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"Helping Others Communicate"

IN MEMORIAM

5/31/2021

 
Memorial Day has come to signify numerous things in the modern world.  For many, it is the unofficial start to summer.  All over America, families and friends are spending the weekend gathering to celebrate amidst cookouts, swim parties, and other such leisure activities.

For others, it is the first real chance of the year to get outdoors in general, and to travel in particular.  Indeed, destination weddings are increasingly planned for this time of year. 

Of course, the holiday holds special significance this year.  After more than a year of masking up, social distancing, quarantining, and the like, the vast majority of us are feeling more than a little cooped up.  Memorial Day, 2021 is increasingly seen as the first big rebound from the Covi-19 pandemic.

While all of this is true, however, it is important not to lose sight of the real purpose of Memorial Day.  As a prominent national politician learned the hard way this week, this is intended to be much, much more than just a chance to “enjoy a long weekend”.  It is intended as a time to honor those who gave what Abraham Lincoln famously termed “the last full measure of devotion” to the cause of our freedom. 

Simply put, Memorial Day is the time we set aside for honoring and mourning the military personnel who have died in the performance of their military duties while serving in the United States Armed Forces.

One of the things I appreciate about this weekend is the number of networks that still choose to broadcast war movies.  In my opinion, this annual ritual is vitally important in that it serves both to remind us of and to affirm the exploits of heroes of previous generations.

On Sunday, the History channel chose to air the entire HBO miniseries titled Band of Brothers.  Based on the book of the same name by Professor Stephen Ambrose (which was itself based on his multiple recorded interviews with actual veterans), this ten volume mini-series dramatizes the history of "Easy" Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, of the 101st Airborne Division. 

It recounts the company’s exploits from basic training in the United States through multiple major actions across Europe (including D-Day, Market Garden, The Battle of the Bulge, the liberation of concentration camps, etc…), and eventually on to Hitler’s own Eagle’s Nest itself as the war concludes.

While every episode recounts one or more poignant moments in the lives of various soldiers, one in particular stands out in my mind.  It comes at the end of episode three, where Easy company has just taken the little French city of Carentan, the key to the Cotinine Peninsula and a deep water port for the Allies to us in following up their earlier D-Day landings.

After a hard fought battle, Easy Company’s soldiers were removed from the front on June 29, and placed in Sainte-Marie-du-Mont for a well-deserved rest. Sadly, the company had lost a total of 65 men during the engagement.

To dramatize the significance of this, in the closing scene, a U S soldier goes to a local French laundry to retrieve some items he had earlier dropped off for cleaning and repair.  As he is about to leave, the French lady in charge asks if he could take some of the others’ laundered items back to them. 

As she hands him package after package, the viewer soon realizes what she could not possibly have known – that she is returning packages of freshly laundered clothes to men who have not claimed them personally simply because they have all just been killed in action!  The look of pain  on the soldier’s face as hears and sees the names and then realizes all of this is not something soon to be forgotten.

Why?  Precisely because of what this gripping moment of film so powerfully underscores - the notion that freedom is not free!  His comrades had all died engaging a cruel and ruthless enemy.  They had done so in order to resist tyranny and to ensure freedom for all who suffered under the terrible hand of oppression.

May we never forget this simple, yet profound notion!  Freedom is not free!  It always comes at a great cost!

And as we celebrate the many things Memorial Day has come to represent this weekend, may we do fully cognizant that chief among them must always be the honor and respect we owe to those who gave their all that we might be a free people!

NOTE: 
For a fairly in depth episode guide to Band of Brothers,
cf.: 
http://orma.iasfbo.inaf.it:7007/~mauro/TV/PDF/ENDED/BoB.pdf.
Page 30 recounts the above mentioned scene.

NO MATTER THE COST!

5/28/2021

 
This past week, Fox News carried a wonderful little Associated Press story that beautifully illustrates the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It all unfolded down in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where, as the May 18, 2021 headline reads:  “NFL Player Isaac Yiadom’s Maserati Taken Apart to Rescue Kitten Trapped Inside.”

