Christmas Lights

This year, November 30^th ushers in the Advent Season, a time when we focus on the traditions of Christmas and the “reason for the season,” the birth of Jesus Christ.  Counting down the days until Christmas we often get distracted from its real meaning by the frenzied pace of Christmas preparation; parties to attend, shopping for presents and even church activities can dilute our focus from the true meaning.  So in my pre-Christmas rambling thoughts, the lights of Christmas got me to thinking and here is what fell out of my head this week.

Attempting to describe God is always a struggle with the limitations of language.  One of the most powerful word descriptors for God is found in the Bible.  In these scriptures, God and Christ are often referred to as “light.”  Maybe that is why Christmas lights have become such a big part of our religious as well as our secular Christmas traditions.

Glenmore Mansion in Jefferson City, TN (Dec 2013)

Considering God and Light

·         You cannot see light with your eyes, but only see objects as light reflects off of them.
o       Just as we’ve never seen light,  we have never seen God, but
o       God’s indwelling spirit allows us to reflect Him so that others might see God through us, or that we may see God in others.
·         In the absence of light, darkness surrounds us.
o       People, who live without God, essentially “live in darkness” and are “blind” to life’s real meaning.
o       Even when our faith is weak, somewhat like a small candle in a large dark room, God’s presence pushes the darkness away, creating a circle of light around us.
·         Light is multi-faceted, composed of different wavelengths which when separated by a prism displays the many different colors of the light spectrum.
o       God is like that.  He is multi-faceted and touches each life in a unique way.  He is not limited to any social status, race, color or creed of humanity.
·         Light can only pass through things that are transparent.  Opaque substances block all light.   Depending on the substance, light may transmit as translucent or transparent.
o       Like light, God’s spirit can shine through us as well.
o       Ask yourself, “Does God reveal himself to others through me?”
§         Am I transparent (transmitting a clear image of God),
§         Am I translucent (transmitting a fuzzy image of God), or
§         Am I opaque (transmitting no image of God)?

I John 1:  5-7 (21^st Century King James Version)

5)  This then is the message which we have heard from Him and declare unto you:  that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.  6)  If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.  7)  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

II Corinthians 4:4 (New Living Translation)

4)      Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe.  They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News.  They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

 

Grand staircase of Glenmore Mansion (Nov 29, 2014)

The season of lights has begun and I am enjoying the lights of Christmas again this year as we decorate our own home and as we drive around our community.  Here’s hoping that the lights of Christmas remind us of Jesus Christ, God’s true light.  Jesus is truly the light of the world.  He can illuminate a dark world or a dark heart, but only if we seek him.

Tree in front room at Glenmore Mansion (Nov. 29, 2014)

Now, let's ramble and enjoy the Christmas Season!

DIY Time Warp

For some reason I’ve always been a DIY type of person.  Raised by my grandmother Johnson, I was taught to be independent and take care of things around the house.  The primary motivator back in those days was economics, not HGTV.  As an adult, the DIY complex has almost been a curse at times when I should’ve called a “fix-it guy” rather than doing it myself.  I’ve always tried to “build things” or “remodel things” or use “wire and bailing twine” to keep something operational.

During all of my projects, many a time I’ve dropped a screw, nut, or nail as I worked on a widget.  I’ve most always searched for those dropped objects, but many times those nuts, nails or screws simply vanished…never to be found.

Over the years I’ve often thought about where those objects disappeared to.  Now I know most of you are saying, they just fell in a crack, a hole, or bounced under a board.  But I’m not so sure the answer is that simple.  Most of you are probably aware of one of the universal laws a DIY person encounters regularly, the Law of Gravity:  Any tool, nut, bolt, screw, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.  Well, this certainly happens, but this law only accounts for those objects that I look for and find.  The ones that simply vanish call for a much deeper analysis.

I’ve been building my theory since the original Star Trek series premiered on TV back in 1966.  That show certainly gave me some things to ponder.  Remember how the crew members would step into the “transporter room” and be “beamed” to another location, or “beamed back aboard” the Starship when they got in a tight fix on the planet below?  Moving objects through space…..could it be possible?  Then the “Back to the Future” movies and others such sci-fi stories planted the seeds of “slipping through a crack in today’s reality to another point in time.”

Then there are other times when I forget science and ponder the mysteries of my faith.  The Biblical concept of a physical body that also has an invisible soul provides even additional fodder for consideration.  Do body and soul reside in parallel universes, one physical and visible, the other spiritual and invisible?  

