tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-749221244434351112024-03-05T02:20:50.424-08:00trepidatiously yoursjscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.comBlogger278125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922124443435111.post-22502675868366803132023-03-17T03:56:00.001-07:002023-03-17T03:56:36.930-07:00war tactics<div>Tactics of War</div><div><br></div><div>Imagine if you will an archery competition. One would expect to see arrows landing near the center of the target. Now imagine an entire row of contestants who have totally missed the target because they shot themselves in the foot, causing severe, self inflicted wounds.</div><div><br></div><div>What devilry could have bewitched these archers to see their own foot as the target?</div><div><br></div><div>We do have an enemy, the devil and his demons. He does not need to take the bow from our hand. He only need to confuse us as to who is the enemy.</div><div><br></div><div>I live in a culture of rapid moral decay. Few know right from wrong. The message to love the world is ubiquitous. Ironically, the Bible is just a digital click away. </div><div><br></div><div>1 John 2:15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.</div><div><br></div>jscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922124443435111.post-23673411457086079982021-02-05T04:35:00.001-08:002021-02-05T04:35:40.527-08:00lab rat<div>Laboratory Rat</div><div><br></div><div>I am like the rat,</div><div>Traversing the maze,</div><div>Suddenly aware,</div><div>Of the scientist gaze.</div><div><br></div><div>Was the professor,</div><div>Plotting a trend?</div><div>Or was she hoping,</div><div>For a new rat friend?</div><div><br></div><div>JSM 5 Feb 2021</div><div><br></div><div>But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. John4.23</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>jscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922124443435111.post-83083325739463685032021-02-02T09:49:00.001-08:002021-02-02T09:49:41.432-08:00civil war prayer <div>Civil War Fatality’s Prayer Survives </div><div><br></div><div>After the battle of Gettysburg this prayer was found on a folded paper on a Confederate soldier’s corpse. </div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>I asked God for strength, that I might achieve,</div><div>I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.</div><div><br></div><div>I asked for health, that I might do great things,</div><div>I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.</div><div><br></div><div>I asked for riches, that I might be happy,</div><div>I was given poverty, that I might be wise.</div><div><br></div><div>I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men,</div><div>I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.</div><div><br></div><div>I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life,</div><div>I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.</div><div><br></div><div>I got nothing that I asked for, but everything I had hoped for.</div><div>Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered. </div><div>I am, among all men, most richly blessed.</div><div><br></div><div>JSM, 2 Feb 2021</div>jscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922124443435111.post-24785632783584629682021-01-28T08:12:00.001-08:002021-01-28T08:12:39.854-08:00understated adjective <div><font color="#000000" face="sans-serif" size="3"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.3); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Complaint about an Understated Adjective </span></font></div><div><font color="#000000" face="sans-serif" size="3"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.3); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div><font color="#000000" face="sans-serif" size="3"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.3); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I suggest a new word to replace the adjective chronic as an adjective to describe pain because it implies nothing of pathos. For example sunrises are constantly recurring and meet the definition of chronic. Chronic comes from the Greek khronos meaning time. I therefore suggest a different English word.</span></font></div><div><font color="#000000" face="sans-serif" size="3"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.3); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div><font color="#000000" face="sans-serif" size="3"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.3); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Besieging....</span></font></div><div><font color="#000000" face="sans-serif" size="3"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.3); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div><font color="#000000" face="sans-serif" size="3"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.3); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A siege is an attack over a long time without relief for which there is no internal relief.