2019
Anything Goes   

* Events in our county

   In Florida, 2019 was no exception. 

   Lightning struck a septic tank, igniting methane gas. Fortunately, no one was sitting on the toilet that blew apart. 

   * A Port Richey mayor fired shots at a SWAT team when they came to arrest him for practicing medicine without a license, among other crimes. Three weeks later, his replacement was busted for obstruction of justice and other crimes. 

   A U. of Miami prof who wrote a book on money laundering was charged with money laundering. A woman on probation for embezzling was charged with embezzling $60,000 from a different employer. A man on probation for burglary burglarized the probation office. 

   After a man spent $8 million to buy his private island, he was charged with scamming Kmart out of $300. Police arrested five guys for getting into a fist fight at Five Guys. 

   A surfer leaped off his surfboard onto a shark, not intentionally. Two months later the same thing happened to another surfer at the same beach. 

Gator Tales  

   When a deputy stopped a couple for running a stop sign, he discovered 41 stolen three-striped turtles. Then the woman pulled a foot-long alligator out of her yoga pants. 

   On a golf course, a gator leaped up and snagged a ball in midair. Some men poured beer into the mouth of another gator. And still another gator, 11-feet long, crashed through a ground level window and made himself at home among smashed wine bottles. 

More comics tomorrow  

       Jimmy

   

Who Rules?      
    
   A century ago Joseph Pulitzer laughed at those who placed their hope in presidential elections. He contended that big media such as his New York World runs the show.

   Presidents have four-year terms, he said, but World "goes on year after year." 

   A century later, politicians seem to agree, or at least understand they must have friendlies in news rooms and other agencies that influence opinion. Ninety percent of newspapers are staffed by registered Democrats, and all but one TV network serves as cheerleaders. They get it.

   A Christian and/or conservative in a newsroom is likely a loner. I was a lone  conservative during my small-town newspaper gig of two-plus years. 

   Talk radio remains mostly conservative. 

   Honest, open-minded journalism would serve a country best, speaking truth to power regardless of party (the reason for freedom of the press). We need two parties to keep each other in check, but today there are more enemies than opponents.

   Marvin Olasky writes, "We still have another decade or two ... before cultural decay and debt-driven national bankruptcy lead more people to go from fierce words to sticks and stones."

   He says our biggest need is prayer. Our lesser task is to make journalism part of the solution. Outright lies must be condemned regardless.  

   His WORLD organization is training young journalists to that end. 
   
          Jimmy

Soaring Through Life   

   If any human being ever came close to flying without outside help, it would be Simone Biles, a 22-year-old from Texas.

   She is rewriting gymnastics and redefining what can be done in competition. We might call her the Tiger Woods of the gym, but Tiger can't do the triple-twisting double-flip (the triple double). Or the double-twisting double-flip beam dismount (the double double). 

   The latter is so difficult the International Gymnastics Federation downplays its value to deter other gymnasts from even trying it. Biles could learn to play golf, but no golfer we know could dream of doing her thing at any level.

   The Associated Press named her the 2019 female athlete of the year, her second such award, and it's not even an Olympic year. 

   Biles has a record 25 world championship medals, including five golds at the 2019 world championships. At the 2016 Olympics, she won five medals. 

   

No, this is not upside down.

  She would like to live an ordinary life, but knows she is positioned to use her fame to advocate for survivors and be an agent for change. Biles will attempt to become the first female gymnast in decades to repeat as all-around champion at next year's Olympics.  


              Jimmy  


          
   

Then, the Victory    

  Jesus paid the cost.

Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name.

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow

in heaven and on earth and under the earth

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father. 

Philippians 2:9-11

Good News of Great Joy     

    

An angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds... 

the glory of the Lord shone around them,

and they were terrified.

But the angel said to them,

"I bring you good news of great joy

that will be for all the people.

Today in the town of David, 

a Savior has been born to you;

he is Christ the Lord."

Suddenly, a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth 

peace to men on whom his favor rests." 

Luke 2:8-11, 13-14

Cost of Christmas    
Christ Then, Now & Forever        
 Part 2    
   
   Have you heard the song, Mary, Did You Know? 

   Mary knew what the angel told her (Luke chapter 1), but she probably had no idea her son's mission covers the world (John chapter 1). 

   The fall of man in Genesis chapter 3 demanded a solution, if there was any reason for human life to continue. To the deceiving serpent, the Lord God said, "I will put enmity ... between your offspring and hers; he (Christ) will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." 

