008-10-22T22:16:00.002-04:00

I was listening to the radio today, and heard the funniest thing. The BBC was interviewing a government official in India about their recent space launch. The interviewer pointed out that many people would be opposed to a country with such rampant poverty spending millions on space exploration, instead of on poverty relief. The Indian said, "We are not a poor country. We are a very rich country, with a lot of poor people."

Huh?!

I expect to see that guy showing up in American politics some time soon.

The still scary quote

2008-10-22T22:14:00.002-04:00

I had been thinking of this earlier post, and wanted to bring it back out:
http://dewhurstchris.blogspot.com/2007/08/scary-thought.html

Ditto

2008-10-17T20:10:00.004-04:00

I think I can empathize, Mr. McCain. Obama affects me the same way!

Source: Jim Bourg/ Reuters

Hypocriters are running loose!

2008-10-15T16:52:00.003-04:00

Over the last few years, I have observed several instances of hypocrisy that have edged me closer and closer to the boiling point. Last night, someone finally tipped me over. At 10:38 P.M. someone anonymously (or should I say COWARDLY) posted the following comment to a post my wife put on her blog about our kids' Halloween costumes, "I'm just a lurker but felt I should comment. I'm really confused. Not to be rude or anything but, aren't you supposed to be Christians? I thought you folks were holiness? I thought Christians shouldn't celebrate Halloween."

In answer to COWARD, maybe Christians shouldn't celebrate Halloween, but the same could be said of Easter and Christmas – the two most sacred Christian days of the year.

"Many of our modern Christmas traditions began hundreds of years before Christ was born. Some of these traditions date back more than 4000 years. The addition of Christ to the celebration of the winter solstice did not occur until 300 years after Christ died and as late as 1800, some devout Christian sects, like the Puritans, forbade their members from celebrating Christmas because it was considered a pagan holiday."[1]

And how will you refer to the days of the week, if you are a true Christian?

Sunday – "Sun's day" (derived either from the name of the Scandinavian sun Goddess Sunna or from"Sol," the Roman God of the Sun.")
Monday – "Moon's day"
Tuesday – "Tiu's day" (Tiu was the English/Germanic god of war and the sky)
Wednesday – "Woden's day" (Woden is the chief Anglo-Saxon/Teutonic god. Woden is the leader of the Wild Hunt. Woden is from wod "violently insane" + -en "headship".)
Thursday – "Thor's day" (Thor is the Norse god of thunder. He is represented as riding a chariot drawn by goats and wielding the hammer Miölnir. He is the defender of the Aesir, destined to kill and be killed by the Midgard Serpent.)
Friday – "Freya's day" (Freya (Fria) is the Teutonic goddess of love, beauty, and fecundity (prolific procreation).)
Saturday – "Saturn's day" (Saturn is the Roman and Italic god of agriculture and the consort of Ops. He is believed to have ruled the earth during an age of happiness and virtue.) [2]

"The name "Easter" originated with the names of an ancient Goddess and God. The Venerable Bede, (672-735 CE.) a Christian scholar, first asserted in his book De Ratione Temporum that Easter was named after Eostre (a.k.a. Eastre). She was the Great Mother Goddess of the Saxon people in Northern Europe. Similarly, the "Teutonic dawn goddess of fertility [was] known variously as Ostare, Ostara, Ostern, Eostra, Eostre, Eostur, Eastra, Eastur, Austron and Ausos." 1 Her name was derived from the ancient word for spring: 'eastre.'" [3]

The same scenarios bear true in the case of Halloween. There are some bad and some good things that are a part of Halloween. The story of Halloween is one of the Catholic church trying to mix and match with its beliefs and the customs of the world.

"By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas." [4]

If you want to say that Halloween has become something that you are uncomfortable with, I can fully agree. My wife and I distance ourselves from much of what goes on. Frankly, the majority of it is evil and has no part in the life of Christians. But don't excommunicate me if I carve a jack o' lantern, or allow my kids to dress up and go to a Halloween party at a family resort.