</span></font></div><div><font color="#000000" face="sans-serif" size="3"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.3); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div><font color="#000000" face="sans-serif" size="3"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.3); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I do not have chronic pain. I have besieging pain.</span></font></div><div><font color="#000000" face="sans-serif" size="3"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.3); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div><font color="#000000" face="sans-serif" size="3"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.3); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Now that seems to me a much better adjective!!! </span></font></div>jscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922124443435111.post-73939824613548376412021-01-26T05:54:00.001-08:002021-01-26T05:54:26.522-08:00mind controlYou are what you think.<div><br></div><div>That is the title of an article in March 2017 in Psychology Today by counselors Lisa Ferentz. [ <span style="font-size: 12pt; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/healing-trauma-s-wounds/201703/you-are-what-you-think?eml </span><a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/healing-trauma-s-wounds/201703/you-are-what-you-think?eml" style="font-size: 12pt; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">click</a> ] <span style="font-size: 12pt; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “You are what you think all day long.” </span></div><div><br></div><div>Is this true? </div><div><br></div><div>The Christian Apostle Paul said in <span style="font-size: 12pt; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">Colossians 3:2</span></div><div><div><br></div><div>[2] Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (ESV)</div></div><div><br></div><div>Positive Example</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><div>Philippians 4:8</div><div><br></div><div>[8] Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (ESV)</div></div><div><br></div><div>Negative example</div><div><br></div><div><div>Mark 8:33</div><div><br></div><div>[33] But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. (ESV)</div></div><div><br></div><div>I think you are what you think has a Biblical basis. Or as Christian author Darrow Miller says, "ideas have consequences." </div><div><br></div><div>How to think on an idea.</div><div><br></div><div>Mental Game One</div><div><br></div><div>Can you think about the color green? A dog? An equilateral triangle?</div><div>Can you not think about an apple? A ladder? Santa Claus?</div><div>Can you think about nothing?</div><div>Can you count backwards by 3s starting from 99 and stop 66?</div><div>Can you think about 2 things at the same time?</div><div><br></div><div>What are some thoughts you should not think? Suicide. Revenge. Hate.</div><div><br></div><div><div>2 Corinthians 10:5</div><div><br></div><div>[5] We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, (ESV)</div></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>James ,1:8 and ,,4:8 double minded , 2 souls </div><div><br></div><div>Mental Game 2</div><div><br></div><div>Label These Ideas</div><div><br></div><div>True or False</div><div>Important or Unimportant</div><div>Interesting or boring</div><div><br></div><div>Red, Blue, and Yellow are primary colors</div><div>Food is purchased in stores.</div><div>Alpha, beta, gamma are the first 3 Greek letters</div><div>A triangle with side lengths of 3,4, and 5 has a 90 angle opposite the side of length 5.</div><div>Space has 3 dimensions.</div><div>There is a God.</div><div>The sun and the moon orbit the earth.</div><div>I am ugly.</div><div>The sun is God.</div><div>Cornbread is sweet,</div><div>Food is grown on farms.</div><div>I can not change.</div><div>No one understands me.</div><div>The only reality is physical in nature.</div><div>The sun will rise tomorrow.</div><div>Thomas Jefferson was the second Vice President of the USA.</div><div>God made the world in 6 literal days.</div><div>The earth is spherical.</div><div>Sex is only for procreation.</div><div>God chooses who will be saved.</div><div>Demons are real.</div><div>God dictated the Bible.</div><div>Crystals focus spiritual forces.</div><div>Allah is God.</div><div>All birds can fly.</div><div>Time is a constant,</div><div>I weigh the same on the equator and the North Pole.</div><div>The universe has a boundary.</div><div>I am stupid.</div><div>Coal is bad.</div><div>All drugs should be legal.</div><div>Bourbon is evil.</div><div>Pleasure is evil.</div><div>He who has the gold rules.</div><div>Vengeance is ok.</div><div>Murder is wrong.</div><div>A little white lie never hurt anyone.</div><div>Money is evil.</div><div>Nudity is evil.</div><div>It is wrong to eat animals,</div><div>Satan is real.</div><div>Spiders are dangerous.</div><div>Rats are good pets.</div><div>Insects are food.</div><div>Drinking Lysol cures disease.</div><div>Suicide is ok.</div><div>Abortion is evil.</div><div><br></div><div>Our entire life we encounter circumstances which engender ideas which we evaluate and archive. The interesting, important, true file becomes the means by which we archive new ideas and thus if a mistake was made it tends to perpetuate itself.