B’Man’s Sabbath Watch: Rapture Worries

The Rapture may be dangerous to some…

B’Man’s Sabbath Watch: The Good Samaritin

B’Man’s Sabbath Watch: Born Without A Gag Reflex

President Bush, Stop this Madness!

“And that’s why it’s called ‘grace’.”

B’Man: And that’s why I call it bullshit. IF the story is true, then it is true for all. Otherwise, it is all bullshit. According to mainstream Christianity, their view of ‘grace’ is precisely what you see in that bogus video. ‘Grace’ only comes to those who decide for themselves that grace is theirs. What hypocritical, insane bullshit is that?

When Jesus tells the parable of the shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep to go get the rogue single sheep and would not return until it was done, what does that tell you?

B’Man’s Sabbath Watch: Suing Exorcists

B’Man: I have been a witness to these sorts of things. The people never called it an exorcism, but it was essentially casting out demons “in Jesus Name”. I watched a insane preacher (Danny Lovelace, who I actually like, but I know he is “out there”) ride on the back of a woman in church, like he was riding a bronco. Swear to God.

But he was saying something about snakes and serpents, but literally had his legs around the woman while she was on the ground on all fours.

I have seen people be “prayed for” who would thrash and roll on the floor like crazy people, then get up like nothing happened. In many cases, every week, the same people would thrash and roll and run around the pews (like everyweek they needed another exorcism from their previous week’s demon-possession). Its like it only takes in church while others are watching the spectacle.

But now, one better be careful because the courts won’t protect you if these maniacs cause you harm. From McClatchy:

Texas Supreme Court rules church can’t be sued in exorcism

By Max B. Baker | Fort Worth Star-Telegram

A divided Texas Supreme Court ruled in favor of a former Colleyville church Friday, saying church members who were involved in a traumatic exorcism that ultimately injured a young woman are protected by the First Amendment.

In a 6-3 decision, the court ruled that the Pleasant Glade Assembly of God staff’s efforts to cast out demons from Laura Schubert presents an ecclesiastical dispute over religious conduct that would unconstitutionally entangle the court in church doctrine.

Schubert described a wild night in 1996 that involved casting out demons from the church and two attempts to exorcise demons from her. The incident left Schubert physically bruised and so emotionally scarred she later tried to commit suicide. She was 17 at the time.

Read the complete story at star-telegram.com

B’Man: Jonathon Turley also addresses this subject here.

B’Man’s Sabbath Watch: The Church of the SubGenius… Eternal Slavation or Triple Your Money Back

Funny Stuff!

Light posts for a few days:

This old redneck gets to travel to Yankee country today (driving up at $4/gallon). I’m headed to Cincinnati for robot training (you people thought all along that I was human???). I’ll try to hit a post or two while gone (should have internet access in the evening).

Watch out Frigid north. Here comes “sunshine”!

B’Man

B’Man’s Sabbath Watch: Commercianity

Think of Christianity in any way you see fit, but this guy is holding Big Religion’s feet to the fire. In that, I appreciate what he has to say.

Now what many may not know about me is that I was once heavily involved with Christianity and was a “Methodist Music Director”, a “Praise Team Leader”, a “Sunday School” teacher and became an “Assistant Pastor” (whatever that is).

I have stood at a pulpit many, many times (hundreds) and have “preached” 100 sermons or more (still have notes from them all).

I use quotes because I always felt uncomfortable with the positions and never called myself that. If anything, I considered myself a teacher of what I learned about the Bible (especially relating to the original languages). The more I became involved with the religiosity of Methodism, the more I saw man and little God. The more I studied and learned, the more I realized that the very basic tenants of Christianity varied from the mainline definition of what I was expected to tell Methodist members. In turn, I became disillusioned with Methodism and wanted more.

We moved on to much more Charismatic churches and everywhere we went, we were approached to become “leaders” within those organizations. The one thing I saw was that the more and more “leader” I became, the more and more things became about business and the less and less I saw benefit for church members.

Coffee shops, book stores, music sold… Money from the members, arguments among the various “boards” for their share. A preacher that quit because the church couldn’t afford the normal $4,000 Christmas bonus and gave him $2K (on top of the house and utilities paid + a $40K/year salary).

Christianity has become Commercianity, as this dude in the video explains.

