EVERYTHING IS A TARGET

Solomon Islands, May 24, 1944

At 1,000 yards my .50-calibers are deadly. I know just where they strike. I cannot miss.

Now he is out of the water, but he does not run. The beach is wide. He cannot make the cover of trees. He is centered in my sight. My finger tightens on the trigger. A touch and he will crumple on the coral sand.

But he disdains to run. He strides across the beach. Each step carries dignity and courage in its timing. He is not an ordinary man. The shot is too easy. His bearing, his stride, his dignity — there is something in them that has formed a bond between us. His life is worth more than the pressure of a trigger. I do not want to see him crumple on the beach.

World War II Journal of Charles A. Lindbergh

 

A NICE CAT

Part of the neighborhood for several years, it’s a nice cat. Unless you happen to be a squirrel or bird.

Being nice is different from being kind. Kindness is not part of a cat’s DNA; or mine, for that matter. It can be encouraged, but, kindness isn’t inherited; it isn’t part of our physical nature.

Kindness has a spiritual source. Kindness is Love. Kindness has compassion, mercy, and concern.

Kindness isn’t always accepted as nice.

 

THE DAY OF LIGHT

The Light is resurrected, darkness has no future.

 

THE DAY OF DARKNESS

As a child, it seemed a bit odd that the day set aside in remembrance of Jesus being killed would be called “Good Friday.” I didn’t worry about it all that much, having the day off from school was reason enough for me to call it good.

I was a child. A not particularly exceptional one.

What amazes me, as an adult, are the number of people who identify themselves as Christian, yet, still don’t seem to understand what it was about that day of darkness that was Good.

 

IT’S QUITE COLD

January is not a time to be without warmth.

In the morning mail is another solicitation. A plea for a contribution to help those in need.

Not all are orphans and widows. A number are in need due to foolish behavior.

Does that make a difference?

Will I ignore the plea? There are others, some of whom have little more than enough for themselves, that won’t.

Why? Why don’t they leave it to the government, large corporations, or those of greater wealth?

What purpose is there in individual acts of mercy and compassion? What motivates them? Logic says they can’t save the world.

What would cause one to ignore logic? Could it be Love?

 

RANSOM

Guido Reni Painting

“I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many.” – Jesus Christ

GOOD ENOUGH

In the book of Romans Paul says no one really follows God’s laws, that no one even truly wants to.

That’s because none of us are “Good.” Ministers, priests, rabbis, imans, swamis, that guy who risked his life to save two kids and a dog from a burning house, — NONE! None includes you and more to the point, it includes me.

I’ve never had any difficulty finding fault with others. Truth forces me to concede that I’m no better. But, surely the Pope, the Dalai Lama, some of us must be good enough.

Unfortunately, there is no door marked “good enough.” To enter a world without evil I have to be without sin.

I know His laws; that knowledge warns me that judgment isn’t going to rule in my favor.

If that’s the case, I might as well believe in nothing. I’m just another grain of sand washed upon an endless beach. Life is pointless.

I’d need a substantial supply of opioids to pursue that line of thought.

I do have purpose. I know I’m not Good, but I know where it comes from, I know where to find it.

That old book tells me there is a way. A way to avoid judgment. The way to gain entry is to be declared “not guilty.”

I have faith in the Love and Mercy of “The Way.”

NATIONAL ICE CREAM DAY

Today, in the United States, the nation celebrates ice cream. Yeah, this is the one day a year that I celebrate ice cream.

There are few things that appeal more to my five senses than homemade ice cream with strawberries. Ice cream and strawberries are something I call good.

Perhaps, more often than I should.

Can things that have no physical substance be real? Things unknown to my five senses.

Things such as kindness, mercy, and Love.

Imperceptible things that I call Good.

TODAY

Is a day to celebrate forgiveness.

To celebrate the promise of re-birth.

To celebrate awareness, awareness that we’re not given candles simply to illuminate a cake.

SACRIFICE

In a world of self-centered adoration there is no greater demonstration of Love than the willingness to sacrifice. That which is sacrificed may or may not be of monetary or sentimental value. Time has value; time spent doing something of benefit for another is a form of sacrifice. I don’t like the taste of alcohol, being willing to give up drinking wouldn’t mean a thing to me; on-the-other-hand, if I were an alcoholic.

Sacrifice is a rite of Love; those who miss that point likely place little value on Love. They find it bewildering, a hindrance that interferes with their devotion to accumulation.

If the raising of sheep provided livelihood, giving up your best lamb to God would be a sacrifice. It isn’t that God wants our lambs, what He wants is our Love. Sacrifice that’s made without Love is just an act, a religious observance one was taught to perform.

God ignores liars and hypocrites. If my Love for God is just an act there’s no point in making sacrifices.

The ultimate sacrifice would be to give your life for another.

I know that my Creator Loves me; He gave part of Himself as a sacrifice for me. The gods of accumulation don’t do that sort of thing.