</div><div><br></div><div>For example a 10 year old grandchild on vacation in the mountains hikes in the woods with his grandmother raised in the mountains. To the grandmother teaberry is a green leaf to chew for pleasure. The child believes food is grown on farms and comes from stores. The child feels fear. He was scolded more than once for putting grass in his mouth. But, he also trusts the character of his grandmother. He watches the grandmother chew the leaf. He accepts one from the trusted hand of his grandmother. To his surprise it tastes just like bubblegum!!! The child will now begins to rearrange his filing system. His worldview just changed for the better.</div><div><br></div><div>If Emerson was correct we can change who we are by controlling what we think about. The entertainment industry is built on this premise. The last commercial I saw was for Old Navy clothing brand. I recall exciting music and multiple examples of very happy, healthy, prosperous people trying to convince me the Old Navy clothing brand is the key to happiness. I assume they don't spend money on advertising unless it has proven profitable in the past. I can still recall commercial jingles for cigarettes, soap, hot dogs, etc from my childhood. What are the dogs kids love to bite?</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Garbage in, Garbage out</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>jscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922124443435111.post-49322004829743795402021-01-26T05:54:00.000-08:002021-01-26T05:54:01.221-08:00most blessed<div>Most Blessed </div><div><br></div><div>Expend no thoughts of sympathy for me.</div><div>I am of all people most blessed.</div><div>I have no complaints toward God nor man.</div><div>Life has passed my expectations test.</div><div><br></div><div>I have witnessed life spring forth from the womb,</div><div>And lived to see the miracle again and again.</div><div>I have baptized Cabecar in cold mountain stream.</div><div>And seen prisoners by the hundreds born again and again.</div><div><br></div><div>One day I will be old and frail,</div><div>One day this body will give up the ghost.</div><div>But I was blessed to follow adventure’s trail.</div><div>And of all my peers I believed myself blessed the most.</div><div><br></div><div>JSM 1/26/2021</div><div><br></div><div><br></div>jscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922124443435111.post-78315559876091028012021-01-26T05:53:00.001-08:002021-01-26T05:53:09.859-08:00chain tight<div>chain tight</div><div><br></div><div>Life,</div><div>Beautiful</div><div>Warm</div><div>Positive </div><div><br></div><div>Pain,</div><div>Ugly</div><div>Cold</div><div>Negative </div><div><br></div><div>Life pulls left,</div><div>Pain pulls right,</div><div>Chain tight,</div><div>During the fight.</div><div><br></div>jscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922124443435111.post-2410085892372640392020-12-02T13:45:00.001-08:002020-12-02T13:45:44.805-08:00cofessions of a serial idolaterSugar, A Thought Experiment written by a Serial Idolater<br />Rev.J Scott Martin <br /><br />A Spoonful of Sugar<br /><br />I
hope to write a good thought. I think we have an understanding that
life is good. I want to write down a thought I have been thinking the
past few weeks in hopes that it will help you, the reader, live better. I
feel my life is better for having thought it.<br /><br />Sugar is a
chemical compound. For the purpose of this essay I will use sugar to
mean glucose, a molecule made of 6 carbon, 12 hydrogen, and 6 oxygen
atoms. The glucose molecule is created in nature by green plants using
carbon dioxide, water, and solar energy to produce sugar and oxygen in a
process known as photosynthesis. All plant and animal life on earth is
dependent on this process for food which is a form of stored energy
necessary for life. It also produces the oxygen we breathe. Fossil fuels
derive their ultimate origin from photosynthesis. <br /><br />Sugar is Good<br /><br />I ask therefore; is sugar good or bad? Sugar is good. Without it biological life as we commonly understand it would cease.<br /><br />I ask; can sugar affect well being? Yes.<br /><br />I ask; can sugar affect well being in a positive way? Yes, the proper amount of sugar is required for nutrition.<br /><br />I
ask; can sugar affect well being in a negative way? Yes, both a
deficiency and an excess of sugar can be detrimental to health.<br /><br />Sugar
is like oxygen in that it is constantly necessary to fuel brain
chemistry which allows thought to occur. As Descartes famously said, "I
think therefore I am". Without thought I cease to live. Sugar is food
necessary for life but sugar is also like a drug in that it produces
pleasure and pleasure can feed an addiction cycle resulting in over
consumption of sugar and significant bodily harm. A person can be aware
of self harm and yet seemingly incapable of escaping the addiction
cycle. Addiction is universally and correctly thought to be bad.<br /><br />No
doubt you asked yourself why is the author rambling on so about sugar?