The guy says that those who are selling “The Word” are selling stolen property. I disagree. They simply become “peddlers of the word” for profit which is insincere and smells like shit.

2 Corinthians 2:14-17 (New International Version)

14But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. 15For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? 17Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.

Real Preachers don’t peddle their wares for money.

Did you notice that one can “smell” whether one is real or not.

Yep. If it stinks like shit.

It is.

B’Man’s Sabbath Watch: US Military’s Middle East Crusade for Christ

B’Man: Everyone has heard of the Marine caught trying to convert Muslims to Christianity with some sort of coin. Proselyting is nothing new to Bush supporters and the Christian right win , but to endorse its usage by service members in the middle of Iraq, who questions our every motive is beyond stupid.

Callous and foolish.

From The Smirking Chimp, worthy of a late Sabbath Watch post:

U.S. Military’s Middle East Crusade for Christ

by Robert Weitzel

“They are proselytizing not on behalf of the Constitution of the United States . . . but rather on behalf of some sort of fanatical view of end times. And they are using our army to affect that.”
 -Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson-

Last August the watchdog group, Military Religious Freedom Foundation, foiled a Pentagon plan that would have allowed the shipment of “freedom packages” to soldiers and Marines in Iraq. The parcels were put together by the fundamentalist Christian ministry, Straight Up, and contained Bibles, proselytizing tracts in English and Arabic, and the apocalyptic “Left Behind” computer game, in which Christian Tribulation forces convert or kill infidels—nonbelievers, Muslims and Jews.

On May 1 the Senate approved the promotion of Brigadier General Robert L. Caslen Jr. to Major General. Currently the commandant of cadets at West Point, he will become the commander of the 25th Infantry Division. He is also president of the stridently fundamentalist Officer’s Christian Fellowship, whose vision is a “spiritually transformed military, with ambassadors for Christ in uniform, empowered by the Holy Spirit”

General Caslen was promoted despise the Defense Department’s recommended disciplinary action against him and several other senior military leaders because they had “improperly endorsed and participated with a nonfederal entity while in uniform” by participating in a promotional video for the Campus Crusade For Christ’s Christian Embassy, an evangelical organization that ministers to Beltway politicians and sponsors weekly Bible studies at the Pentagon.

According to the DoD Inspector General’s report, one of the generals involved “asserted that Christian Embassy was treated as an instrumentality of the Pentagon Chaplain’s office for over 25 years, and had effectively become a ‘quasi federal entity.’” Arguably, he believed his participation in the video was in the line of duty.

Considering both the Pentagon’s evangelical proclivity and a 2006 Pew survey which found that of the major religious groups in America, evangelicals have the most negative views of Islam and Muslims, the U.S. sniper who was recently caught using the Quran for target practice in the Baghdad neighborhood of Radhwaniya might be excused for thinking the book was a legitimate target upon which to perfect his craft . . . excused for thinking he was acting in the line duty.

And is it any wonder that with evangelicals and fundamentalists at the very top of the military’s officer corps —to say nothing of their Commander in Chief—that an enlisted Marine was passing out Christian “witnessing coins” inscribed in Arabic at a checkpoint in Fallujah? One side of the coin asked, “Where will you spend eternity?” An evangelical favorite, John 3:16, was on the flip side.

Sheik Adul-Rahman al-Zubaie, a tribal leader in Fallujah who was outraged by the Marine’s proselytizing said, “This event did not happen by chance, but it was planned and done intentionally.”

While the Marine’s proselytizing is not the official policy of the predominately Christian force occupying the predominately Islamic Iraq, it was done “in the line of duty” with a wink and a nod from his chain of command. Think Abu Ghraib!

From Fort Jackson, the Army’s largest basic training facility, where trainees are encouraged to attend Campus Crusade’s weekly “God’s Basic Training” programs, to the U.S. Air Force Academy where students are pressured to attend the Crusade’s weekly “cru” (short for crusade) Bible study, American military personnel are, as Campus Crusade’s Scot Blom gloats, “government paid missionaries” when they complete their training.

As the demands of fighting a perpetual war against “radical Islam” begins to strain both the military’s resources and the country’s resolve, the Pentagon has begun outsourcing larger chunks of the war to private contractors. Predictably, our “government paid missionaries” have become more expensive and much less controllable or accountable.