It seems that local firefighters were called to the home of New York Giants cornerback, Isaac Yiadom, in order to rescue a cat that was stuck under the player’s car.  According to an update posted on their Facebook page, officials said the kitten had somehow become stuck “above the rear differential of his car.”

When the rescue was completed, it was determined that the animal did not appear to be injured. The same could not be said Yiadom’s Maserati.  The super-expensive sports car had to be partially disassembled in order to affect the rescue of the cat.

Now, I’m glad all turned out well - especially for the kitten.  Kudos to the firefighters for their ability to pull off the rescue with no loss of life or limb, as well as to Isaac Yiadom for acting swiftly to avert any tragedy when he discovered the poor cat’s plight.

For my part, I don’t live in an upscale beachfront Florida locale.  Moreover, my garage contains a couple of homegrown Fords, the combined value of which would probably not even constitute a good down payment on an imported Italian luxury vehicle.  Nonetheless, I have enough sense to know that even a highly paid professional athlete was well aware of the cost he was incurring by allowing his sports car to be damaged in order to save the little cat.

After all, my research indicates that Maserati are quite valuable.  The company has placed an annual production output cap at 75,000 units globally, keeping the number of available vehicles relatively low, and the prices high.  The various ones I found for sale on Autotrader.com were all used, and still ranged between c. $75,000 and $150,000 each.

And for me, this is precisely what makes Yiadom’s actions so laudable.  Let’s be honest, not everyone out there would make such a sacrifice for so small a creature.  But to his credit, he chose saving the life of the little kitten over the value of some mere possession.

In all of this, I cannot help but see a picture of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Like the little kitten, I found myself in peril.  The weight of the world was pressing down on me.  And like the kitten, I chose to cry out for help.  Like the homeowner, the Lord of the Universe heard my despairing cry.  And in His grace, He chose to come to my rescue, no matter the cost to Himself!

Literally, the God of this universe was willing to sacrifice anything necessary to achieve my salvation.  For this reason, He allowed the One entity which He loved above all else, His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ, to be damaged bodily on a cross in order that I might be saved.

I’m sure that if a certain little kitten could grasp the significance of the sacrifice undertaken on its behalf by Mr. Yiadom, it would be quite grateful.  Likewise, knowing how much I was loved and how great was the sacrifice undertaken on my behalf, I will be forever grateful to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The Apostle John understood this well.  He wrote extensively of the great love God has for each of us. In chapter 3, verse1 of his First New Testament Letter, he encourages us to “See what great love the Father has lavished on us…” His choice of words is well put here, for as he goes on to remind us…   

9“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

Notice that the pronouns here all plural and inclusive.  What God did for one, God did for all.  And this includes you, my friend.  God loves you; and He paid an incredible price to set you free.  Even now, He stands ready and willing to come to your assistance.  As the hymnwriter of old puts it, “He your savior wants to be; be saved today!”

STORY SOURCE: 
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/nfl-isaac-yiadoms-maserati-rescue-kitten.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES: 
https://www.biblehub.com/1_john/3-1.htm;
https://biblehub.com/niv/1_john/4.htm.

HYMN SOURCE:
"Love Lifted Me", 1912 by James Rowe.  Lyrics available at: 

https://hymnary.org/text/i_was_sinking_deep_in_sin_far_from_the​.

A MATTER OF DAYS

5/25/2021

 
The whole matter began about ten days ago.  From what I know now, a single hair follicle on the top of the back on my right leg apparently became infected (likely chaffed from walking).  I barely noticed it at first.  But by the end of the week, an abscess had set in; and a fairly sizable (and extremely painful) sore had arisen.
 
Still, I persevered.  My motto, learned from Ron Carlson, has pretty much always been to just give most any difficulty a couple of weeks.  If we do, the vast majority of time, no matter how bad things may seem to be, they always tend to work themselves out.  But this time, that was not to be.

By Thursday of last week, I was running a fever.  By Friday afternoon, my fever was bad enough that I was having uncontrollable shivering.  At this point, my wife loaded me in the car for a trip to the emergency room. What we assumed would be a short stay turned into emergency surgery and a three day stay in the hospital, followed now by two weeks of home health care all to effect the healing a wound with the circumference of a baseball.  