All these thoughts came full circle this past week as I began another DIY project in our sun room.  Plans were to put some bead board on the ceiling, so I began the prep work of moving furniture and taking down all the decorative elements in the room.  One step involved removing the ceiling fan before I began nailing the bead board strips to the ceiling.  This small mechanical exercise involved removing a few screws that held the fan blades to the fan motor and then removing the motor and electrical connections.  Pretty simple stuff, but boy did it help me solve my life-long wondering about what sometimes happens to screws when they are dropped and simply vanish.

 



Here I'm putting the fan back up after installing the bead board,
but this is about the same process as when I took screws out and one vanished.

The floor of the sun room is vinyl tile with an oval area rug in the center.  The fan hangs directly above the oval rug and a wicker coffee table is beneath the fan.  I’d removed two fan blades successful and captured all screws.  On the third blade I removed screw number one and had screw number two on the way out when I dropped it.  I looked down from my perch on the step ladder just in time to see the screw hit the oval rug and take a bounce under the coffee table.  No doubt about where this screw had landed I thought, so I stepped down from the ladder and looked under the coffee table.  No screw in sight.  I broadened my search, feeling with my hands and looking at every conceivable place the screw could have bounced and hidden.  No luck.    I picked up the oval carpet and shook it to see if I could dislodge a screw hiding some place in the weave.  No luck!  That shiny steel screw had completely vanished and was not to be found in that 12’ x 16’ sunroom space. 

 

It seemed impossible that the screw had simply vanished, but suddenly it hit me.  “I know what happened,” I said to my wife, “It fell through a time warp, you know, a crack in time.”  She laughed heartily, but didn’t offer any better explanation.  “You’ll find it sometime,” she said.  No chance of that I thought, it's in another time dimension and invisible from our time perspective.

After all these years of dropping screws, nuts and bolts, I finally saw this one hit the floor and bounce under the coffee table.  It made no sound as it hit the carpet, it simply bounced into a 'crack in time' and vanished.   Finally, after all these years, I'd seen one of these disappearing events with my own eyes; positive proof that physical objects can totally vanish and slip from real time into an invisible dimension.  I know, you are probably chuckling to yourself or even laughing out loud by now, but I doubt you’ve got a better analysis. 



About half way putting up the bead board, still no screw found.

My wife thought we'd find it as we worked, but after about a week's work in the sunroom; removing all the furniture, vaccuming, mopping, and checking all the baseboards and cracks, the fan screw is still missing.  It vanished!

So, laugh if you want, but I’ll rest in the belief that the proof will come someday.  When the time comes for me to slip through life’s time warp and step into a great new dimension of eternal time and space I’m sure I’ll find the evidence.  No doubt, one of the first things I’ll see in that new universe will be a vast room full of nuts, bolts, nails and screws. No doubt about it, I'll find the fan blade screw there among the many others in a giant pile of screws, nuts and nails that were dropped by a bunch of Do-It-Yourselfers when they were working on their projects.

 

Now if by chance you slip through the time warp before I do, the screw you need to look for looks like the one in the photo below.  See if you can figure how to slip it back through the time warp and I'll put it back in the fan.

 

 

Here is what it looks like.

It fits in a bracket like this one.



Now while we still have time on this side...…….let’s ramble!

Hidden Colors

View of Mt. Cammer from Foothills Parkway, Cosby, TN

It has been a beautiful fall here in East Tennessee.  It seems it took a bit longer for the trees to come into their full colors, but for the past several weeks they have been providing vivid and dynamic colors.  Here it is the second week of November and there is still much color in the neighborhood.  One day this past week as I drove home from town admiring the yellows, oranges and reds of maples, hickories, gums and sumac, I decided once again that the fall is my favorite season……at least until spring.

At my core I love nature and I still carry some of my life science curiosity, questioning and training from my college years as a biology/forestry major.  Each fall as I observe the leaves changing from their many shades of green to their many shades of color I can’t help but remember the science behind the transformation from green to a rainbow color pallet.



Our "Tree House" Maple

                                        

 

My daughter-in-law, Mimi, and I were talking a few weeks back as the color transformations began.  She was speculating about how weather or climatic factors influence the quality of the annual foliage display.  At that point, my old plant physiology factoids merged into our conversation when I said, “You know those colors are there in the leaves all summer, you just can’t see them due to the chlorophyll; and it’s the change in shorter days and longer nights that triggers the appearance of colors.”