   Sin nature denies us the life our Creator intended. Prophets wrote what the Spirit gave them. Isaiah (7:14) prophesied that a virgin would be with child, and her son would be called Immanuel (God with us).  

   Micah (5:2) wrote that he would be a ruler from ancient times, to be born in Bethlehem. 

   The ultimate cost

   Jealous of his teaching, healing power and his popularity, religious leaders wanted Jesus dead. Exactly what our triune God had in mind; our sins can't go unpunished. 

   Isaiah (chapters 52 and 53) describes the horror of beatings and crucifixion. noting that Christ would not be handsome to begin with, and he would be "pierced ... and disfigured beyond human likeness." 

   But, Jesus reappeared in resurrected form, and sent the Holy Spirit to continue his mission through believers, to the ends of the world.  

   Tomorrow, we joyfully remember the awesome night he was born in Bethlehem.

The Cost of Christmas    
Part 1

   No, we don't mean the cost of gifts or what we spent on decorations and holiday food. Nor the cost of travel to be with family.

   Long ago, when all travel was hard, a virgin named Mary, due to give birth, accompanied Joseph her betrothed on a journey of 90 miles. (Where was her obstetrician?) When they arrived in Bethlehem, there was no Hampton Inn with a free breakfast. 

   They settled in a dark stable for animals, where she gave birth to the Son of God. Favor shepherds with the good news! The King of Glory has come to fulfill the law, and men will see him do it!     

   Mary, "highly favored" said the angel, wasn't spared hardship. The worst was yet to come. Her son would bear the ultimate cost.

   What do we mean when we wish people, "Merry Christmas?" Is the holiday merry only because we're free, healthy and well off, surrounded by friends and relatives, or are we glad our Savior came at last? 

   A friend's husband went home about this time last year. Her first Christmas without him is not especially merry.

   When I was young, expecting gifts, Christmas mornings were awesome. Many years later, during a dark period, Christmas day in the same house was horrid. Four years later, Christmas decorations were still up when my office closed, with no apparent prospects for new employment. 

   Mary's "child" now offers merry eternal life...no dark days. But first, the cost. 

Tomorrow: His story 

   

Conclusion of the Matter      
      
   Ecclesiastes seems to be one of the most interesting books of the Bible. 
Solomon in 935 B.C. reflects on all he had observed in life and concludes that "all is meaningless." In the final chapter, he says again, "Everything is meaningless." What he meant was...apart from God, life is meaningless.

   His summation, the conclusion of the matter:

The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.

The words of the wise are like goads, 

their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails - 

given by one Shepherd. 

Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.

Now all has been heard: 

here is the conclusion of the matter. 

Fear God and keep his commandments, 

for this is the whole duty of man.

For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil.

    

   Of course, this wasn't the final conclusion. Jesus Christ had something to add nine centuries later. 

Guilt by Accusation   

   Forget the labels, conservative and liberal.   

   We've learned the better truth. "Typical Americans" tend to be Republicans and "everyone else" gravitates to the Democrats. 

   Most Americans once plowed the ground. Now we are a nation with "whatever floats your boaters" and "depend on governmenters." And the everyone elsers think they are typical Americans. In a sense, maybe they are. 

   They account for the majority of registered voters. And everyone-else politicians want to treat illegal immigrants as typical Americans, so as to expand their political power. 

   Are you following this?

   What's a typical American supposed to think? For that matter, what's the definition of a typical American these days? 

   Wednesday night, the U.S. House everyone elsers voted to impeach the president with no sympathy from the typicals. In one of our daily devotionals for November 18: 
 

"Every major leader in Scripture suffered false accusations

from people seeking to discredit him. If a person can be

discredited by an accusation, whether true or false,

his integrity becomes suspect and his ministry 

(Leadership? Trust? Credibility?) can be destroyed."

   This is what the everyone elsers have been up to for three years. Also yesterday, Andy McCarthy said the Trump-Ukraine telephone call is a matter of interpretation, not indisputable fact. 

   So, now we're impeaching presidents on interpretation, even though nothing resembling a crime or affront to our Constitution actually happened. Everyone-else "news" sources applauded. 

   Just for fun, look up Ecclesiastes 10:2. 

       Jimmy

PS. Ask Justice Neil Gorsuch what guilt by accusation feels like. Or, Jesus. 

   

   

   

Time Running Out          
     
   You're thinking, yeh, only five shopping days until Christmas.