Surly this is common knowledge and no one would dispute its content but
neither is it helpful or informative. I picked sugar for a topic because
it has less emotional, social, and religious prejudices than some other
subjects and thus easier to discuss in a logical way. I could have
chosen sex, music, money,the Bible, work, etc. but those topics are far
more complex. More importantly, sugar is fundamental to life. As
fundamental as oxygen or water. Sugar is not only good for my brain but
it is fundamental substance necessary for life on earth. The maple tree
converts energy from the sun into life giving stored energy in the form
of sugar. Life is good. Sugar is necessary for life. Therefore sugar is
good.<br /><br />use vs abuse<br /><br />One can not stop using sugar. If you
stop consuming sugar in any form such as a zero carbohydrate diet, your
body will convert dietary or body fat to sugar. When fat stores are
exhausted the body will digest itself to produce sugar resulting in
eventual death by the toxins created in the process. Sugar is constantly
essential. Sugar must be used but it may be abused. Seven sugar cubes
is an approximation of our daily requirements. Ten today and four
tomorrow is not abuse. Twenty a day for a month is abuse. Consistent
extreme abuse by over consumption will lead to impaired brain function,
obesity, heart disease, etc. and thus negate the very purpose which
makes sugar good. The excess intake of sugar is abuse. The excess intake
of sugar is bad. In sugar abuse, sugar, meant to enhance life, is
abused to detract from life.<br /><br />pleasure<br /><br />Pleasure is one of
many realities complicating our discussion of sugar. I want to present a
simple idea which means I will generalize.<br /><br />In a manner similar
to sugar, pleasure is good in that enhances life but also like sugar the
excess of pleasure is abuse. Like sugar it is impossible to avoid all
pleasure. Pleasure can be abused in that it can detract from life. There
are 2 characteristics of pleasure that need be understand to avoid
abuse. One is pleasure diminishes with frequency. The second is that
pleasure is never satisfied.<br /><br />Give a child 7 sugar candies and
tell them they can only eat one. If we watch them we will see ourselves.
It is much easier to eat none than to eat just one because the pleasure
of one demands repetition but the second cube does not achieve pleasure
equal to the first and thus we feel the third is necessary in the quest
to repeat the pleasure level achieved by the first sugar cube.<br /><br />A rational being who desires goodness must therefore regulate themselves in order to insure sugar consumption is not harmful.<br /><br />Life is Good<br /><br />All of my thoughts this far are based on the maxim life is good.<br /><br />All things created by God are good<br /><br />Now
I will make a inference which I think is justified. The use and abuse
of sugar is a specific example of general principle. Good things, good
conduct, good actions, good deeds are those which by their nature
enhance life. It is wrong to utilize a good thing in such a way as to
detract from life and thus subvert and counteract their inherent
goodness. In fact, all things when used correctly are good. Thus the
Christian Apostle Paul wrote.. 1Tim 4:4 Because everything which God has
made is good, and nothing is evil, if it is taken with praise.<br /><br />Praise<br /><br />Please
think a moment about praise. Paul means praise as praise to the creator
of the good thing. I think this implicitly means appreciation of the
goodness of the thing for which praise is given and thus recognizes the
use, not the abuse, of the object for which one is thankful.<br /><br />Motivation<br /><br />My
motivation in writing this essay is an attempt to understand a paradox
in Paul's letter to the Colossians 2:18 and 3:5 in which he rejects
asceticism and idolatry. Superficially he seems to say it is bad to
avoid pleasure and it is bad not to avoid pleasure. Careful thought and
reading is needed to understand there is no contradiction in the two
verses.<br /><br />Asceticism<br /><br />Asceticism is defined as severe
self-discipline and avoidance of all forms of indulgence, typically for
religious reasons. In Christianity a positive example is fasting. For
example Jesus fasted 40 days between His baptism and beginning His
ministry. However; Jesus, himself, seemed to reject fasting as an end in
itself as his critics accused his disciples of breaking some of the
ritualistic fasts of the Jewish religious customs of his day. Isaiah 58
is a strong condemnation of fasting as practiced in the Prophet's day
because the fast was for selfish reasons and a from of pleasure. It is
ironic that fasting meant to avoid pleasure could itself be a form of
pleasure. How? It allowed the worshipers to think of themselves as
religious while they exploited the poor for financial gain. The
acquisition of wealth was pleasurable for them as was the idea they had
forced God into approving of their greed by ritualistic fasting.<br /><br />Since
asceticism is not the topic of this thought I will state my thinking
without explanation. Asceticism is a tool which can be used for good or
evil but though it appears to have a form of religion it has no
intrinsic value in and of itself. It is no substitute for a right
relationship with the creator.<br /><br />Idolatry<br /><br />Idolatry is the
worship of idols. Idols are false gods. If we worshiped sugar it would
become an idol. If we worshiped a golden calf it would become an idol.
