God is Near

Sunsets are God’s footprints;
sunrises are His smiles.

You can be a window
where God shines through to others.

Realize what God can do through you
and minimize what man can do to you.

God's love helps us to be hopeful
in the midst of confusion and uncertainty.

When we put God first,
every second is enriched,
every minute enriched,
every hour ennobled.

God is in you,
in every person and problem today,
and in every answer tomorrow.

Each day God makes appointments for every person
—do we recognize and keep them?

Regardless of clouds above us
and problems around us,
underneath are God’s everlasting arms.

-William Arthur Ward
as found in the St. Michael the Archangel, McKinney bulletin

Grammar Conundrum: Amn't I?

So, my brilliant 5 year old is the first child to be grammatically correct.

"I'm a good boy, amn't I?" as in "Am I not?"

"Aren't I?" is actually wrong... "I'm a good boy, are I not?"

So... do I correct his cuteness to speak as all others do?

Or do I let it play out?

Think I'll let it slide......

Music for the International Day of Peace

I finally finished the playlist we'll be jamming to on Sept 21.

Only a handful of people who are not familiar read this blog, so no long winded explanations.

Suffice it to say, if I wrote a persuasive paper on peace, hope & love, I would approach it from this perspective.

The Sound of Silence -- Simon & Garfunkel -- Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits
This Is a Test--Shock of Pleasure--
This Is a Lie--The Cure--Wild Mood Swings
What You Do With What You’ve Got--Eddi Reader/Thomas Dolby --TED Talks
What's So Funny 'Bout Peace, Love, and Understanding?--Nick Lowe--Untouched Takeaway
The World I Know--Collective Soul
On the Turning Away--Pink Floyd--A Momentary Lapse of Reason
Wind Chimes--Sounds of the Earth--Sounds of the Earth Collection
One LovePeople Get Ready--Bob Marley--Legend (Remastered) [Bonus Tracks]
Applause--Pete Seeger--Children's Concert At Town Hall
Perfect Place--Voice of the Beehive--Honey Lingers
Circle Dream--10,000 Maniacs--Our Time in Eden
Whispers--Fairground Attraction--The First Of A Million Kisses
Shine--Collective Soul
Love the World You Find--The Flaming Lips--Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium Soundtrack
If Everyone Cared--Nickelback--All the Right Reasons
Upside Down--Jack Johnson--Sing-a-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George
What the World Needs--Wynonna Judd--What the World Need Now Is Love
Lean On Me (Single Version) --Bill Withers--Discover Bill Withers - EP
Love Is In the Air--Medusa--Party Hits, Vol. 5 - Das Beste aus Mallorca und den Skihütten
Peacetime--Eddi Reader--Peacetime
MLK--U2--The Unforgettable Fire
In the Arms of Love--Ottmar Liebert--In the Arms of Love- Lullabies 4 Children + Adults

The Deal of the Century

I've long opposed this "appearing" and "disappearing" price the media feeds us.  Concepts like markets and prices are bewildering for most people out there...

But, I have my father to thank (and my 9th grade economics teacher, Dr. Lee) for teaching me about markets.  My father, being the rancher that he was, woke up every morning to the Livestock Report on the radio and often explained many of the details of contracts, futures, pricing, and of course, cheating.

So I've been loudly grumbling at the radio when I hear that oil keeps rising "and we're not sure why."  Well, Time recently  a decent article and makes some obvious connections.

Why is oil rising?  Simple greed.  Duh?

You don't need to understand Monte Carlo futures predictions to know that when greedy people leverage huge chunks of cash against a market - we consumers are going to pay out the nose.  And we are.

Choir Practice

One Love
9/21/08
9:21 & 21.21 GMT
local times 4:21 & 16:21 (GMT -5)
to check your GMT equivalent times, click HERE



***If you don't know me personally***
please consider this before commenting
particularly the lines

The road of life is rocky and you may stumble too,
So while you point your fingers someone else is judging you

Take 5 Minutes for Peace

Dr. Patrick Swift is a friend from my St. Rita days.

Enjoy the peace of this video, based on quotes from his book "One Mountain, Many Paths."

Extremely good work, Patrick!

Abbey of Saint Walburga: Humility: Rejoicing in God's Gifts

Abbey of Saint Walburga: Humility: Rejoicing in God's Gifts