   But, no. There are only 13 days to get a grip on your income tax obligation for 2019. Will you receive a refund? Or will you owe the IRS, and do you have the funds to pay up in April?

   You might be surprised as we were to learn how many taxpayers had delinquent accounts one year ago at this time - 13 million. We read that the total estimated gap between taxes owed and taxes paid is between $500 billion and $600 billion. 

   The average tax debtor in the U.S. owes nearly $17,000. Worst among states is Vermont, up in Democratic New England, at close to $29.000. 

   We don't want to see any Views By the Sea readers in tax court. Okay? 

   Our changing economy, with "gig" income like ride-share drivers, freelancers and other contractors is contributing to the rise in delinquency. Other causes include divorce, failure to file a return and penalties related to back taxes. 

   Business taxes and self employment have a role, and about 3 percent of debtors just recently got out of prison.

   One can file an extension with the IRS, which gives you until October 15 to file, enough time to raise the money. The IRS allows some people who owe less than $50,000 to pay in installments (with interest and possible penalties). 

   Our merciful IRS might settle for less if you can prove that paying the full amount would cause financial hardship.

   By the way: There are only five shopping days until Christmas. Six if Sundays are no longer set aside for the Lord.  

        Jimmy

         

Question What You Read    

   USA Today. "The president's GOP enablers place power and party ahead of truth and country." (and Democrats don't?) "Constitutional violations are grounds for impeachment." 

   Los Angeles Times. "The two (bills of particulars) fully justify the grave step of impeachment." (Note: Either branch of government has the right to seek a ruling from the court when there is a conflict.)

   Boston Globe. "The facts show that the president has threatened this country's core values and the integrity of our democracy. Congress now has a duty to future generations to impeach him." 

   Washington Post. "Mr. Trump has refused all cooperation with the congressional inquiry ... and prevented the release of documents..." 
(Hmmm. Wasn't it many thousands of documents the White House released to the Mueller committee?) 

   Chicago Tribune. "Trump's Ukraine misdeeds are a serious abuse of his office. But they do not meet those tests of an impeachable offense. The option we see more fitting ... for both houses of Congress to censure him." 

   Wall Street Journal. "That's all there is? After obstruction of justice, collusion with Russia, bribery, extortion, profiting from the presidency and more, House Democrats have reduced their articles of impeachment to two: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Honey, we just shrunk the impeachment. 

   "Democrats voted on Friday in favor of the text of the two articles they unveiled Tuesday, and now they will rush it to the floor this week. It's enough to suspect that Democrats understand they are offering the weakest case for impeachment since Andrew Johnson, that the public isn't convinced, and so they simply want to get it over with." 
 

Take your stand.

But be careful what you're standing on.

       Jimmy

   

Christmas Accidents       
     
   We knew better at our age, but we did it anyway.

   Along with jolly Santa and sleigh bells a-ringing, Christmas is a time for homeowners to fall off ladders while hanging strings of lights along roof lines. 

   Here, we decorate our entry way, which has a high ceiling. 

   It takes about an hour to remember how to connect light strings, lighted garland, two artificial trees and two real trees. Then it takes another hour to do the work, all in the entry way. 

   But before all that, we needed to sweep the ceiling of spots left by wasps and other bugs. We fetched our extension ladder and raised it up.  
 

Not our entry

   Falling off a ladder on grass is one thing. Here, there's 
nothing to catch a flying human but pavers - bricks! 

   Guaranteed: Broken bones, a concussion or worse. Fortunately, our hospital is only five minutes away. But this would not be a "hurry" case, like bleeding or breathing. 
Just pain.

   Anyway, I swept the ceiling, climbed down and returned the ladder to the garage.

   What?

   Did you think I fell or something? 

         Jimmy

The Scheme of Things   
   
   What if someone told you death is better than birth? Or, sorrow is better than laughter? 

   Or, there is a magnificent gift for you, but no way can you have it by self-effort or reasoning? But if you receive it, don't overdo it! 

   This someone is Solomon, who asked God for wisdom and got his wish.

   Acknowledging that he overdid it in later life, we can still learn from Solomon's Spirit-inspired writings in Proverbs chapters 1-4, 8-9, and elsewhere, and Ecclesiastes chapter 7.  

   How do we gain wisdom? Not from philosophy or other products of higher education. Nor is great wealth and status evidence of wisdom, as God defines it.

