tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-264005342024-03-08T10:18:02.395-08:00LettuceGoSoutMickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.comBlogger78125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400534.post-25190520485689492852023-11-27T12:20:00.000-08:002023-11-27T12:33:05.059-08:00HARD TO BELIEVE<p> <span style="font-size: large;">It is hard to believe that the heart beats 100,000 times in a day. But then there are 86,400 seconds in a day. The heart beats about 3.5 million times in a year and in an average lifetime the heart beats more than 2.5 billion times.</span></p>Mickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400534.post-14056671686857538992022-12-12T12:06:00.005-08:002023-02-05T21:12:08.765-08:00The Jabez Prayer--1982 Edition<p> The Jabez Prayer is in First Chronicles 4:10. The New King James version of it reads as follows: "Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that your hand would be with me, and that you would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain."</p><p>Most translations of the Jabez Prayer are characterized by this sentiment: "that I may not experience pain"rather than that I would not cause pain.</p><p>The scholars at Thomas Nelson Publishers "assigned" a merit to Jabez that led him to find favor with God. </p>Mickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400534.post-41495912064770750102022-11-22T08:59:00.001-08:002022-11-22T08:59:13.584-08:00When I Was One-And-Twenty by A E Housman - Poetry Reading<iframe style="background-image:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4OKwIjsho5k/hqdefault.jpg)" width="480" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/4OKwIjsho5k" frameborder="0"></iframe>Mickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400534.post-81485834855144784012022-11-04T06:56:00.000-07:002022-11-04T06:56:13.414-07:00Left Untried<p>The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult, and left untried. (G.K. Chesterton) </p>Mickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400534.post-78142599748627011382022-09-22T07:20:00.006-07:002022-09-27T06:31:03.327-07:00Never Suburban<p> "The spiritual life can never be made suburban," said Howard Masey. "It is always frontier and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed."</p><p>This quote brings to mind a quote from the Gospel of John: Chapter 8 verse 3 in the King James Version reads : "The wind bloweth where it listeth. and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is everyone that is born of the Spiritt."</p>Mickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400534.post-75533411854112193912022-09-09T06:47:00.000-07:002022-09-09T06:47:17.453-07:00Millennium Morning<p>I was going to make all wars to cease</p><p>Before breakfast. Before lunch</p><p>I was going to take 100 Dalmatians and</p><p>Fifty-six firetrucks and shut down hell</p><p><br /></p><p>By eleven a.m. I had read an issue of</p><p>The Journal of Near Death Studies</p><p>And realized hell was mostly frozen over and</p><p>My firetrucks would only make matters worse.</p><p><br /></p><p>It was quiet though, all wars ceasing before</p><p>Breakfast, Nietzsche, Marx, Lenin, and Hitler were enjoying a card game.</p><p>Schweitzer and Gandhi walked around on</p><p>Eggshells, pondering the first day of the thousand-year ceasefire.</p><p><br /></p><p>Did I have regrets making Man in my own image?</p><p>Was it right for me to hide from Nietzsche when</p><p>He came looking for me? Did I learn to hide from</p><p>Adam, or did he learn to hide from me?</p><p><br /></p><p>At 1 p.m. it was croquet with the prophet</p><p>Moses and Presley at Graceland. We talked about the</p><p>Artichoke salad, Howard Finster's spelling and decided to</p><p>Take the next bus to Texas and visit the Cadillac Ranch. </p>Mickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400534.post-41965506319224617502022-02-26T06:18:00.000-08:002022-02-26T06:18:50.634-08:00No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/6GhcJglp7RI" frameborder="0"></iframe>Mickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400534.post-80252739390053141152022-02-26T05:29:00.001-08:002022-02-26T08:02:47.997-08:00Charles Frederick Weigle<p> The composer/evangelist Charles Frederick Weigle lived from 1871 to 1966. He spent his last years as a guest resident of Tennessee Temple Schools and Highland Park Baptist Church in Chattanooga. One of the buildings was called the Weigle Building. He had an apartment in the building.</p><p>One day in late 1965 or early 1966 my sister Debbie walked with him from the barber shop to his apartment. The sidewalks were icy and the walk took over ten minutes. Debbie does not remember what they talked about as they walked. Charles thanked her for walking with him.</p><p>Charles is best known for his song "No one ever cared for me like Jesus" written in 1932 as he recovered from a depression caused by his wife leaving him.