Today I Fly The Flag

Today is Memorial Day, a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. I have many mixed emotions regarding war, as would any thinking human being, yet this doesn't take away from my gratitude towards those who have given their lives to protect our freedom. So today I fly the flag.

There are many wonderful things about our country to be proud of, there are also things that we as a nation need to work to change. The United States isn't perfect, there is no way that it could be because we live in an imperfect world, inhabited by imperfect beings. But I would venture to say that it is one of the best countries to live in on this spinning ball. So today I fly the flag.

Today I fly the flag in memory of those who served our nation, as flawed as it may be, because with out those who have gone before us we would be living in a much different country. But I also am going to pray for our leaders and the leaders of all the nations that we might be able to live in a more peaceful world, so that we might not have to honor any more fallen soldiers.

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.
(1 Timothy 2:1-2)

So today I fly the flag, and I pray!

Peace, Love, and Light through Jesus the Christ!
Kevin (Cloud)

Day By Day

Over Easter weekend I put Godspell into the DVD player to watch with the family. A remarkable thing occurred while we were watching this film version of the Broadway hit, our grand-daughter was crawling around the living room doing the usual things that babies do until Robin Lamont began to sing "Day By Day", that 9 month old stopped everything she was doing and went straight over to the television to watch and listen to the song. We thought this was so cool because Day By Day was such a hit back in the 70's and my wife and I just love it, but the amazing thing is that I have played the movie two more times and with out fail our little princess makes a bee line to the TV and is totally fixated during this one song.

Day By Day
by Stephen Schwartz

Day by day
Day by day
Oh Dear Lord
Three things I pray
To see thee more clearly
Love thee more dearly
Follow thee more nearly
Day by day

...well as they say "out of the mouth of babes"

Peace, Love, and Light through Jesus the Christ!
Kevin (Cloud)

Fair Use Notice

Happy Resurrection Day!

Paul asks the believers in Corinth to logically assess some challenges made to the resurrection of Jesus.

"Now, let me ask you something profound yet troubling. If you became believers because you trusted the proclamation that Christ is alive, risen from the dead, how can you let people say that there is no such thing as a resurrection? If there's no resurrection, there's no living Christ. And face it--if there's no resurrection for Christ, everything we've told you is smoke and mirrors, and everything you've staked your life on is smoke and mirrors. Not only that, but we would be guilty of telling a string of barefaced lies about God, all these affidavits we passed on to you verifying that God raised up Christ--sheer fabrications, if there's no resurrection.

If corpses can't be raised, then Christ wasn't, because he was indeed dead. And if Christ wasn't raised, then all you're doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. It's even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they're already in their graves. If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we're a pretty sorry lot. But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries." (1 Corinthians 15:12-20)
(The Message © by Eugene H. Peterson)

Of all the teachings in the Bible the resurrection of Jesus the Christ stands out as one of the most important and at the same time one of the more difficult for those outside of the Family to accept. The resurrection is the one teaching that separates Christianity from all other religions, it sets Jesus apart from every great teacher, prophet, and holy man ever to walk the earth.

I think the most compelling proof of Christ's resurrection is the willingness of his followers to die for their testimony of being eyewitnesses to the resurrection.

"If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we're a pretty sorry lot."

Peace, Love, and Light through Jesus the Christ!
Kevin (Cloud)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Oh, did I mention that I have Irish roots? My great grandparents were born in Ireland in the mid 1800's and immigrated to the USA around 1887.

Read about The St. Patrick You Never Knew.

Find Celtic crosses like the one above on the Aon Celtic Art Website.

I love this...

Christ shield me this day:
Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every person who thinks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me

~Saint Patrick, from his breastplate

Peace, Love, and Light through Jesus the Christ!
Kevin (Cloud)

Meth Madness

There is a local tabloid distributed for free here in paradise that has a history of being quite a bit left of center on most issues. This week's cover story may have pushed them off the charts this time. The local rag did a piece on methamphetamine, but for some reason they made the editorial decision to publish the recipe along with step-by-step instructions to produce meth. True, this info most likely is available on the internet, but what an reckless and irresponsible thing to do!

Why would this widely read tabloid publish in great detail the steps of meth production? Their sister publication in the next county also has a cover story on the same subject that is much more informative about the dangers of meth use and a much better use of paper and ink! Meth is no light subject for me. This wasn't a recipe for Alice B. Tokeless brownies, this is a recipe for the poison that is killing members of my family! I have seen this drug slowly destroy my loved ones and they have the nerve to publish the recipe with only a tongue and cheek caveat about the dangers of meth use. What were they thinking?