Later when I had some second thoughts about the accuracy of my comment, I did a quick fact check with the National Arboretum website and found that my memory of plant physiology was almost correct. 

 

Here is the scoop.  The green of the chlorophyll normally masks the yellow pigments known as xanthophylls and the orange pigments called carotenoids — both become visible when the green chlorophyll is gone. These colors are present in the leaf throughout the growing season. Got that part right.  The red and purple pigments come from anthocyanins. In the fall anthocyanins are manufactured from the sugars that are trapped in the leaf. In most plants anthocyanins are typically not present during the growing season. I'd forgotten about how the reds get there. 

Eventually all the color pigments break down in light or when they are frozen. The only pigments that remain are tannins, which are brown.

Along the Foothills Parkway near Cosby, TN

Well, three out of four ain’t too bad I guess. At any rate, the colors begin appearing when triggered by the seasonal transition to shorter days, longer nights and cooling temperatures.  In short, it’s the “change” that brings out the colors.

So, as I drove home that day and admired the colors again I thought about the “hidden colors” of the trees.  The hidden pigments of yellow, orange and brown are there during the green summer season and reds appear later due to the sugars trapped in the leaf. It is only when the green pigments of chlorophyll begin to breakdown, photosynthesis ceases and sugar content increases; that the brilliant colors of autumn are able to show through the greens of summer.

The thought occurred to me that people are like deciduous trees in some respects.  I’ve heard it said that there is a bit of good and bad, beauty and ugliness in every one of us.  When life is generally good and we are active, productive and growing there is a dominate personality that is apparent to those around us.  They see our predominate color.  But sometimes, if we get “shook up” or there is a time of stress, change or transition, our other personality “colors” may show through.

Fortunately for us, living in the hills and mountains of Appalachia, the transition of seasons triggers some of the best and most enjoyable colors of the year in our deciduous trees. Those seasonal changes seem to bring out the brightest and most pleasant colors of the year in our native trees.

 

Another colorful view along a six mile stretch of the
Foothills Parkway connecting Cosby, Tn with I-40.

As I experience my own transition times in the seasons of life; when my days grow shorter and the nights are cooler, so to speak, here’s hoping that I will display some of my best and most pleasant colors in the autumn of life. 

May we all hope to show the colors of love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control and long-suffering.  May they be visible to those around us, adding some color to the day.

Sumac

Now, let’s ramble and enjoy what’s left of this fall season!

Honeysuckle, Johnson Grass & Politicians

This past week Becky and I took a short trip down to our local City Hall to participate in “Early Voting” for the 2014 General Election.  We like to vote early because it frees us from having to run the gauntlet of candidates pitching for your vote if  you vote on Election Day.

Having entered the local political fray a few years ago I am blogging this week with a small degree of experience based wisdom and a dose of empathy for candidates and all Americans who must suffer through these election cycles.

Every two to four years, local and state public officials must campaign for election or re-election.  The ordinary citizen has no trouble knowing when this is about to happen because the roadsides, intersections, yards, and vacant lots suddenly become filled with “yard signs.”  These signs spring up like weeds that grow alongside the highways and county roads. 

As we drove to City Hall this week, we had no trouble finding the place because the closer we came, the more "Yard Signs" signs we found alongside the roads. 

 

 

 

 As we neared City Hall, the signs got bigger and bigger. 

 

 

There was even a big sign outside the polling site that told me that I had arrived and
 I was to VOTE HERE! 

 The entry door was also plastered with additional signage that provided warnings to candidates, felons, and consequences for three kinds of illegal voting, should someone be so foolish.

 

Enter here to vote, but read the fine print!

Just inside the entrance was a long table with the twelve pages of this year's ballot.  There are a lot of judges listed this year and you have the option of voting to  "RETAIN" or to 'REPLACE" each one.



Next, we had to show our voter registration card and photo ID to actually get the papers that allowed us to approach the electronic voting machines.

 On the actual voting machine screen you had to scroll through twelve pages and read carefully to know where to place you “X” mark for the candidate(s).  Voting is not really that difficult although at times it seems like you are running an obstacle course. 



Phil using the only power he has to impact local and state government!

 

But of all the signs we saw on the way to vote, the ones that really got me to thinking were these!

 


Honeysuckle, Johnson Grass and Political Candidates may have some things in common!