The Bush administration’s favorite contractor, Blackwater, is the most powerful private army in the world. It commands thousands of mercenaries in Iraq and Afghanistan, has over a billion dollars in government contracts, and enjoys complete immunity from prosecution for its theater of operations’ conduct.

Blackwater’s founder, Erik Prince, a staunchly conservative Catholic, has also served on the board of directors of Christian Freedom International, a crusading missionary organization operating in the overwhelmingly Islamic countries of Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq. Prince envisions an evangelical “end time” role for his warriors, “Everybody carries guns, just like Jeremiah rebuilding the temple in Israel—a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other.”

No one in the last decade has contributed more to end time, apocalyptic evangelism than John Hagee, a televangelist seen by millions of viewers weekly and pastor of the 19,000-member Cornerstone Church. Hagee preaches that in order to bring about the Second Coming of Christ and the Rapture of true believers, Islam first has to be destroyed.

In a 2006 interview with National Public Radio’s Terry Gross, Hagee told her, “Those who live by the Quran have a scriptural mandate to kill Christians and Jews.” He went on to claim that there are 200 million Muslims waiting for the chance to attack Israel and the United States. From his pulpit, Hagee makes it clear to his congregation and the radio and television audience what they can expect from American Muslims if such an attack ever took place, “While American Muslims live in America, 82 percent are not loyal to America and are not willing to fight and defend America.”

In his book, “Jerusalem Countdown - A Warning to the World,” Hagee warns that the war between Islam and the West “is a war that Islam cannot and must not win.”

John Hagee is not just a mad evangelizing prophet. He is “the” mad evangelizing prophet who is courted by a war president, a hawkish presidential candidate and members of Congress from both parties. His Islamophobic bilge has trickled down from Capital Hill, through the labyrinthine corridors of the Pentagon, and into the chamber of a sniper’s rifle and the hand of a Marine guarding a checkpoint in Fallujah.

Officers in the military are expected to lead by example. Enlisted personnel are expected to follow that example. If the recent incidents at Radhwaniya and Fallujah are not just the acts of renegades, then the chain of command seems to be working the way it was designed.

B’Man’s Sabbath Watch: Quitting Church

Have you ever “quit a church”? I have. Several times, for many reasons.

I never quit because my handlers told me to or for any political rationale. I left cause the churchs were man-made kingdoms preying off of the subservient… run by power mongers spreading lies (kind of like Bush, et al). They try to force particular doctrinal focus (ever shifting and changing among the sects) by taking certain words from whichever translation has been manufactured to fit its theology and dominate for people’s money and compliance to their doctrine.

All by the “book” and little spiritual guidance.

So, I wonder why Mr Obama left his church?

None of what has been said is foreign to that church. It is obvious from the participation of the congregation. They were all agreeing and  chiming in (in most cases, so would have I). I probably would have enjoyed many of those sermons… for entertainment purposes, if nothing else. But, in fact, I DID agree with many of the words and sentament preached.

My friend and fellow 35%er, Manila Ryce at The Largest Minority has an explanation for Barack’s decision capitulation to power.

B’Man’s Sabbath Watch: Westboro Church Gets Pwned

B’Man: I don’t know exactly who this guy is or how he got access, but he certainly puts them in a conundrum.

B’Man’s Sabbath Watch: All of McBush’s Endorsees and Spiritual Advisors

ZP Heller is the editorial director of Brave New Films. He has written for The American Prospect, AlterNet, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Huffington Post, covering everything from politics to pop culture. He offered this piece at Alternet this morning:

Apocalyptic Christian Nationalism at Its Scariest

These are excerpts from “Silhouette City,” a new documentary by Michael Wilson that investigates apocalyptic Christian nationalism. The film tracks the rise of this religious fervor over the last three decades, from fringe Christian survivalist groups of the 1970’s to today’s mainstream movement. As you can see from this clip, the current leaders of apocalyptic Christian nationalism include Rev. Rod Parsley and Rev. John Hagee, whose endorsement John McCain has actively sought.