If we worshiped a piece of wood it would become an idol. The solution to
idolatry is not to discontinue the use of a good or necessary substance
but rather to discontinue the worship of the same.<br /><br />Worship is
good if used to worship God. Many people have a vague, inexact notion of
God, but Christianity teaches that Jesus is an exact notion of God.
This in Colossians Chapter One, Paul wrote,<br /><br />"Who is the image of
the unseen God coming into existence before all living things; For by
him all things were made, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things
unseen, authorities, lords, rulers, and powers; all things were made by
him and for him; He is before all things, and in him all things have
being. And he is the head of the body, the church: the starting point of
all things, the first to come again from the dead; so that in all
things he might have the chief place. For God in full measure was
pleased to be in him; "<br /><br />In Chapter 3 Paul wrote, "seek the things
above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, set your mind on
things above, not on things that are on earth." Nothing on earth,
sugar, water, oxygen, gold, silver, power, sexual pleasure,work, the
Bible etc. can replace God without becoming an idol. Idolatry is abuse
and is evil. Paul urges us. Focus on God. Worship God.<br /><br />Behavior Modification<br /><br />There
are many ways to tell someone how to behave. You can list the things
not to do. You can list the things to do. You can do both. You can
explain principles of good and evil. You can list examples. I think Paul
uses all these methods in Chapters 2 and 3. Sex with a prostitute is
listed as an example of a negative behavior. Singing spiritual songs is
an example of positive behavior. However; the focus and force of Paul's
appeal is to set our minds on things above not on negative or positive
behavior. Paul makes the assumption that setting our mind on Christ will
result in positive not negative behavior. He does not need to list all
negative behavior because the positive principle precludes it. He does
not say, "Do not eat too much sugar." He does say idolatry is evil and
that includes many excesses including the abuse of sugar. <br /><br />Sugar as an Idol<br /><br />Is
excess sugar idolatry? In case I have not made a convincing case, think
of this. Why did you eat the second piece of pie knowing it would taste
no better than the first and in fact could be metabolically harmful?
Were you not focused on the pie? the pleasure? Had you not lost sight of
life and the purpose of life? Could you sincerely praise God? I grant
perhaps you could. But, there is a point, for example the fourth piece,
in which it is very very difficult to conceive a positive scenario.<br /><br />Conclusion<br /><br />Focus
on Jesus. Focus on good. Use good things for good purposes. Beware that
inherently good things can become idols. Asceticism may be a tool for a
good goal but it is no substitute for Christianity and can itself be
abused as an idol. Idolatry is evil. God is good. Focus on God. <br /><br />The cure for idolatry is to worship God. <br /><br /><br />jscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922124443435111.post-30208982234560509522020-11-16T05:57:00.001-08:002020-11-16T05:57:35.873-08:00mindset<div>Colossians 3:2</div><div><br></div><div>[2] Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (ESV)</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>How??? Is this biological? Firing one set of synapses in the brain but not another?</div><div>How??? Is this geophysical? Thinking about celestial objects ?</div><div>How??? Is this spiritual? Time in the prayer closet or an out of body trance?</div><div>How??? Is this metaphysical? Thinking of philosophy and theology?</div><div>How??? is this sacrificial? Selfless service of humanity?</div><div>How??? Is this artistic? Composing the next "Messiah" or painting "The Last Supper" or sculpturing King David?</div><div><br></div><div>Though I often write in riddles this is intended as a direct question such as I often ask myself. I would be delighted to read your thoughts in a comment.