Along the way, I have had massive doses of antibiotics and similar, powerful medicines poured into my body via IVs and pill form.  And though now home, I can either stand up or lie down, but cannot sit – a situation which will not be changing for some time.  (I am typing this on my laptop while standing up.)

That is the bad news.  The good news is that I am slowly healing.  They say that no situation, however difficult, lasts forever.  This one, too, shall pass!

I will never forget the words spoken to me by the doctor who performed the surgery on me.  “If you had waited another couple of days before you came in, Mr. Jackson, you would have been in serious trouble!”

I have reflected a lot on that one single statement.  After all, it’s not every day one is told any such news. As a result, I have come to one overriding conclusion:  I am very thankful today.  First, to my wife who recognized it was time to stop trying to tough it out and go get some help! 

Second, fast on the heels of this is my appreciation for my family, who checked on me continuously, and kept me supplied with Chick-Fil-A and Zaxby’s chicken to bolster the “heart-healthy” meals of the hospital.

Third, to the entire staff of the local hospital, who, from top to bottom, did their individual jobs in a skilled and proficient manner.  Excellence in the performance of their respective tasks combined to bring about the collective task of healing.

Above all, I am thankful to my Lord.  I have been reminded once again that life is precious.  Each day is a gift; and nothing - not health, nor time, nor life itself - should be taken for granted.  The Lord and I have had more than one conversation about all of this.  Today is a gift; as will be tomorrow.  And I intend to make the most of every such gift I am given.

“Give it two weeks; things will work out!”  Dr. Carlson’s words are words of wisdom, well worth living by.  But they have now been forever joined in my consciousness by another, equally profound bit of wisdom, which I have been reminded of after hearing an offhand remark from a gifted surgeon:  “All our days are gifts from God!  Make each of them matter!”

OH HAPPY DAY!

5/18/2021

 
I pen these words just after having arrived back home from attending my four year old grandson’s preschool graduation ceremony.  I freely admit that, as his class took the stage, my face beamed with pride.  I could not help it; for quite naturally, my heart was swollen with joy.

Along with his classmates, his part in the program was to sing a couple of songs.  The first of these was “If You’re Happy and You Know It…”  Perhaps you know the various stanzas:  “Clap Your Hands”, “Stomp Your Feet”, “Jump up and Down”, etc…   I could well relate to the lyrics!

The second song sung was “He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands”.  Again, the verses are fairly familiar…   “He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands”, “He’s Got You And Me, Sister (or Brother), In His Hands”, “He’s Got Everybody Here In His Hands”.  Yet again, I found the words resonating in my heart!

You see, this day was not just special because my oldest grandson was graduating from four year old preschool.  It was also special because of the news we all earlier received as a family.

My sister found out about four months ago that she had a recurrence stemming from an earlier bout with ovarian cancer.  She has thus spent the last four months undergoing a half-dozen rounds of intense and agonizing chemotherapy.  Today was the long awaited day in which she received the results of her final scan.  And praise the Lord, the doctor pronounced her cancer free!

So, am I happy?  You bet!  Do I know it?  Absolutely!  And why is this so?  Because along with my sister and the rest of my family, I believe with all my heart that He (the Lord God) has the whole world in his hands!  This means that He has us as a family in His hands.  And the events of the last four months, though difficult and, at times, even quite painful, clearly prove this.  We rejoice in that wonderful truth.

But there is yet more to rejoice over.  He not only has my sister and me in His hands.  He also has “everybody here” in his hands.  And this includes you, my friend!

Are you currently in an uncertain place?  Are you even now facing a difficult stretch?  Then take it from some who have been where you are – “God is good!  All the time!”

My sister is an abidingly spiritual person.  She is steeped in holy scripture.  And one of the passages she has chosen to claim is Psalm 91…


1Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
9If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”


We are living proof that God honors His word.  Neither the “pestilence that stalks in the darkness” nor “the plague that destroys at midday” has prevailed against her.  Why?  Because she has chosen to dwell in the shelter of the Most High, and to rest in the shadow of the Almighty. And true to His promises, He has chosen to save her!