Yep, just down the road from my house I found these “Yard Signs” planted right in the middle of, and most appropriately, a big patch of Honeysuckle vines and Johnson Grass.  How interesting I thought, there's a good possibility some of them have much in common with those plants.

x    Most are perennial; they just keep coming back season after season, cycle after cycle.

x    Sometimes they can look pretty nice and smell sweet, but given too much time they can become invasive, aggressive and cover up the good stuff.

x     If you take just a casual look, their outward appearance can be pleasing to the eye and they don't appear to be too threatening.  But if you ignore them for a while and later try to remove them, you'll find they've grown powerful roots and will hold tight to where they are attached.

x    Ever try to get rid of Honeysuckle or Johnson Grass?  Pretty dang hard since it spreads from seeds and has roots that run deep.  I've been gardening on the same plot of ground for 30 years and I still fight Johnson grass every year.  I did finally eradicate the Honeysuckle, but the it took years.

x    Ever try to get rid of a politician who has been "planted" more than one term?  Pretty dang hard since the longer they stay in office the stronger their grip on the system.

 

Come to think of it, if you leave Johnson Grass and Honeysuckle alone the stuff will simply take over the landscape.  Often the same thing is true of political office holders.  If they stay in office too long they sorta take over. 

I will have to admit, not all of my political acquaintances fit in with my plant analogy.  There are a few public officials who continue to  "fight the good fight" and bloom like beautiful wildflowers even when surrounded by Honeysuckle and Johnson grass.  Thank you for your public service!

Oh well, you see where I rambled as I looked at the “Yard Signs,” Honeysuckle and Johnson grass on my way to vote this week.

The American system of government has its flaws, warts, and weeds, but it is still one of the best governance systems ever envisioned.  It is an amazing framework because it continues to work in spite of lack luster and self-serving politicians.  Unfortunately, it could work so much better if the “average citizen” would pay more attention to what is going on and keep office holders accountable.

Remember the definition of REPUBLIC: 

A state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives chosen directly or indirectly by them.

Based on the definition, the only real power you and I have for holding elected officials accountable is our individual vote, so don't fail to use your personal power this year.  Ramble on down to your local polling precinct and cast you vote!

Let's help control those officials who are similar to Honeysuckle and Johnson grass......if you know what I mean.
 

GO VOTE EARLY!

2014 Early Voting:  July 18 – August 2

Election Day:  August 7, 2014

 

Until next time, keep rambling!

Dear God, deliver me.…

Part of the Lord’s model prayer that we learned as a youngster teaches us to pray for deliverance, precisely, “deliverance from evil.”  Most of us, have taken that model prayer to heart and pray often for “deliverance from” many things. 

Dear God deliver me from these pesky mosquitoes and gnats, also the poison ivy growing in my flower beds and the weeds in my yard and garden.

But wait, didn’t God create these things?  Well, I guess he did since they are a part of the amazing and varied plant and animal bio-system He created.  But why did he create such pests?  They are nothing but a bother for me and threats to my enjoyment of life.  And we know for a fact that over the centuries some of these pests have spread disease and pestilence.

So how can I pray for deliverance from something God created?  Did he put these pests here for some purpose?

Remember the story of the frogs, lice, flies & locust that plagued the Egyptians?  Now these critters were also part of God’s creation, but he used them for a purpose.  So maybe I better think twice about those pesky mosquitoes and gnats. 

Do I need deliverance or just some insight? Is God trying to tell me something?

Dear God, it’s been awfully dry this summer, deliver me from this drought.  Now, we did get a good shower one day last week and I’m not complaining about that, but we could use a good soaker.  Depending on where you live, we did get a good rain the last couple of days. 

Does God control the weather or is that just a function of ocean currents and the jet stream?  After all, God must have put them into motion as a part of his creative genius.

Best I can recall; weather played a role in several biblical stories.  Noah and the flood was a memorable one for sure.  I also remember the story of Elijah and a long dry spell.  Seems like those folks went without rain for about three years because Elijah asked God to “not let it rain,” then later Elijah asked for a deliverance from the drought and prayed for it to rain; and God sent a big “gully washer.”  More recently, big swaths of the west and southern California are in the grip of a terrible drought.

Maybe I ought to pray for rain with a different purpose that just something to make the grass green or to help the farmers grow corn and soybeans.  Maybe drought is not an inherently evil thing.   Maybe there is another “Elijah” somewhere that has asked God for a drought to “teach us a lesson.”  Should I be praying for deliverance or insight?

How many times have we prayed, Dear God, deliver my children from the evil influences of this world?  I didn’t keep a tally, but with two boys, we probably prayed this prayer a lot during their growing up years.

