Easter Haiku (reposted from April, 2017)

                                                            His death on the cross
                                                           all our sins are forgiven
                                                             and we will be saved.

Good Friday 2018

I saw this picture and it reminded me of the meaning of Jesus' Crucifixion and ultimately His rising from the dead on Easter Sunday.  This life we have on earth is merely the preliminary of what we consider our greatest purpose which is to live eternally in heaven with God.  All the afflictions, worries, sorrows and fear will vanish and we will enter heaven to bask in the joy and blessings of God's love.

"I go to prepare a place for you." (John 14:2b)

"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away." (Rev. 21:4)

This statue shows a Christian woman who is old at death's door. As she passes from this life to the next, she is no longer sick or old and does not carry the burdens of this mortal life. She is welcomed by her Savior into eternal life whole and strong to live forever in heaven. What a promise, what joy unspeakable! Sculpted by Jerry Anderson http://jerryandersonstudioandgallery.com/

A Messenger of Spring

Most people see the Robin as the first sign of Spring.  They get all excited when they spot one on the front lawn or in the backyard.  It gives them the hint that soon there will be green grass, blooming flowers and trees, and lovely weather.  That is especially true for those of us who live in places that have snow till April.

But for me, my hint of Spring came in a different form.  It came as a rather plump partridge walked out from under a large evergreen tree in my backyard and waddled its way across the snow to reach my poor, bare apple tree.  Once there, it flew a very short way to the first branch and sat there surveying the scene around it before flying down to the snow once more and waddling back under the evergreen tree.  It's visit wasn't very long, only about an hour or so, but it brought with it a brief glimpse that Spring in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan was coming.  With the cold and snow on the ground still, we "Yoopers" will take every hint we can get.

It's Spring!

Today is the first day of Spring...according to the calendar.  Here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, we don't pay attention to that.  Spring comes to the UP much later for us.  We are happy when it shows up before May and sometimes we wonder if it will show up at all.

This year, we had what we call a mild winter.  Not very many major snowstorms, we are well below our number of feet of snow accumulation and we did not have our usual St. Patrick's Day storm.  It seems that all the bad weather has gone south of us and headed for the northeast.  I don't like winter so having it milder than most is a plus.  However, it also makes me long for spring.  I want the snow to melt and the grass start to turn green, I want to see the buds appear on the maple trees and the shoots of new flowers start to poke their heads out of the earth.  I want to open all the windows in my house and let the fresh, crisp air of spring chase away the confining air of winter.  I want to put my birdfeeders out and watch the visitors of spring come back...the squirrels, chipmunks, birds, raccoons and rabbits.  I long to sit on my deck with my morning coffee and take in the silence and warmth of a spring morning. In short, I want spring and I want it now!

Inspiration 3/10/2018

Surprise! Surprise!

I made the mistake of watching the news this morning and realized it is happening again.  It seems that enough time has gone by for politicians to forget what they said they would do.  The question is Do they really forget or are they hoping that with time everyone else will forget what they promised?  I think it is that they hope we forget.

After the Las Vegas shooting, everyone from the President on down including the NRA were all in favor of outlawing bump stocks.  That has gone away and nothing has been done.  After the President set a deadline for the "dreamers" of March 5th so that, in his words, Congress can fix it the right way, the deadline is here and will go away with nothing done.  After the shooting in Florida, the President and many others said that there would be extensive background checks, banning of bump stocks (that one again), raising the age to 21 to purchase.  With the NRA fighting that, the President and others are changing their minds.  That adds up to it will go away and nothing will be done.

When all these promises are made and then broken, we act surprised.  Why?  This has been going on all the time.  There is outrage, anger, shouting, yelling, grief and for awhile it looks like the right steps will be taken.  Then time passes and everyone with the power moves on to something else.

2018 is an election year for many in this country and it would be nice if they remembered who they actually work for.  Maybe they should think about the voters who walk into those booths to cast their ballots thinking to themselves, "You work for American citizens.  We are your employers and in the words of a cut-rate reality show actor, "You're fired".