</p><p>Here are the lyrics:</p><p>Chorus: No one ever cared for me like Jesus; There's no other friend so kind as He. No one else could take the sin and darkness from me; oh how much He cared for me.</p><p>First verse: I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus, since I found in Him a friend so strong and true. I would tell you how He changed my life completely; He did something no other friend could do.</p><p>Second verse: All my life was full of sin when Jesus found me; all my heart was full of misery and woe. Jesus placed his strong arms about me and He led me in the way I ought to go.</p><p>Third verse: Ev'ry day He comes to me with new assurance; more and more I understand His word of love. But I'll never know just why He came to save me, till someday I see His blessed face above.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Mickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400534.post-63898132363979736372022-01-17T07:04:00.003-08:002022-01-17T07:04:38.839-08:00A Friend<p>A friend is one who knows you as you are, understands where you you've been, accepts who you've become, and still--gently--invites you to grow......(author unknown) </p>Mickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400534.post-11614756945172321792020-07-16T08:29:00.002-07:002020-07-16T08:29:34.057-07:00Tell all the TruthTell all the truth but tell it slant (1263 Emily Dickinson)<br />
Tell all the truth but tell it slant---<br />
Success in Circuit Lies<br />
Too bright for our firm Delight<br />
The Truth's superb surprise<br />
As Lightning to the Children eased<br />
With explanation Kind<br />
The Truth must dazzle gradually<br />
Or every man be blind.<br />
<br />
Addendum: "Always tell the truth. That way you won't have to remember what you said."<br />
<br />Mickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400534.post-49626256002714661602020-03-20T14:31:00.001-07:002020-03-20T14:31:03.824-07:00His Name Is Wonderful (Lyrics)<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KCYidpA7-4A" width="480"></iframe>Mickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400534.post-53810134024247556742019-10-18T08:12:00.000-07:002019-10-18T08:12:05.575-07:00Cayce and Bible Quotes"There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, it doesn't behoove any of us to speak evil of the rest of us." (Edgar Cayce)<br />
<br />
"....why dost thou set at nought thy brother?" Romans 14:10 KJV<br />
<br />
"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" Luke 6:41 KJVMickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400534.post-37179165683316817552019-06-14T06:47:00.003-07:002019-06-14T06:47:43.922-07:00Two Cartoon CaptionsFrom the December 10 2018 Issue of the New Yorker: "From 9 to 1 you will be answering emails. From 1 to 2 you will be out to lunch. From 2 to 5 you will be answering emails that came in while you were out to lunch."<br />
<br />
From the cartoon "Shoe," published on Memorial Day 2019: He: "I remember when I was at Wrigley Field in 2016 for the World Series." She: "All you talk about is the Cubs. You never share your deepest emotions with me." He: "The Cubs are my deepest emotions!"Mickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400534.post-55132143231670657622019-04-13T06:13:00.001-07:002019-04-13T06:13:27.858-07:00What! No Christmas Card?An elderly couple were sitting on their porch in rocking chairs a few days after Christmas.<br />
<br />
The man said to his wife "What ever happened to our sexual relations?"<br />
<br />
She replied "I don't know. I don't think we even got a Christmas card from them this year."Mickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400534.post-1930302430393273852019-04-10T06:14:00.003-07:002019-04-10T06:14:40.707-07:00The Highest GoodTo attain the highest good<br />
Of true man and womanhood<br />
Simply do your honest best.<br />
God with joy will do the rest.<br />
<br />
(James Whitcomb Riley)Mickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400534.post-44866807846471787442018-10-19T08:21:00.002-07:002018-10-19T08:21:56.647-07:00A Poem By Francis William BourdillonThe Night Has A Thousand Eyes<br />
<br />
The night has a thousand eyes,<br />
And the day but one;<br />
Yet the light of the bright world dies<br />
With they dying sun.<br />
<br />
The mind has a thousand eyes,<br />
And the heart but one:<br />
Yet the light of a whole life dies<br />
When love is done.Mickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400534.post-29315067721015406562018-09-16T07:20:00.001-07:002018-09-16T07:24:05.470-07:00They thought he was DementedThey thought he was just a demented prisoner. After his death they found these words on the wall in his prison cell--another verse to the hymn The Love of God:<br />
<br />
"Could we with ink the oceans fill and were the skies of parchment made; were every stalk on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade; to write the love of God above would drain the oceans dry; nor could the scroll contain the whole though stretched from sky to sky."<br />