Then, when we were in South Dakota with my family this September, we were informed that my parents could not eat at McDonald's, because their church and others were boycotting McD's because McD's supports The National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC). After 13 days with my parents, I finally convinced them to rethink their position, as the boycott was very hypocritical. Before you boycott Wal-Mart or McDonald's, perhaps you should ask yourself if you have ever patronized any of the following businesses. The following is only a partial listing of the corporate sponsors of NGLCC:

Kudos to Mom and Dad! They gave up their hypocrisy!

Sources:

[1] The Pagan Origins of Christmas By Royce Carlson
[2] http://www.religioustolerance.org/easter1.htm & http://www.crowl.org/Lawrence/time/days.html#Sunday
[3] http://www.religioustolerance.org/easter1.htm
[4] The History Channel

Oops!

2008-10-08T17:32:00.002-04:00

This is a very convicting story I read on SermonIllustrations.com:

"An author for Reader's Digest writes how he studied the Amish people in preparation for an article on them. In his observation at the school yard, he noted that the children never screamed or yelled. This amazed him. He spoke to the schoolmaster. He remarked how he had not once heard an Amish child yell, and asked why the schoolmaster thought that was so. The schoolmaster replied, 'Well, have you ever heard an Amish adult yell?'" - Reader's Digest.

Visualize the Bible

2008-09-25T23:21:00.003-04:00

This is a really neat picture that illustrates the interconnectedness of the Bible. You'll need to click on the image to be able to read the caption:

South Dakota musings

2008-09-22T20:24:00.004-04:00

O.k., so I don't blog a lot, and when I do, I say very little about my personal life. Maybe I'll end up being frighteningly like my wife (whose blog is like a huge public diary), but I collected some musings from our latest vacation to South Dakota to be with my parents for 13 days. The pictures I took were actually taken at a zoo where my sister lives in Watertown, S.D.

Here's my baby brother Patrick the Penguin (O.k. cheesy).

This was a sign that made a lot of sense, given that it was in a zoo.

This one made much less sense, however.

In front of the jaguar enclosure, the zoo was taking every precaution that the animals were not bothered. The South Dakotans sure have a descriptive language. I've never even heard some of these words. It makes me wonder if there is anything else that someone might do to the jaguars? Hmm ... Nah.

Drunk in the Grandstands

2008-03-07T16:18:00.008-05:00

I went to Ohio University the other day, because Fox News was going to be there. There was a big election returns party in Baker Center cosponsored by Fox News and Palestra.com. I believe I was the only Mike Huckabee supporter in the building. I went up to the 3rd floor, sat next to the ledge and watched the party from above. We had been given little dry-erase boards with the Fox News and palestra.com logos on them. I wrote, "I LIKE MIKE" on mine and attached it to the railing (they have little refrigerator magnets on the back) above the party. One by one people began to look up and point, including a guy with a video camera and a palestra.com girl who took my picture. Suddenly, my mind began reeling. What would I say if one of them came up and wanted to talk to me? How would I explain the fact that with obviously no possibility at all of his making it to November, I was a dedicated supporter of Mike Huckabee. I began to rehearse a little answer in my mind, "Because I believe in true democratic politics. I've not yet succumbed to the lure of consensus politics - that elects a person using the buzz words "electability," "popular appeal," "media attention," or "momentum."

This, as one might imagine, has set me on a path of self-discovery. The answer that would have emerged when I thought I would be on TV was actually the thesis for a new world view I am now formulating. Where is our political system headed? How can we even call ourselves a democracy when we anxiously watch poll numbers so that we can "rally" around the winner. WHAT IS THIS!!! We are losing our blessed minds. Democracy is not falling victim to the menace of Communism, totalitarianism, or some other devious force. Our country is being run by media-fed populism. We might as well have the candidates NASCAR race for the presidency, while the electorate is drunk in the grandstands.

Wait a minute! That is what's happening.

Did I mention that I almost gave the lone Ron Paul supporter at the event a kiss?

Media Fast!

2008-01-16T12:39:00.000-05:00

Ok, so it's a bit odd for me to blog a class assignment, but I think everyone should share in my misery, um ... I meant mystery ... yeh mystery. So here it is. Some guy by the name of Marshall McLuhan noted that media are to us like water is to fish. I figured that was an unprovable, albeit clever, little statement. Boy was I wrong! My teacher in Mass Communication Class put us on a 24-hour media fast. Needless to say ...