Given what all she has been through over the last few months, that makes today a happy day!


SCRIPTURE SOURCE:
https://biblehub.com/niv/psalms/91.htm.

ON SEWING AND REAPING…

5/12/2021

 
A few weeks ago, the following headline caught my attention:  “California's ‘I-5 Strangler’ Roger Kibbe Was Strangled to Death, Autopsy Shows”.  The article, written by Stephanie Pagones via The Associated Press and then published on www.FoxNews.com on March 4, 2021, goes on to tell how a convicted California serial killer who was accused of strangling at least seven women faced a similar fate earlier this week.
 
It seems that a certain Roger Reece Kibbe, who was known as the “I-5 Strangler” in the 1970s and 1980s, was spotted unresponsive Sunday in his cell at Mule Creek State Prison southeast of Sacramento, with his 40-year-old cellmate standing nearby.

According to the Amador County Sheriff’s Office, an autopsy determined that the 81-year-old convicted felon had been manually strangled to death in what authorities have now classified as a homicide. As of yet, however, no charges have been filed in connection with his death.

It turns out that Kibb, a suburban Sacramento furniture maker whose brother was a law enforcement officer, was initially convicted in 1991 of strangling a 17-year-old named Darcine Frackenpohl, who had run away from her home in Seattle. Her body had been found west of South Lake Tahoe below Echo Summit back in September 1987.

He was finally captured after Sacramento police said another would-be victim escaped, and they recovered a garrote made from a pair of dowels and parachute cord, along with scissors and other items. Investigators said they matched the cord to rope found with Frackenpohl’s body and at Kibbe's house, all with microscopic dots of red paint.

All along, investigators suspected him in other similar slayings.  But it wasn't until 2009 that a San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office investigator used new developments in evidence to connect him to six additional murders in multiple Northern California counties.  Several of these victims had been found alongside Interstate 5 or other highways back in 1986.  

DNA eventually linked him to two other victims, and he agreed to cooperate in exchange for prosecutors taking the death penalty off the table.  Thus, Kibbe was serving multiple life terms for all these slayings when he was killed.

As I read this article, I could not help but think of certain Biblical passages about reaping what one sews.

To begin with, 2 Corinthians 9:6 says that whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  Alas!  That principle applies to the sewing of both good and bad seeds.

Thus, Galatians 6:8 says that those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.

Jesus Himself underscores this in Luke 6:38 when He says:  “With whatever measure you use it will be measured back to you.”  Later, building on this, the Apostle Paul plainly states:  “Do not be deceived: God will not be mocked.  A man will reap whatever he sows!”

It seems that the “I-5 Strangler” merely lived out this basic Biblical principle.  But he is not alone.  The Bible also tells us that God is no respecter of persons.  Therefore, what applies to any one individual applies to all individuals.

So then, just what are you sewing?   That is to say, what seeds are you planting with the life you are living?  And what will you reap as a result of all this activity?  These are very worthwhile questions to ask.  After all, God is not mocked!  Our measure will be returned to us!  And sooner or later, we will reap what we sew!


STORY SOURCE:  https://www.foxnews.com/us/californias-strangler-strangled-himself-autopsy.  The writer, Stephanie Pagones, is a Digital Reporter for FOX Business and Fox News who can be followed on Twitter at @steph_pagones.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES: https://biblereasons.com/reaping-what-you-sow/.

MOTHER'S NATURE

5/8/2021

 
One of the most gripping stories I have ever read is David Fletcher’s ordeal of survival as recounted in his work:  Hunted: A True Story of Survival.  First published in 2002, the book is a riveting account of being ruthlessly tracked by an enraged grizzly bear.