According to Wilson:

“I began making “Silhouette City” because, in late 2001, I began to hear echoes of the Christian extremism from my childhood in Arkansas. In order to quiet the ringing in my ears, I immersed myself in the contemporary Christian right – the media, music, ministries, books, personalities and organizational apparatuses…. As the economy continues to slide, the energy crisis becomes palpable and the occupation of Iraq appears indefinite, the potential grows for a major disruption of daily life. A significant percentage of the population sees these looming crises through a specific lens: a belief that humanity is waging the opening skirmishes of a cosmic war between Good and Evil that will usher in the Kingdom of God. Such belief enables an ever-escalating sense of urgency – very real threats to the middle and lower classes (outsourcing, rising fuel and food costs, etc) combine with perceived threats (secularism, homosexuality, ethnic/religious others) to become overwhelming evidence of the tribulations that signal apocalypse.”

“Silhouette City” focuses on the motivations behind this growing need to adopt an apocalyptic worldview

 

B’Man’s Sabbath Watch: “The Family”

The Family: Hillary Clinton’s fascist spiritual guide

Barbara Ehrenreich writes:

There’s a reason why Hillary Clinton has remained relatively silent during the flap over intemperate remarks by Barack Obama’s former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. When it comes to unsavory religious affiliations, she’s a lot more vulnerable than Obama.

You can find all about it in a widely under-read article in the September 2007 issue of Mother Jones, in which Kathryn Joyce and Jeff Sharlet reported that “through all of her years in Washington, Clinton has been an active participant in conservative Bible study and prayer circles that are part of a secretive Capitol Hill group known as the “Fellowship,” aka The Family. But it won’t be a secret much longer. Jeff Sharlet’s shocking exposé, The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power will be published in May.

Sean Hannity has called Obama’s church a “cult,” but that term applies far more aptly to Clinton’s “Family,” which is organized into “cells” — their term — and operates sex-segregated group homes for young people in northern Virginia. In 2002, writer Jeff Sharlet joined the Family’s home for young men, foreswearing sex, drugs, and alcohol, and participating in endless discussions of Jesus and power. He wasn’t undercover; he used his own name and admitted to being a writer. But he wasn’t completely out of danger either. When he went outdoors one night to make a cell phone call, he was followed. He still gets calls from Family associates asking him to meet them in diners — alone.

The Family’s most visible activity is its blandly innocuous National Prayer Breakfast, held every February in Washington. But almost all its real work goes on behind the scenes — knitting together international networks of rightwing leaders, most of them ostensibly Christian. In the 1940s, The Family reached out to former and not-so-former Nazis, and its fascination with that exemplary leader, Adolph Hitler, has continued, along with ties to a whole bestiary of murderous thugs. As Sharlet reported in Harper’s in 2003:

During the 1960s the Family forged relationships between the U.S. government and some of the most anti-Communist (and dictatorial) elements within Africa’s postcolonial leadership. The Brazilian dictator General Costa e Silva, with Family support, was overseeing regular fellowship groups for Latin American leaders, while, in Indonesia, General Suharto (whose tally of several hundred thousand “Communists” killed marks him as one of the century’s most murderous dictators) was presiding over a group of fifty Indonesian legislators. During the Reagan Administration the Family helped build friendships between the U.S. government and men such as Salvadoran general Carlos Eugenios Vides Casanova, convicted by a Florida jury of the torture of thousands, and Honduran general Gustavo Alvarez Martinez, himself an evangelical minister, who was linked to both the CIA and death squads before his own demise.

At the heart of the Family’s American branch is a collection of powerful rightwing politicos, who include, or have included, Sam Brownback, Ed Meese, John Ashcroft, James Inhofe, and Rick Santorum. They get to use the Family’s spacious estate on the Potomac, the Cedars, which is maintained by young men in Family group homes and where meals are served by the Family’s young women’s group. And, at the Family’s frequent prayer gatherings, they get powerful jolts of spiritual refreshment, tailored to the already-powerful.

Clinton fell in with the Family in 1993, when she joined a Bible study group composed of wives of conservative leaders like Jack Kemp and James Baker. When she ascended to the senate, she was promoted to what Sharlet calls the Family’s “most elite cell,” the weekly Senate Prayer Breakfast, which included, until his downfall, Virginia’s notoriously racist Senator George Allen. This has not been a casual connection for Clinton. She has written of Doug Coe, the Family’s publicity-averse leader, that he is “a unique presence in Washington: a genuinely loving spiritual mentor and guide to anyone, regardless of party or faith, who wants to deepen his or her relationship with God.”