   Wisdom begins with "the fear of the Lord." (Psalm 111:10). If we receive it, we can never boast about it or claim it as our own accomplishment. 
Do not be wise in your own eyes. (Prov. 3:7). 

   God is and was wisdom before creation. See Tuesday's blog, "From Inside Out." 

   Sorrow and rebuke can lead us to repentance and the real issues of life. Human death is followed by eternal Life ... for the believer. 

   We can rejoice in prosperity and trust in adversity. Be content. (Php. 4:12). 

   The fruit of wisdom includes good character, influence, humility, righteousness (though no man is righteous), faith, obedience, prudence, understanding, worth, discretion, judgment, life and the favor of the Lord...and more.   

       Jimmy

Time to Help Your Health     
    
   Want better sleep, to lose weight, prevent certain diseases? 

Without going on a diet, or strenuous exercise? 

   Consider the clock. The device we use to keep appointments also can promote your health. 

   The trick is to consume your calories within a 10-hour period, leaving the rest of the 24-hour day for fasting...for your major organs to rest and recover. 

   Erratic eating, shift work and habits like midnight snacks contribute to obesity, diabetes and heart disease. A consistent cycle of feeding and fasting apparently supports the ebb and flow of the body's natural rhythms. 

   A California biologist says, "Every cell, every organ has its clock, and every organ needs downtime to repair, rest and regain its rhythm." 

   In a pilot program, participants limited their food intake to under 11 hours for 12 weeks. They cut their calorie intake by almost 9 percent, lost an average of 3 percent of their body weight, and enjoyed more restful sleep - all improvements that could prevent a progression to diabetes. They also reduced belly fat - a sign of future heart disease - by 3 percent. 

   Also, the group's blood pressure fell. Cholesterol readings and other measures improved.

   None of this required increased physical activity. Routine methods like more exercise, fewer calories and strict diets are hard to sustain.

   All the researchers asked was that participants watch the clock, eat within a block of time, and fast the rest of the day. 

        Jimmy



   

It Still Matters   

   Saturday, Dec. 7, marked the last of 44 USS Arizona survivors whose ashes are interred on the battleship at the bottom of Pearl Harbor. 
We didn't know veterans did this. 

   It tells us of the enormity sailors and marines experienced that fateful Sunday morning in 1941. Millions of Americans were shocked by the surprise attack - by a country that had not declared war. 

   For those who survived the carnage, these terrible moments left a scar on the heart that surpassed all other days of their lives, before and after. 

   It is fitting that the 44 men were cremated before divers carried their remains into the wreckage where 900 (of 1177 deaths) of their mates were cremated in a moment. 
A huge bomb struck Arizona's ammunition supply, which exploded with enough power to lift the ship out of the water.

   What remained burned for 2-1/2 days at temps up to 8000 degrees Fahrenheit, hotter than a volcano. It's amazing that anyone survived; those who did suffered burns and other injuries.

   Elvis Presley helped raise funds for a memorial over the open grave - 
where 2 million still visit each year - with a concert in 1961. 

   Three remaining survivors plan to be buried in family plots. 

   Pearl Harbor and the two-front war that followed convinced U.S. leaders that neutrality doesn't work well in a fallen world. Today, we engage the world with diplomacy, and economically and militarily. 
 

Arizona Memorial

   Hence, there is cross training with foreigners as a means of building good relations. Then a Saudi lieutenant pulls a handgun and kills three unarmed Americans at Naval Air Station Pensacola. 

      Jimmy

From Inside Out      
     
   One might think - 16 centuries after the birth, sacrifice and resurrection of Christ, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we humans would have been sufficiently transformed the world over.

   But, no. Two years before pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, Europeans began a religious conflict which morphed into dynastic, territorial and commercial warfare. German states, France, Sweden, Spain and other powers got involved. 

   Within 30 years, at least eight million died from war, civil violence, plague and famine. Twenty percent of Germans perished ... higher rates in some other regions.

   Only the January-May 1945 conclusion of WWII in Europe was worse. 

   Despite the horrors, Georg Weissel (1590-1635), a scholar, teacher and pastor, found reason to rejoice: God had come into the world in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, freely offering to transform our lives from the inside out.

   Weissel was inspired by David's psalm: Lift up your heads, O you gates; 
be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.

Psalm 24:7

   His hymn is a call to open wide our hearts to the King of kings...to confess Christ the true ruler...to be a temple for the Lord...that our inner presence feel his grace and love...and that a new and nobler life begins as the Holy Spirit guides. 