</div><div><br></div>jscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922124443435111.post-76778432391556244942020-11-10T07:12:00.001-08:002020-11-10T07:12:48.842-08:00golden cowd<div>what if</div><div><br></div><div>what if frog legs?</div><div>what if green eggs?</div><div>are the gap between,</div><div>what I could,</div><div>and what I should?</div><div><br></div><div>do I own a sacred cow?</div><div>would I sacrifice it now?</div><div><br></div><div> Deuteronomy 9:16</div><div><br></div><div>[16] And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the LORD your God. You had made yourselves a golden calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the LORD had commanded you. (ESV)</div>jscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922124443435111.post-10267285514868679372020-11-07T05:19:00.001-08:002020-11-09T07:36:18.422-08:00too hot to handle, purpose of painThe bare hand grasps<div>Hot iron handle.</div><div>Suddenly loss of the sauce,</div><div>The mess dropping it will make,</div><div>Are both an exchange,</div><div>You gladly will make.</div><div><br></div><div><div>Psalms 119:71</div><div><br></div><div>[71] It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. (ESV)</div></div>jscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922124443435111.post-73219600989646570732020-11-06T04:39:00.001-08:002020-11-06T04:39:07.445-08:00poetic pain protagonist<div>poetic pain protagonist: poetic pain protagonist</div><div><br></div><div>misery loves company,</div><div>or so they say.</div><div>we need each other,</div><div>like a horse needs hay!</div><div><br></div><div>When life is harder,</div><div>and I tire of the fight,</div><div>empathy of others,</div><div>is a necessary respite.</div><div><br></div><div>Why not pray to God alone,</div><div>if you are such a saint?</div><div>Who says sharing with you,</div><div>means praying to God "I ain't"?</div><div><br></div><div><div>1 Corinthians 12:26</div><div><br></div><div>[26] If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. (ESV)</div></div>jscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922124443435111.post-6234768811819704452020-11-05T11:03:00.000-08:002020-11-05T11:03:14.227-08:00pain, chronicEnduring pain is really a difficult task much like rolling a heavy round ball up a steep incline. There is no rest. No chance for renewal. At first one hopes it will end. One imagines the top of the hill. Then hope fades. The realty is there is strength for one more step so you continue. And continue. And continue. If you stop the weight will crush you. But even those dark words are enlightened by reason. We humans can reflect on our own experiences and the meaning of our frail physical existence.<div><br></div><div>2 Corinthians 4:16-18</div><div><br></div><div>[16] So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. (ESV)</div><div><div><br></div><div>[17] For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, (ESV)</div></div><div><br></div><div><div>[18] as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (ESV)</div></div>jscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922124443435111.post-43251128910969313692020-11-04T09:20:00.000-08:002020-11-04T09:20:15.409-08:00potus newsIt is the day after elections in the USA.<div><br></div><div><br><div><div>unprecedented: Ecclesiastes 1:9</div><div><br></div><div>[9] What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. (ESV)</div><div><br></div><div>I don't understand. What is the point? This is the day after the election in the USA. The newscasters keep using the word "unprecedented". How so?</div><div><br></div><div>Please tell me. What is new under the sun?</div></div></div>jscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922124443435111.post-46280191566496318592020-11-02T18:14:00.001-08:002020-11-02T18:14:53.869-08:0065 It was a good birthday and I achieved a milestone. I am 65. My third nap seemed to help! The high point was a zoom call with the kids!jscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922124443435111.post-26491304982885769282020-10-29T08:30:00.000-07:002020-10-29T08:30:49.836-07:00sleep deprived I remember in 2017, when my aortic valve dissolved, how sick I was and how sleep deprived also because I was too sick to sleep. Thankfully, I am not nearly so sick this time but I am miserable enough to have trouble sleeping. jscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922124443435111.post-81509637606577512632020-10-28T17:42:00.001-07:002020-10-28T17:42:37.163-07:00er and est<div>3 am ish English</div><div><br></div><div>Miserable has too many syllables to make a comparative by adding the suffix “er”. So I am not “miserabler” but rather I am more miserable. Thankfully I am not most miserable nor “miserabilest”. </div><div><br></div><div>This English lesson brought to you by the vowel “e” and consonants “r,s, and t” and a few extra measures of misery.