In its review of the book, Library Journal succinctly summarizes the plot:

“First-time author Fletcher is a solo mountain climber who in May 1980 decided to climb Mount Hess, a remote peak of the Alaska Range. The approach to the mountain is through a secluded wilderness area and involves crossing a large glacier. On the second day of the approach, Fletcher was surprised by a bear cub and accidentally killed it. The mother, a large and distinctive grizzly, took this amiss. She began hunting him…”


I will not tell you how the book ends.  I will only say that even though it has been years since I first read this riveting page-turner, to this very day, it still makes me cast a frequent glance over my shoulder as I walk here in the woods of eastern Tennessee!

By their very nature, of course, bears can be vicious.  After all, as they eke out a daily living, they are forced to rely on the only tools nature has provided them:  acute senses, powerful muscles, jagged claws, and sharp teeth.  Little wonder that they have acquired a reputation for ferociousness.

The Bible subtly reminds us of this in the few times it mentions bears.  For instance, while serving as a young shepherd boy, King David encountered a bear, and had to kill it in order to keep it from taking one of his father’s sheep.  Later, when the Prophet Elisha was being persecuted by certain ne’er-do-wells, he called forth “she bears” to attack those who were troubling him.

Take note of the term “she bears”.  It is a well-known fact the most ferocious of all bears is a mother protecting her cubs.  In such circumstances, sows (or female bears with young) have been known to take on bores (or male bears) as much as twice their size – a fact that is also acknowledged in Scripture.

Proverbs 17:22 puts it this way:  “It is safer to meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs than to confront a fool caught in his foolishness.”  The obvious point of the verse is to avoid foolish people in order not to be harmed by your ongoing acquaintance with them.  But it is worth noting that the dangerous situation used for comparison to meeting a fool is that of a mother bear who has lost one or more of her cubs!

I hope I never meet up with a mother bear that has cubs.  To do so would be to court trouble.  If I do, I pray I can somehow communicate to her that I mean her and her brood no harm, and that I am then allowed to get away. 

What makes a grizzly bear mother so protective of her offspring?  The answer is that God made her this way.  She has been charged by the Lord with the responsibility of giving life to the next generation.  As a part of that charge, she also bears the principle burden for protecting that life, nurturing that life, educating that life, and, when the time comes, relinquishing that life to carry her species into the future.

As I write this, it is the Saturday evening before Mother’s Day.  And I cannot help but remember my own mother with fondness.  She too was used of God in order to give me life, to protect me, to nurture me, and to educate me.  For all these things, I am grateful - just as I am for the fact that she kept this all up until such time as I was able to stand on my own two feet, and to fend for myself in the world at large.  No wonder the Bible admonishes us to honor our mothers!

My own mother is now in Heaven, where I trust she is receiving her eternal reward.  Before she passed away, I tried my best to let her know how much I appreciated her and all she had done for me.  Now that she has passed, I do my best to communicate that same sense of appreciation to all the other women in my life, including my mother-in-law, my precious wife, my two sisters, my daughter, and my two daughters in law. 

Each of these ladies are now mothers in their own right; and I trust on this Mother’s Day, especially, will know how valued they are!

Do you have a mom who needs to hear how much you appreciate her?  If so, tomorrow would be good day to let her know what she means to you.  Chances are that, by her very nature, she showed you much love in life.  It is not only natural, but also spiritual for you to show her love in return.


SCRIPTURE SOURCES: 

https://biblehub.com/proverbs/17-12.htm;
https://www.biblehub.com/1_samuel/17-34.htm;
https://biblehub.com/2_kings/2-24.htm.

BOOK SOURCE: 

Fletcher, David.  Hunted: A True Story of Survival (Boston: Da Capo Press, 2002).

NOTE: 

The fascinating story of Hugh Glass is worth noting here.  It is the real life 19th century adventure of an unfortunate mountain man upon which the movies, The Revenant, and an earlier, less politically correct  incarnation, Man in the Wilderness, were based.  While out hunting for food to feed a party of fur trappers in 1823, Glass surprised a grizzly bear that mauled him mercilessly.  Left for dead by his companions, he recovered, and crawled hundreds of miles back to civilization, before setting out to exact revenge on those who had abandoned him.  The movies themselves are based on several written accounts and historical novels about the event. 