   The King of glory transforms us from inside out. He alone is true hope in this corrupt world. There is no other way. 

      Jimmy

Enough Already!      
     
   Before we dive into today's earthshaking, showstopping blog, we want to make this clear: We are not a BASEMENT BLOGGER...as mockers charge. We don't even have a basement in our home. 

   Let's get into the spirit of Christmas. Peace on earth, goodwill toward bloggers.

Flying Slow   
   Look! Up in the sky. It's a bird. It's a plane. 

                          It's a zeppelin!    

   The Hindenburg disaster may not be the end of airship travel after all. Scientists are looking at zeppelins again. Airships can be more fuel efficient than cargo ships and airplanes. 

   The Goodyear Blimp uses helium, nonflammable, but costly and rare. Abundant hydrogen may be the answer second time around as tech advances have reduced the explosive danger. 

   An airship five times the length of the Empire State Building riding the jet stream could circle the globe in 14 days - faster than any oceangoing ship.

Taxing Religion 
   Is this a winner? Tax faith-based organizations to feed the poor, give healthcare to all, fund social services, resettle refugees and provide housing, education and other goodies. What could go wrong?

   Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson writes that ending tax-exempt status would crush the charitable sector, cripple social services and harm the very causes big government claims to help. He noted that former Chief Justice Warren Burger said taxing churches would entangle religion and government. The tax code "simply abstains from demanding that the church support the state," the justice said.  

      Jimmy

  

Wisdom's Call...       

     

The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works, 

before his deeds of old.

I was appointed from eternity, before the world began.

When there were no oceans, I was given birth, 

before the mountains were settled in place, 

before the hills, I was given birth, 

before he made the earth or fields or any of the dust of the world. 

I was there when he set the heavens in place, 

when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, 

when he established the clouds and fixed the fountains of the deep, when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep, 

and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.

Then I was the craftsman at his side. 

I was filled with delight day after day, 

rejoicing in his presence, in his whole world and delighting in mankind.

Now then, my sons, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways. 

Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not ignore it. 

For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord. 

 Proverbs 8:32-35 

The Rail-Splitter    
    
  Okay. Okay!! We'll go along with impeachment, on one condition and one condition only: BRING BACK HONEST ABE. 

   Lincoln then and Trump today share a drive to succeed, care for the troops, political detractors, a divided nation and their need to leave the Oval Office to get things done. As for LEADERSHIP, there is little to compare.

   Leadership: it's difficult, no set rules.

   Lincoln believed in honesty and that integrity was self evident. He was patient, tirelessly nudging Gen. McClellan - a great organizer - to actually go fight.

   He was compassionate, caring for others, and for the rights of individuals. He didn't intimidate others with fear. Affable. Complementary. Ethical. Was easily mistaken as weak and controllable.

   Our 16th president sought to know his subordinates, and forged alliances, keeping human nature in mind. He wanted to understand motives, to be lenient, even with the enemy. 

   His priority was preserving the Union, nothing less. He sought no fame for himself. Lincoln did not coerce subordinates, which is not leadership but tyranny. 

   He believed in the Golden Rule, the pursuit of liberty and equality. Nothing good comes from vengeance or spite.  

   There is no record of him calling Gen. Lee or Jefferson Davis a "nut job."   

   Abe Lincoln:
   "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations."

   He's up there somewhere, folks. God willing, he still has a second term to finish.                                          😔

        Jimmy




   

GROWL!    Now This is Living   

   Three more big cats have found "new life" in Tampa, part of a worldwide attempt to rescue lions and tigers from exploitation in prison-like captivity.

    Dog lovers, we get it. But we've always favored felines, starting with best-friend Scamper, who left us too soon at age 6. 

   Our fascination with beautiful tigers began with...well...the evolution is so:

   At the turn of the last century, Massillon, Ohio boys began playing football. They had no mascot nor jerseys. Someone passed through Princeton University, (the Tigers), and brought back leftover jerseys. The school took shirts and the name. 

   The sport became wildly popular well before young Paul Brown entered school. After college, Brown became head coach, leading MHS to a string of state championships. 

   My good fortune was to be son of a man who claimed he "went to school with Paul Brown." We drove from Pennsylvania once or twice a year to see a game, which to me was heaven. 

   If you watched with me the Tiger Swing Band fast stepping down the field playing Hold That Tiger - two rows of tubas growling - led by a mascot in real tiger skin, you would have become a cat lover too. In later years, they had a tiger cub in a small cage at their games. Maybe not so lovely. 