But on the other hand, didn’t God give my kids brains to make decisions?  Did God not give us some measure of “free will” to make choices in life?   

The Bible is full of stories about somebody’s kids falling victim to evil in the world.  Remember the stories about Cain & Able, the prodigal son, Esau & Jacob, Samuel’s priestly, but wicked sons, and about 100 others.  Seems like no matter how much a parent might pray for deliverance for their children, evil often has its way with our children.

I’ve been a “professing believer” for almost 65 years now and despite the absence of a 100% guarantee of God’s deliverance, I will continue to pray for God’s deliverance from evil.  No doubt, I’ve personally been delivered from a lot of the evil in this world, mostly as a result of other folk’s prayers on my behalf.  But based on personal observations and life experiences, I know for a fact that despite our petitions, evil will not go away.  Evil is always going to be a threat in this world.

In all honesty, I’ll have to admit that as I’ve gotten older it has become much easier for me to focus my prayers on another part of the model prayer, the part that says, “thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  I do not know the “mind or will of God,” but I must simply trust that his will is always better for me, even when it doesn’t mean deliverance.

Now, let’s ramble!

Second Source......Second Chances

 Since January 2013, my wife and I have been volunteering one day each week at a community thrift store called “Second Source.”  It is a wonderful little thrift store that provides a great variety of clothing, household goods, toys, miscellaneous hardware, furniture, and home houseware items at very affordable prices.  Each Thursday from 8:30 a.m. until around 3:30 p.m., Becky and I work as a team; I run the cash register and Becky bags the goods.  We enjoy interacting with the customers, other volunteers, and store staffers. 



Second Source is located in a small strip shopping center in the west end

of Jefferson City, near the intersection of Hwy. 92 and Old Andrew Johnson Highway

 Thrift stores are neat places to shop and several such stores are in our little community.  .  But getting a “good buy” on something is only part of this story.  The rest of the story is that Second Source profits are used to help give “Second Chances” to families and single women who suddenly find themselves homeless.  

Second Source gives 100% of earnings above operational cost to a homeless shelter called Samaritan House.  This shelter is part of a larger benevolent ministry called Appalachian Outreach, locals simply call it “A.O.”  This non-profit agency is under the umbrella of Carson-Newman University, but the story of A.O.'s operation is too much for this blog, so back to the shelter and Second Source. 

The short of it is that single women, mothers and their kid can find a home for up to 45 days while they stabilize their lives and make a plan for independent living.  They not only find a beautifully furnished place to sleep and shelter; they also find, food, tutoring for the kids, Bible study, and caring Christian friendship and encouragement.

A few paid staffers and lots of volunteers and contributors make this wonderful thrift store ministry run like clock-work.  At Second Source, there are only five paid workers and around twenty to twenty-five regular volunteers who keep the thrift store operating.  Donations of resalable items pour in almost daily from individuals, as well as some retail outlets.  All of the donated items must be sorted, checked for quality, sized, priced, and put on hangers or displayed.  The store personnel and volunteers use three prep day each week (M-T-W) where a lot of behind the scenes work is done and three “sales days” (Th-F-Sat) for customers to purchase goods.

The homeless shelter has been in operation since 1987, using an old house donated by a local couple. The Second Source thrift store emerged some  years later, the brainchild of a few volunteers who began it around 2002 as a means of providing a steady stream of financial support for the homeless shelter. 

The thrift store has flourished over the past twelve years and much of the profits were placed in a building fund to help build a new and larger shelter facility.  That dream was finally realized just over a year ago when a new shelter was opened.  The shelter received many donations from businesses, churches and individuals, but would you believe; some 60% of the 1.3 million dollars needed to build the shelter came from Second Source revenues.  That is simply amazing!



Front side of shelter into reception area and dining area. 
Living and sleeping areas are on provided in family suites and individual rooms.



The shelter also has an outside play area for young children and walking trails for the adults.

 Over the years, hundreds of individuals and families have found temporary shelter and hope through the ministry of Samaritan House.  The new facility is serving well, but operational costs are significant.  Money from Second Source continues to provide a steady stream of financial support for those expenses and other ministry needs.

When folks shop at Second Source they get great deals, but in the process they also are providing “Second Chances” for folks who need temporary shelter and a safe place to live.

So, when you ramble next week, if you live in our area, stop by Second Source and save a buck while also giving somebody a “Second Chance.”  

Learn more about A.O.’s many ministries @ http://web.cn.edu/ao/default.htm

or Samaritan House @ http://web.cn.edu/ao/SamHouse/SamHouse.htm

Patriot & Citizen: Do I have the Right Stuff?