<br />
The refrain (chorus) was written by another and reads "O love of God how rich and pure! How measureless and strong! It shall forever more endure---the saints' and angels' song."<br />
<br />
His verse is beautiful poetic hyperbole. Reminds me of the King James Version of the last verse in the Gospel of John, intimating that the world itself could not contain the books that should be written about the life and works of Jesus Christ.Mickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400534.post-79211271220444299242018-05-17T06:11:00.001-07:002018-05-17T06:11:34.489-07:00"Was there a Time"--poem by Dylan ThomasWas there a time when dancers with their fiddles<br />
In children's circuses could stay their troubles?<br />
There was a time they could cry over books,<br />
But time has set its maggot on their track.<br />
Under the arc of the sky they are unsafe.<br />
What's never known is safest in this life.<br />
Under the skysigns they who have no arms<br />
Have cleanest hands.<br />
And as the heartless ghost alone's unhurt<br />
So the blind man sees best.Mickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400534.post-51877342151291246222018-05-15T09:52:00.005-07:002018-05-15T09:52:49.141-07:00"Don't Hesitate" --Prose Poem by Mary OliverIf you suddenly and unexpectedly fee joy, don't hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still [,] life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happened better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instance when love begins. Anyway that is often the case. Don't be afraid of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.Mickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400534.post-89444763847870583432018-02-25T09:48:00.000-08:002018-02-25T09:48:49.563-08:00Dance Every FridayMany years ago I was returning from a visit with my children in Asheville to my home in the Greater Atlanta area. I stopped at a rest area on Interstate 85. I noticed an abandoned yellow rubber ducky underneath one of the picnic tables. I decided to keep it and make it into my mascot for when my children rode in my automobile. I would set it on my dashboard when my children were with me.<br />
<br />
I decided it needed a name and decided to call it Alpha Betty. I took the complete alphabet as my template and guideline for its complete name.<br />
<br />
ABCDEF evolved into "Alpha Betty Can Dance Every Friday" from which I am using as the title of this blog entry.<br />
<br />
GHIJKLMNOPQ evolved into "Good Health Is Just Knowing Larry Makes Nice Onion Pineapple Quiche." My children had for about three years a stepdad named Larry. He was my ex wife's high school sweetheart and her second husband.<br />
<br />
RSTUVWXYZ evolved into "Root Specialists Treat Underground Vegetables With Xenophobic Yellow Zits."<br />
<br />
I have thought of alternatives to the third name, one being Route Specialists Treat Undocumented Vagrants With Xeroxed Young Zebras.<br />
<br />
Anyway I hope even John Doe can use the letters of his name to create something humorous and useful.Mickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400534.post-68057082186706692482017-12-10T12:21:00.002-08:002017-12-11T11:16:59.035-08:00The Hunter and the Game Warden The game warden was making his rounds in the woods one day during hunting season.....he saw a hunter with a large off-white sack with draw string. After he introduced himself to the hunter he reached into the hunter's sack and pulled out a squirrel. He put it up to his nose and sniffed a bit. He finally said to the hunter this is a Kentucky squirrel; do you have a Kentucky hunting license? The hunter took out his wallet and produced his Kentucky hunting license....The game warden reached a second time into the sack and pulled out a groundhog. After holding it up to his nose and sniffing it a bit he said this is a Tennessee groundhog; do you have a Tennessee hunting license? The hunter reached for his Tennessee license and showed it to the game warden. The game warden reached into the sack a third time and pulled out a rabbit. He held it up to his nose, sniffed it a bit and declared this is an Alabama rabbit do you have an Alabama hunting license? The hunter handed his Alabama hunting license to the game warden.<br />
The game warden was a little puzzled by now and reached into the sack one last time but the sack was empty. He then looked at the hunter and said all your licenses are in good compliance with the various state laws----where are you from, anyway? The hunter turned around so his rear end was facing the hunter and said YOU ARE THE GAME WARDEN; YOU SNIFF MY REAR END; YOU TELL ME WHERE I'M FROM!!!<br />
I heard this joke from my next door neighbor in Indiana many years ago. Enjoy!<br />