   Brown went straight from home to Ohio State, where he won a national championship. The military called, after which he formed the Cleveland Browns and won more championships. 

   They aren't named for him, but their helmets are Tiger orange. After a five-year vacation, he formed the Cincinnati Bengals - get it? - whose tiger-stripe helmets today mark the end of the trail. 

   Okay. A male might eat his young if given the chance. But, forget that.
My little buddy had black and gray tiger stripes and a white belly. Meow.  

        Jimmy



   

Why We Separate
Church & White House        
    
   Billy Graham did it right. He was a confidant of many presidents, but only once - mistakenly - got involved in process.

   Before his conversion, the late Charles Colson rounded up the evangelistic community for Nixon. It was just another interest group, as labor leaders are for Democrats.

   "Sure, we used the prayer breakfasts and church services for political ends," he said. "I found them (religious leaders) about the most pliable of any of the special interest groups." 

   Today, TV evangelist Paula White-Cain claims to have Donald Trump's ear on religious matters. We know her from her Tampa days. Not good.

   The president pursues policies that Christians and conservatives support. 
His "adviser" is something else. 

   "Wherever I go, God rules. When I walk on White House grounds, God walks on White House grounds," she is quoted on line. "I have every right to declare the White House holy ground, because I was standing there and where I stand is holy."

   Like other prosperity-gospel preachers, she asks for large amounts of money, which goes into the "department of treasury in Heaven" and will assure the givers their dreams. "Sounds like a spiritual quid pro quo," quips columnist Cal Thomas.

   Apparently she helped herself to treasury funds. She once owned a private jet. She payed for a $2.6 million home and a $3.5 million condo in Trump Tower.  

Speaking of Tampa
   The mayor's chief of staff just returned from the Netherlands to learn how they keep the ocean at bay. Hmmmm. Build a dike?    

      Jimmy

Are We Lonely Today?   

   Almost half of Americans 18 and older admit to being lonely. 

   Gen Z (18- to 22-year-olds) are the loneliest. 

   A state director for AARP says "Loneliness is killing us slowly." It leads to morbidity the same as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and is ahead of obesity and diabetes. 

   Why haven't we heard this? Maybe because no one interacts those who are alone. 

   The AARP director says loneliness is a root of hopelessness, early trauma, more fear and less trust, and despair. (And we blame guns?)   

   He recommends, "Be a neighbor, not a stranger...whether in deep friendship or casual acquaintance. Second, find a cause and volunteer." 

   How would he suggest separating us from our cell phones long enough to actually engage in face to face conversation?

On the Other Hand  
"When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudice and motivated by pride and vanity." 
                                                - Dale Carnegie, Psychology Today 

      Jimmy

Light From Above   

On a dark, winter night,
During a Great Depression,
Mother, assisted by a nurse,
I joined the Silent Generation.
                  V
Three years to the month,                  Hello, Mom! I'm born again!
They pounded Pearl from above.        He nailed my sins to a tree.
Little did I know then, a                      Follow me, He promised,
War underway for my love.                 And I will set you truly free.
                  V                                                           V
We learned the Golden Rule,               Love is mine, salvation too.
And for sinners Jesus died.                  Forgiveness - check it off.
How glad I wasn't one of them.          I give you what He gave,
I lied.                                                    I'm done with goofing off.
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Sunday mornings were for God;          But now my nature old 
I gladly gave him that.                         Is jealous of the new!
The rest of the week was free;            Remember me I say to me,
You see, I was blind as a bat.              O Lord, what am I to do?
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O the dove, sent from Above;              Your condemnation I removed;
Someone waits for you and I,              You dishonor me in flesh.
A light to deliver sight,                         Bring your trash to me alone, 
When we meet him eye to eye.             And I will make you fresh.
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My efforts not good enough;                 I sent my Spirit to help you
At once, my way was blocked.              Grow because I love you so.
Who will help me find a path?               You are my child and know
I'm desperate, really shocked!              That I will never let you go.
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Hurling, hurting to the furnace,             Talk with me and read my Word,
What will He answer me?                       My burden it is light.
I'll give him days and nights                  Glorify me throughout each day 
If only He'll let me see.                           And I'll be there each night. 
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I've been searching all along,                The Rider is coming from Above;
Here since day number three.                I do not know about the strife.
My grace is amazing, power too,            I only know, because He said,
If only you will come to me.                   I'm grafted to the Tree of Life.