Furthermore, the Family takes credit for some of Clinton’s rightward legislative tendencies, including her support for a law guaranteeing “religious freedom” in the workplace, such as for pharmacists who refuse to fill birth control prescriptions and police officers who refuse to guard abortion clinics. …

I see God in George W Bush’s Eyes

When you read that, you immediately thought I was crazy, didn’t you? Since today is Sunday and my day for watching the crazies on B’Man’s Sabbath Watch, I began to think about God and a comment that Bush made about the Pope.

Just prior to the Pope’s visit to the US, W was interviewed by ‘Eternal Word Television Network’:

WASHINGTON, D.C., APRIL 13, 2008 (Zenit.org).- U.S. President George Bush said that when he looks into Benedict XVI’s eyes, he sees God.

The president made this affirmation Friday when he answered the last question posed him during an interview with Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) anchor Raymond Arroyo.

When he looks into his eyes, he sees God. Now, normally, when demons see God I would assume they run scared or melt like throwing water on a wicked witch.

So, either George is not a demon or he is lying about seeing God in the Pope’s eyes.

Of course, this country knows that George would never lie, but, to be on the safe side of evil, I decided to review all the times that God has spoken or reveled something to George in the past and ask you to decide if you rednecks still think old George is a “Godly Man”.

But before we reminisce, there are a few more ‘nuggets” of bullshit we should see from that interview.

Human rights

The EWTN anchor noted that the Pope will probably bring up the issue of the war in Iraq, asking what the U.S. government is doing to protect the Christian minority there.

Bush said that “something we have been doing all along, is urging the government to understand that minority rights are a vital part of any democratic society. And by the way, my concern isn’t just for minority rights in Iraq; it’s for minority rights throughout the Middle East.”

Well there you have it. W is concerned about the rights of minorities everywhere in the ME. GAG!

And Bush affirmed: “I feel like it was the right decision then, and obviously the data has now shown that — I hope it shows to people it’s the right decision. [...] By the way, I think this is the beginning of what is a very interesting debate that future presidents are going to have to deal with, and that is science versus ethics, the value of life versus saving life — supposedly. [...] I’ve obviously drawn the line in the sand that honoring life in all forms is a touchstone for good science.

“I think it’s important for people to understand that a culture of life is in our national interests and that — it’s also important to understand that the politics of abortion isn’t going to change until people’s hearts change, and fully understand the meaning of life and what it means for a society to value life in all forms — whether it be the life of the unborn, or the life of the elderly; whether it be the life of the less fortunate among us, or the life of the rich guy. I mean, it’s a moral touchstone, I think, that will speak to a healthy society in the long run.”

Damn, rednecks, did you know that this country and our president respects life and wants a culture of life (as long as they haven’t been born yet, that is). For when it comes to bombing those minorities and their children, he has no compunction whatsoever. I almost think that he revels in the bombs.

Finally, Arroyo asked him, “You said, famously, when you looked into Vladimir Putin’s eyes you saw his soul. [...] When you look into Benedict XVI’s eyes what do you see?”

And Bush answered immediately, “God.”

Jesus Christ. He wouldn’t know God if God came down from ‘on-high’ and slapped the fake Texan dumbass out of him.

B’Man’s Sabbath Watch: Obama, Osama, hmmm: Are They Brothers?

If there was ever a time to shut down the politics in church, especially after the idiots that were brainwashed into believing that Bush was a “Godly Man” launched a full scale political movement of churches to get the “Maniac-in-Chief” elected the last time and then use their stacked Judges to stop the recounts… the time is NOW.

Here it is for all to indulge… the church and those that run it are simply politically motivated for power and influence. A simple cursory look at their actions and how they force themselves into the political arena, even though it is against the law, and to the devastation of this country and others in the world, proves their intent.

The hypocrisy doesn’t fool me, people. One cannot rail and preach against abortion, yet cheer lead on bombing Muslims. What does fool me is how you can live with yourselves after having such a view. How you can claim to honor and mimic the “Prince of Peace” and still want to bomb thousands of others.

Did the early martyrs become martyrs by fighting and Killing? Or did they do precisely what Jesus told them to do?

I am not telling Americans to sit idly by and allow anyone to hurt us. But, to do what we have done is the height of hypocrisy and I will be the first to point it out to any brainwashed fools who don’t seem to notice their stupid assed allegiance to ruining this country and Christianity while at it.