</div><div><br></div>jscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922124443435111.post-7218232088917327202020-10-25T08:24:00.001-07:002020-10-25T08:24:38.287-07:00Sickly SundayI attended Sunday School and church by Zoom and Facebook Live while holding a bucket and pacing in pain. I suppose that is an advantage of 2020.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div>jscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922124443435111.post-88488980463481903732020-10-24T05:55:00.000-07:002020-10-24T05:56:06.210-07:00ChatMyPals<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyjP1V7kRPV0KQ8KkyQOy_DHcjS8M4sXZ3KM13ePtrHFvCNJjWcF39YxM_cWaF2r3XyHvUCYViVHNWoBg-NKDdS_MK6DPVdZ0xv9UKJW4bI5QVWple2Ab-pUNG4h2Zs4_OoXwhAUioVxXU/s640/2020-10-22-084415.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyjP1V7kRPV0KQ8KkyQOy_DHcjS8M4sXZ3KM13ePtrHFvCNJjWcF39YxM_cWaF2r3XyHvUCYViVHNWoBg-NKDdS_MK6DPVdZ0xv9UKJW4bI5QVWple2Ab-pUNG4h2Zs4_OoXwhAUioVxXU/s320/2020-10-22-084415.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />I am working on a new website for friends who want to stay in touch but don't want the constant garbage supplied by social media advertisements. <p></p><p> It is called chatmypals.com <br /></p>jscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922124443435111.post-24342580503619317222020-10-19T16:06:00.001-07:002020-10-19T16:06:16.993-07:00wind 3:16<div>Wind 3:16</div><div><br></div><div>Can’t see it.</div><div>Can hear it.</div><div>Bible says,</div><div>Like the Spirit.</div><div><br></div><div>Born first flesh,</div><div>Born again spirit.</div><div>All flesh dies,</div><div>Do not fear it.</div><div><br></div><div>For God so loved,</div><div>You and me.</div><div>He sent His Son,</div><div>To set us free.</div><div><br></div><div>From sin and death</div><div>There is relief.</div><div>The cure is,</div><div>A tiny bit of belief. </div><div><br></div><div>John Chapter 3</div><div><br></div>jscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922124443435111.post-45120757336947499062020-10-15T08:56:00.001-07:002020-10-15T08:56:42.774-07:00brain train<div>My Brain</div><div>By JSM</div><div><br></div><div>I have a brain,</div><div>Like a train,</div><div>With a loose,</div><div>Caboose.</div><div><br></div><div>The further I go,</div><div>I look back to find,</div><div>I am not all here,</div><div>I am further behind!</div><div><br></div>jscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922124443435111.post-24933745372709959342020-09-03T07:44:00.001-07:002020-09-03T07:44:29.437-07:00<p> My daily posts tend to be in Facebook. <br /></p>jscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922124443435111.post-4069483030276759802020-04-25T07:37:00.001-07:002020-04-25T07:37:59.032-07:00sad<div>Sad</div><div><br></div><div>I feel sad.</div><div>I feel profoundly sad.</div><div>I have friends in many countries.</div><div>I hear from them directly,</div><div>They have no food.</div><div>They have hungry children.</div><div>They are beaten if they venture out.</div><div>They ask me how I am.</div><div>JSM 4/25/2020</div>jscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922124443435111.post-59555271436848157932020-04-08T05:17:00.001-07:002020-04-08T05:17:37.465-07:00Nineteen<div>19 was a good number</div><div>Until Covid19 came along.</div><div>The microscopic corona virus,</div><div>Has done a good number such wrong!!!!</div><div>JSM</div>jscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922124443435111.post-55433204447367925872020-02-16T12:55:00.002-08:002020-02-16T12:55:29.381-08:00mottoMy Motto For Life: The best way to help yourself is to help someone else.jscottlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15925815995418524204noreply@blogger.com0