Cf.: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Glass.

SHAKY GROUND!

5/3/2021

 
Being a lover of all things historical, I recently tuned in to watch an episode of the television program Unearthed on the Science Channel.  It was about Alcatraz Island, which is situated in the middle of San Francisco Bay.  Of course, today it is best known as “The Rock”, a notorious federal prison where the most incorrigible of prisoners were once kept, ostensibly because it was considered to be “escape proof”.

The debate still rages over whether or not it really was possible to escape from Alcatraz.  A great many prisoners certainly tried.  Of these, most had their plans foiled.  And of those who got out, the majority were quickly recaptured, others were killed while escaping or later found dead.  A select few were never heard from again.

Of course, the official line from the Bureau of Prisons was that no one ever escaped.  Those who seemed to have gotten away were therefore presumed drowned in the turbulent waters of the bay and/or swept out to sea.  One thing is for certain, however, and that is that no one ever tunneled out of Alcatraz.  They couldn’t; for it is true to its nickname in that it is made entirely of solid rock!

By contrast, halfway across the bay at its entrance sits the city of San Francisco.  World renown for a multitude of reasons, “Frisco”, as it is locally known, sits on a jutting point of land at the south side of the entrance to the bay.  It is now much, much bigger than when it was first founded.  Not only have its city limits grown through annexation, but also through reclamation.

Apparently, it was early on determined that dredging up mud from the adjacent bay and using it to extend the point of land northward and eastward via the process of reclamation was both more desirable and feasible than it was to keep building further and further south.

But there was one hidden cost upon which no one had figured.  This was made painfully evident when the city was rocked by a massive earthquake on April 18, 1906.  To this day, it still ranks as one of the most significant earthquakes of all time, measuring an estimated 7.9 on current seismic magnitude scales, with violent shocks punctuating the strong shaking which lasted some 45 to 60 seconds!

Little wonder that the quake was felt from as far north as southern Oregon, all the way south of Los Angeles, and as far inland as central Nevada.  Approximately 300,000 or so people were left homeless and devastated, as fires erupted all over the city.  Worst of all, estimates at the time put the loss of life at around 700 people.  Nowadays, however, the true number is considered more likely to have been three to four times that amount. 

The big takeaway from this whole tragedy was that it merely proved once again just how dangerous it is to build on any type of foundation that is not rock solid.  It is now known that much of the damage to the city came about as a result of reclaimed mud liquefying during the violent shaking processes brought about by the earthquake.  As it liquefied, it simply dissolved underneath the tremendous weight of the city resting upon it.

After the earthquake, around fifty or so local prisoners from the city and county jail were found roaming the streets.  They were quickly rounded up and shipped to nearby Fort Alcatraz to be put into the stockade prison there. 

Being built upon solid rock, Alcatraz, of course, had sustained only superficial damage as a result of the quake.  And Voila!  From there came to be the infamous prison we all know about today.


All of this reminded me of Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew, chapter 7, verses 24-27:

24“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because its foundation was on the rock.

26But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its collapse!”


And there you have it!  Whether it is a city, a set of buildings, or a human life, anything built upon shaky ground will always be in danger of collapse.  By contrast, anything built upon a solid foundation will invariably be able to sustain even the most furious of life’s assaults!

I leave you with this question.  Upon what has your own life been built?  Better yet, upon Whom has it been built?!  As the hymn writer of old puts it:  “On Christ the solid Rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand!”

STORY SOURCES:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11599328/;
https://www.facebook.com/ScienceChannel/videos/2564594913864983/.

FELLOW HISTORY LOVERS, SEE ALSO: 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5917372/episodes?year=2019;
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/events/1906calif/18april/;
https://www.history.com/topics/natural-disasters-and-environment/1989-san-francisco-earthquake.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE: 

https://biblehub.com/bsb/matthew/7.htm.

HYMN SOURCE: 

https://hymnary.org/tune/solid_rock_bradbury.

    Cleo E. Jackson, III

    Occasionally I will add
    a few thoughts to my blog. If you find them inspirational, I will be
    honored.

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