From Jonathon Turley:

Osama and Obama: Church Fuels Obama Muslim Rumors

As Hillary Clinton is being criticized for running a commercial against Barach Obama featuring Osama Bin Laden, a church in South Carolina has put up a sign “Obama, Osama, hmmm, are they brothers?” It is only the latest intervention of a church in the election in violation of federal law and perhaps the most moronic. Pastor Roger Byrd of the Jonesville Church of God insists that he will not take down the sign, which is less of a problem. It is the tax-supported church behind the sign that need to be changed.

In Jonesville, S.C., this passes for provocative thinking. Byrd says that he just wants to get people thinking. Thinking about what? “It’s simply to cause people to realize and to see what possibly could happen if we were to get someone in there that does not believe in Jesus Christ,” he said.

Of course, Obama has denied the rumor. But Byrd insists that a lifetime of church going, baptisms, and a controversial minister is not enough. “I don’t know. See it asks a question: Are they brothers? In other words, is he Muslim ? I don’t know. He says he’s not. I hope he’s not. But I don’t know. And it’s just something to try to stir people’s minds. It was never intended to hurt feelings or to offend anybody.”

Never intended to offend anybody. I am less concerned that this man is the spiritual leader of people in South Carolina than I am that he actually gets to vote.

Yet, after years of faith based politics, discussed here, ministers are now openly campaigning in their churches in direct violation of the federal tax code, here and here.

For the full story, click here.

B’Man’s Sabbath Watch: Scientology Caused Tom Cruise to Evolve Into a “New Creature”

I had this video ready to post this morning:

But then I read Jonathon Turley’s blog post about the same subject and wanted to include his comments (and a very funny comment by one of his readers).

Scientology Accused of Pressuring Removal of YouTube Video and Abusive Searches of the Homes of Critics

Scientology is again under criticism over the alleged pressure to remove the video below of Jason Beghe explaining why he left the church and how actors like Tom Cruise and John Travolta allegedly believe that they are now a new species. At the same time, the Internet has seen an explosion of videos alleging highly abusive uses of copyright laws by Scientology lawyers to harass and search leading critics.

It is not clear is Beghe’s video was taken down due to pressure or past problems regarding copyright questions. This videostill appears on YouTube. However, as noted hereYouTube remains strangely unresponsive to such concerns. The reputation of the church for heavy handed measures against critics immediately triggers such concerns when someone like Beghe have material withdrawn. Google was recently accused of caving into the church over a promotional video by Cruise, as discussed here. It doesn’t seem to work since the video is available here. Beghe was once a celebrity advocate of the church.

The Church is also the subject of this video alleging searches of the homes and computers of leading critics.

Then Mespo727272 commented:

“Tom Cruise and John Travolta allegedly believe that they are now a new species.”
******************

I have to agree with Cruise and Travolta on their recent evolution. I am told the name of the new species will be “actorus washedupius,” and the phylum designation will be “searchingus for attentionius.”

B’Man’s Sabbath Watch Redux: How To Dance In The Rain

 Received via email from Tentmaker…

How To Dance In The Rain

(author unknown)

It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an elderly gentleman in his 80’s, arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am.

 

I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him.

 

I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound.

 

On exam, it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound.

 

While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor’s appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife.

 

I inquired as to her health. He told me that she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer’s Disease. As we talked, I asked if she would be upset if he was a bit late. He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now.

 

I was surprised, and asked him, ‘And you still go every morning, even though she doesn’t know who you are?’

 

He smiled as he patted my hand and said, ‘She doesn’t know me, but I still know who she is.’

 

I had to hold back tears as he left, I had goose bumps on my arm, and thought, ‘That is the kind of love I want in my life.’

 

True love is neither physical, nor romantic. True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.

 

With all the jokes and fun that is in e-mails, sometimes there is one that comes along that has an important message. This one I thought I could share with you.

 

The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.

 

We all want to receive this kind of love, but somehow, I think, the better part is to be able to give this kind of love. “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5: The beautiful thing about Christ’s act on the Cross is that He has prepared a way for us to love like that through Him.

 

I hope you share this with someone you care about. I just did.

 

‘Life isn’t about how to survive the storm,

but how to dance in the rain.’

 

 

http://www.tentmaker.org

info@tentmaker.org