Even The Wildlife Is Looking For Something To Do For Summer Vacation! 

Thinking About The Winds That Blow Across The Face Of Our Nation 

Love In Any Language, Straight From The Heart!

There have been times when I've felt very much like one of those birds pictured below. Imagine with me, there I am, center stage singing with all of my heart, praying that everyone will like the song and join in, but only one or two actually do. The rest are silent, watching, wondering what is going on. They can see the lips moving, they can see the rhythmic movements of the body language that is keeping time to the music, but they can't hear it, and they can't feel it, they only see the imagery of what I'm hearing and feeling. Like the silence that confronts us from our reflection in a mirror, we attempt to get a response, all the while knowing that there can be none. In my heart I don't believe this is the "different drummer" syndrome at work, it is something far deeper. Have you ever been in a situation where both you and the person with whom you were attempting communications had no tongue in common? Tried them all, German, Spanish, Hebrew, Greek, English and a few others more obscure, while they in turn spoke a half dozen different languages back and neither of us found anything that could draw us together, linguistically speaking. That's when it is truly time to laugh out loud, grunt and point, guffaw and giggle, because that is a starting point. A foundation upon which one can build some form of mutual point of reference. It may not happen often, if ever, like this for you, but in our everyday relationships we are in contact with many whose "language" we don't speak even though the words that come out of our mouths are the same, and easily understood. Maybe we need to experience that frustration of a foreign tongue once in awhile so that we can appreciate how good it is to have a whole dictionary at our disposal for the purpose of communicating thoughts and feelings, ideas and perceptions. Music, in my opinion, is a truly international language, one that anyone, anywhere who reads instrumentally or vocally can use to communicate. There is another, that supercedes music, though, it is the written language of faith in our Savior that at one time was spoken with a single line drawn in the dirt or the sand. If the person you drew it for completed the drawing you had the fundamental beginnings of a relationship. One based on faith in the same deity. Today we listen to the rhetoric of politicians and speechmakers, famous and infamous personages, and then wait for someone else from the media field to "tell" us by way of explanation what has been said. Can it be that we see their lips moving, watch the gestures that they make, but don't "hear" the words or understand the languages that are being spoken? As the Pledge of Allegiance was removed, as prayer became disallowed in our schools, as the Ten Commandments are in the process of being erased from our day to day lives, are we trying to sing along but just can't seem to get it? Maybe we are headed back to the drawing of lines on the ground, and a few simple grunts, to reassure one another that we can still communicate in our 21st century world. In Christ's Love, Preacher.

Summer Music Fest Now In Session. Come As You Are! Refreshments Will Follow. 

Every Day Should Be This Sweet! 

Stopping To Watch The Clouds!

Perhaps it's just me that sees the world most days through some kind of happy lens. Like the love note I sent my wife at her E-mail address this morning, I know for a fact that she only picks up mail every other week or so, and she does that from her home office. I had no idea that she had started picking up at work on the employee computer in the cafeteria(this was the second time). Actually at the time I was putting the piece together with animations and sweet words of endearment I was thinking forward to our(coming soon) anniversary. So, I guess there are a lot of folks at the 3M plant that now know how much I care about my honey. That's alright, I can take the heat, and I will not allow this to embarass me in any way. It's been a day like that. God's blessings have been shining on me with blinding luminosity! Mom used to say, "Eat dessert first!" Dad would say, "Save the best for last!" I always thought they had to both be right, so I have dessert before and after dinner when the opportunity arises. Quick story: I was rolling down a highway about thirty miles from home today and stopped to take pictures of clouds. No sooner had I shut my Harley off then a lady of at least 70 years of age pulled over on the opposite side of the road to enquire if I had a problem. I told her no, I was just stopped for some pictures, and then I thanked her. She smiled, I smiled, and she was gone and I took my pictures and left. The thing is, I wouldn't want my wife to stop for somebody that looks like me when I'm on two wheels, but the lady that stopped made such an impression on me that I had to share it with you. God does a lot of things to let us know how much He cares for us. Sometimes we need to be reminded to care about one another. There are times when our caring is not fully understood, but that may work out for the best, too, once in awhile. In the case of ladies(this is generally speaking, of course)stopping for guys on Harleys, it's not a very good idea unless you know them. Personally I suspect she may have been an angel sent to remind me of how truly "good" most people are! This is South Dakota, though, who knows, maybe one of the guys that rides stopped and helped her at some point in time and she was just returning the favor to another rider. It would be great if we could understand people's motivations by their actions and words, but unfortunately this is not the case. I'm reminding myself to "not" look so deeply at incidents, save that energy for things we can interpret. Oh, I forgot a part of what mom always said, the rest of it was, "Life is short!" It is short, indeed! Perhaps this is why we all need to enjoy God's blessings as much as possible. In Christ's Love, Preacher.

The Beauty Of Life Surrounds Us When We Are Ready And Willing To See!