Reflections of a Freaking Genius

  Christmas is upon us again.  It seems like the events of the last couple of years has everyone more inclined to celebrate (and celebrate bigger) this year than most.  Our neighborhood isn't known for 'The Great Christmas Light Fights', or for having a bunch of Clark W Griswolds.  But this year there are a lot of Christmas lights up.  Heck, I even have some up this year.  Granted I paid someone to do it this year, but they're up and we're good to go.  It's not that I'm incapable of climbing an ladder and doing it myself, I just don't want to , plain and simple.  I'm not going to go terrorize Whoville or anything like that, but let's just say that the older I get the more I'm into simplicity. When it comes to Christmas I'd like to think I'm a purist. I remember a long time ago, back on the farm, we had Christmases which really did focus on the basics. Dad wasn't a member of the fire department so he could get rich, and his off dut

I don't remember when I first heard about the virus.  I'm thinking I was at work.  At the end of 2019 there were a couple of coworkers who were pretty sick with the flu, but this one hit them pretty hard.  It seemed different but at the time that was a passing thought.  When it was announced that there was a virus out of Wuhan China that was spreading pretty rapidly and that people were dying, it caught my attention.  In February the announcements were made public that there was a threat to the United States concerning the virus, and that people who had traveled internationally seemed to be getting sick.  National leaders and 'experts' weren't indicating at the time it was something to watch but not be too concerned about.   In March, the first of the 'suggestions' was presented to our country supposedly aimed at helping our country to see the least amount of impact possible and not overwhelm the healthcare system.  Shut everything down, leave work, go home,

I've enjoyed listening to bible on the way to work - the YouVersion app via Bluetooth in the truck.  This morning made me think of my senior sermon which was 35 years ago next month.  It was John 11, when Jesus brought Lazarus back to life.  "When you don't get what you want."  I would probably rename it now, "When God disappoints you" or "When God does things you don't understand".  "When God doesn't meet your expectations" Mary and Martha wanted Jesus to go see Lazarus because he was sick, and they knew Jesus could help. They'd seen him heal people.  He refused.  His friend Lazarus died.  That hurt Jesus deeply because they were friends, as indicated by one of the shortest verses in the bible: Jesus wept.  No other time do we see that kind of raw emotion from the Son of God.  I'm sure it left Mary and Martha confused because they expected him to leave immediately and do what he does best and what they had witnessed him d

Most of you have seen or at least are familiar with Caddyshack.  It's a classic movie now, and probably a month doesn't go be when I see that it's showing on some random channel.  One thread that runs through this movie is goofy Carl Spackler, a Vietnam vet who seemed a bit shell shocked, now groundskeeper who has an epic battle with a gopher throughout the whole film.  The gopher was doing what gophers do, tunneling, burrowing, and leaving mounds all round the beautifully manicured golf course of which crazy Carl was responsible.  Spackler's conquest is very serious  One particular scene has Carl saying: " Licensed to kill gophers by the government of the United Nations. A man, free to kill gophers at will. To kill, you must know your enemy, and in this case my enemy is a varmint. And a varmint will never quit - ever. They're like the Viet Cong - Varmint Cong. So you have to fall back on superior intelligence and superior firepower. And that's all she wrot