Seems like every year on the 4^th of July, Veterans Day, Memorial Day and other such days, we put all of our focus on past wars and the price paid by individuals and families from the loss of lives of those who fought.  

We also memorialize those who died as well as those who survived and returned home.  This is not a bad thing to do.  In fact, I think it is a good thing to do individually and as a nation.  We need to remember the past, appreciate it and hopefully learn from it as well.

As the 4^th of July rolled around this year my thoughts rambled to my own ancestors to see how many men have served in the military or were involved in wars that revolved around securing freedom or defending citizenship in America. I’ve been able to trace mine back to my 5^th Great Grandfather who immigrated to America in 1774.

Here is the list.........

5^th GGF, Bartholomew Kindred (1727 – 1804)

• Immigrant to America in 1774
• Weaver by trade for Thomas Jefferson
• Enlisted, but did not fight in the Revolutionary War

4^th GGF, Thomas S. Kindred (1760 – 1835)

• Immigrant to America with his father in 1774
• Served 1777 – 1781 in Revolutionary War
• Served at Yorktown when Cornwallis surrendered
• After the war, he moved to Tennessee,  farming and raising a family

3^rd GGF, Thornton Kindred (1797 – 1872)

• Never had to serve in the military
• Farmed & raised a family in Tennessee

2^nd GGF, James Alfred Kindred (1828 – 1903)

• Never had to serve in military
• Farmed and raised a family in Tennessee

Great Grandfather,  Dorcy C. Kindred (1878 – 1940)

• Age 39, Registered for Draft September 12, 1918
• Never had to serve in military
• Coal miner by occupation & raised three sons

Father, Phillip C. Kindred, Sr. (1920 – 1944)

• Enlisted in U.S. Army, 12 May 1942
• KIA, July 16, 1944, St. Lo, France

Phillip C. Kindred, Jr. (1942 – Living)

• Registered for Draft, age 18
• Classified a 4-A, age 23
• Never had to serve in military

Robert Alan Kindred (1968 – Living)

• Voluntary enlistment in Army 1987
• Served 2 years active duty

Phillip Michael Kindred (1972 – Living)

• Voluntary enlistment in U.S. Marine Corp. 1992
• Served 4 years active duty

So, out of seven generations, only two fathers had to serve in combat; one in the Revolutionary War and one in World War II and only one sacrificed his life.  The only others who served are my two sons, both serving terms of active military duty during times of peace.

Most of my grandfathers simply lived their lives, worked hard at a job, and raised their family.  They enjoyed the blessing of liberty and citizenship through the sacrifice of others. 

This little family history got me to thinking that maybe around the 4^th of July I need to spend more time focusing on being good citizens rather than being a patriot.  Most of us will never have to fight in a war, but we are citizens every single day.  Then I listed some of the traits I think would make me a good citizen.  It is not an exhaustive list, but it's a start.

§         Honesty with others and yourself.  Honesty means sincerity, truthfulness, integrity and openness, not just on Sunday or the 4^th of July, but every day.

§         Compassion is the emotion of caring for people and other living things.  Compassion helps bond us to others and our world.  It leads to caring and sharing with others.

§         Respect is like compassion, but can be directed toward yourself (self-respect) and toward things, like “the Flag” “the law” or even “ideas”.  You can even respect someone you may not necessarily admire.  Seems we don’t do enough “respecting” these days.

§         Responsibility is an “action” word that reflects what you do.  We have personal responsibilities and public responsibilities.  Even groups have responsibilities.  Unfortunately, seems like a lot of folks are shirking any type of responsibility in America today. 

§         Courage is important to good citizenship.  It enables people to do the right thing even when it’s unpopular, difficult, or dangerous.  It’s important whether you are a weaver, a farmer, a coal miner, a teacher, a computer specialist, or a surveyor.

Tonight, after the smoke clears from the fireworks and July 5^th rolls in, I think I’ll give a little more serious thought to my role as a citizen in this great land. 

Hopefully I can practice honesty in all my dealings, show compassion to others, respect everyone, always be responsible, and have the courage to always do the right thing.

In your rambling I’m sure you’ve already discovered it’s a “war zone” out there every day.  Maybe if we all practiced our citizenship traits we’d have fewer declared wars around this planet and maybe even congress could get something done. :-)

Hope you had a great 4th of July!

Thank you Lord for a beautiful day in East Tennessee!