<br />Mickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400534.post-57477461999532652702017-08-23T09:51:00.003-07:002017-08-23T09:51:57.262-07:00The Consequences of Weird BehaviorUnusual behavior tends to produce estrangement in others which tends to further the unusual behavior and thus the estrangement in self stroking cycles until some sort of climax is reached. In Phaedras' case there was a court ordered police arrest and permanent removal from society." (Chapter Six.--Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance--Robert Persig.)Mickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400534.post-46190223341307795992017-05-19T10:33:00.003-07:002017-12-11T07:59:16.006-08:00100 years in total ---36,250 days--give a day or twoHurricane Matt my son turns 35 years of age in 12 days.....I hit 65 years of age 12 days ago---what's not to like about that? Trump and Associates may stifle a yawn or two if they wish..:-)Mickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400534.post-63929253469212485002016-10-15T10:21:00.000-07:002016-10-15T10:21:24.466-07:00Ironwood Rhubarb #7"Whether we or our politicians know it or not, Nature is party to all our deals and decisions, and she has more votes, a longer memory, and a sterner sense of justice than we do." (Wendell Berry)<br />
<br />
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
TRANSITIONAL STATES: (Mick Bysshe)<br />
<br />
Every human being goes through transitional states in life. At some point you outgrew your diapers. Later you learned how to tie your shoes and learned how to read and write. Perhaps at one point or another you decided to get married, take a job in a different state, buy a house, or start your own business. Too many changes (transitions) in a short period of time may have adversely your mental health and overall satisfaction with what life has brought your way.<br />
<br />
If there was a sanctioning elder during these transitional states your experiences might be considered liminal, a threshold between two differing personal realities. If there was no sanctioning elder, these threshold experiences would be considered liminoid.<br />
<br />
In the book of Genesis Jacob wrestles with an angel and is given a new name and mission. He suffered physical injury while wrestling with the angel. Thus we have the motif of a shaman as a wounded healer.<br />
<br />
Proverbs 26:4 and 5 give two contradictory approaches when a fool is messing with your reality: respond in kind or don't respond in kind. You will be in a transitional phase as you decide the appropriate response.<br />
<br />
The liminal/liminoid state is a threshold state, neither here nor there, neither up or down, neither up or down. One has to dispense with the old before acquiring the new.<br />
<br />
An entire society may go through these transitional states. One that comes to mind is the 2000 USA presidential election, ultimately decided by a 5 to 4 decision of the Supreme Court.<br />
<br />
Sometimes a liminal/liminoid state can last a long time with no clear outcome or sense of finality. George W. Bush declaring war on terror might be considered an example of this. Even Donald Rumsfeld felt that the phrase "war on terror" was not quite right.<br />
<br />
Cultural anomie--deteriorate/shifting norms of a society--also came about as a result the Roe versus Wade decision, creating division regarding unwanted pregnancies.<br />
<br />
.<br />
For an ordinary Joe or Jane a transition may come after a vivid and disturbing dream. Other changes could be deterioration in health, falling in love with a third person while in an unsatisfying marriage, loss of employment, or the death of a loved one.<br />
<br />
The milieu for a successful liminal transition will involve sacred space and time with a tribal elder--often an individual that is a psychologist or a minister of a church that you feel comfortable telling your stories to. For a liminoid experience you might want to spend time at the seashore, camping/hiking in the woods, or reading a book that guides you through your change, the author filling in for tribal elder.<br />
<br />
When Ronald Reagan wanted to quite using tobacco, he started munching on jellybeans, though I don't know if that was the best way to transition.<br />
<br />
You can't win them all. Happy transitioning!Mickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400534.post-89236640089144432016-09-22T14:04:00.000-07:002016-09-22T14:04:52.294-07:00Meme Generals"A meme general is one who controls vast influence. His or her army shapes the messages consumed by the masses, enchanting the listeners to understand their message. For countries this is called propaganda, for churches this is now called a sermon, for companies it is called marketing or communications." (Howard Campbell in "Poker Without Cards by Ben Mack)......for more on the subject see Ironwood Rhubarb #4 below.Mickbichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02219995234630216502noreply@blogger.com0