I became a dead fish!

I knew that media permeated my life without my teacher having to tell me! Why else would I have ended up at the side of the road with a dead battery last year, although I knew my alternator was dead (I just couldn't turn off that xm radio). So I dreaded the assignment like crazy, and tried to find a day that I stand being media-free the easiest. (Did I mention that the word "media" includes: cellphones, radios, xm radios, computers, DVDs, magazines, newspapers, books, and even music). I plotted and schemed trying to find the best day for my torture ...

But my radio decided for me!

I was on the way to take my dad to Columbus airport, when I happened to look down and see dangling wires in my car. This could only mean one thing - my xm radio had been left in our van! AHHHHH! So it was decided. Monday January 14, 2008 would be my own little day that would live down in infamy. I spent the entire trip to Columbus and back periodically glancing at the stereo, or inadvertently reaching for the radio. It was nothing short of pure misery. HEY TEACHER, I GET THE PICTURE! How about a 12-hour fast? Twice that day I caught myself reading newspapers. After all, the biggest news of the year was unfolding before my eyes:

My beloved Colts were sent packing by the lowly Chargers. I couldn't even grieve their defeat like I needed to! I was on a ridiculous media fast!

So I tried little trick the rest of the day to keep me going. This was going to be a tough day for me, and I needed a game plan! The first thing I decided was that I could not under any circumstances, hang around the house. I have a couple of World Magazines laying around the house, DVDs, and the new Glenn Beck book I got for Christmas. Not to mention the novel I just started. Staying home was not an option. So we decided to go for a family night. Ice Cream and a puppy! So we headed off to Petland to see the new Old English Sheepdog puppy they got in.

Wouldn't you know it - the puppy was not allowed out for two more days! So we headed to get some ice cream with the gift cards we got for Christmas. Surprise, surprise! We didn't have enough money with us to put in the street meter. So we went home sad and dejected, and tried to get to bed early. Life was very hard without media.

Giraffe

2007-10-03T16:52:00.000-04:00

We went putt-putting, and there was this big bushy giraffe. The little giraffey horns on its head, and the long, long neck were a dead give away. Then, my wife said something about the "horse." You have to admit, this is a pretty funny looking horse. Perhaps I should call it a "gir-ors-affe"!

Redneck Additions

2007-10-02T08:46:00.001-04:00

This is a for real picture! These people needed more room in their trailer, so they just added on another trailer. Then they added another, and so on. The redneck way of life is alive and well in Marion, IN.

A scary thought!

2007-08-14T22:16:00.000-04:00

I came across this quote that chilled me to the bone. "Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction." - Blaise Pascal (1623 - 1662) This is not something just for Muslim terrorists or Christian crusaders. What about misled priorities and convictions? Isn't wrong done for good reasons still wrong?

Stupid people have stupid names

2007-04-26T21:31:00.000-04:00

Ever wonder where people get those strange names? I know I have. Well, my quandery has finally been answered. Walking through Meijers, I saw the answer in a little book on a shelf.

(I took this with my cell-phone camera. I was afraid I would get kicked out for being a mystery shopper spy.)

The defintion of a "quack"

2006-07-01T15:14:00.000-04:00

A quack is a short noise uttered from the beak of a duck. Actually, though, quacking is not what ducks do. Ducks actually make a noise that sounds more like "waht, waht, waht." Calling duck talk "quacking" is tantamount to calling dog talk "barking," or calling pig talk "oinking". These are "Americanizations" - words that are words because Americans arbitrarily say that they are, and then arbitrarily attach meanings to them. So one could feasibly say that is is politically correct to call duck talk "quacking". What is not politically correct, however, is for a human to call their talk "quacking". But that is precisely what I will be doing on this page. I will ramble my thoughts, and refer to it as "quacking". Since calling my rambling "quacking" is in and of itself politically incorrect, it should follow that my ramblings as well, will be politically incorrect. I invite you to respond in the same fashion.