I have to wonder how many of their advertisers are rethinking their contracts with this popular tabloid? I sent the reporter and her editor an e-mail in hopes that they would correct this grave misuse of their position in our community as a source of news and information by publishing a series of articles to raise awareness about the dangers of meth use. I have not received any response yet. The local news talk radio program has spent the last two days taking calls from outraged listeners throughout the county, boy are there a lot of pissed-off folks out there!

You should check out the Mothers Against Methamphetamine web site at www.mamasite.net for the truth about meth from a medical doctor who lost her brother to this dangerous drug.

Peace, Love, and Light through Jesus the Christ!

Kevin (Cloud)

Photo: DOJ

Crunchy Conservatism

I found some posts about "Crunchy Conservatism". Crunchy Conservatism for the most part relates to those who hold conservative religious and political views yet don't totally buy in to the consumerism mindset. Crunchy Conservatives have some Hippie ideals about the environment and natural foods, things that make most conservatives run for the bunkers.

I think that a Crunchy Conservative might be a lot like a Hippie Christian in many ways. Check out these posts...

Touchstone Magazine - Mere Comments: Crunchy Cons and Veggie Tales

The Euphemist - Far out, man! I'm a crunchy conservative!

Peace, Love, and Light through Jesus the Christ!
Kevin (Cloud)

The Book Of Daniel

Friday I made a point of watching the new NBC show The Book Of Daniel. I wasn't sure how to take the show, there are some good things about it but I am afraid that there isn't enough to redeem the show beyond it being a knock off of Desperate Housewives.

The Book Of Daniel is about Daniel, an Episcopal minister and his dysfunctional family. In my opinion the writers went over the top in an apparent attempt to portray "real" life. With the possible exception of Daniel, most of the characters live their lives with very little impact from their faith.

The Book Of Daniel highlighted the fact that we all struggle with sin and sometimes fall, that point was brought out all too well. I feel that there was a lack of any real tension between the high ideals of a life of faith and the reality of the human condition. Only Daniel seemed to be walking the tightrope of faith, balanced on a thin line that one could easily fall from. Daniel seems to be the only one who struggles with his human nature and his desire to have a relationship with Jesus, whom Daniel has conversations with on a regular basis.

The one redeeming thing about The Book Of Daniel is the message of love and compassion that Daniel demonstrates as he works through the many issues his family struggles with and his ongoing relationship with Jesus.

Peace, Love, and Light through Jesus the Christ!
Kevin (Cloud)

Hippie Thanksgiving Tradition

This Thursday we will gather with our family and do all the usual things that folks do on Thanksgiving, but we will also do something that we began in So Cal some thirty or so Thanksgivings ago. We will listen to Arlo Guthrie sing Alice's Restaurant - again - all 18+ minuets of it. We have done this almost every year and if for some reason I forget to crank up the old Victrola (just kidding - we have it on cd now) our kids remind me that it just isn't Thanksgiving with out hearing Alice's Restaurant!

It is interesting how traditions create a bond within the family; they give us a sense of stability and place.

Thus says the LORD: “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls…” (Jeremiah 6:16)

Peace, Love, and Light through Jesus the Christ!
Kevin (Cloud)

Happy Thanksgiving!

To call a holiday "Thanksgiving" begs the question... "To whom do we give thanks?"

We must assume that there is a person to have gratitude towards, in that an impersonal entity or object is incapable of receiving our thanks. Our giving of thanks to anything less than a real personal benefactor would be pure non-sense!

So who did they thank at the first Thanksgiving? They gave thanks to our loving Creator Father, God Almighty!

Check out The History Channel for info about The First Thanksgiving

Check out the Butterball Website
for holiday turkey recipes and tons of ideas for what to do with all that leftover bird.

Peace, Love, and Light through Jesus the Christ!
Kevin (Cloud)

The Price Of A Sparrow

According to United Press International a sparrow disrupted a domino display in the Netherlands this week. The sparrow knocked over about 23,000 dominoes in a 4.3 million domino display that was being set up in an attempt to break the world domino toppling record.

The sparrow was cornered and shot with an air rifle although it is a crime to kill the common house sparrow in the Netherlands with out a permit. Officials decided to shoot the bird with an air rifle after attempts to capture it were unsuccessful. The man who shot the bird with an air rifle has received death threats.

Now here's the absurdity of the matter...Where were the animal rights people when the house sparrow's habitat was being destroyed? The Dutch over build their cities and cause the sparrow to decline in numbers. After essentially killing off tens of thousands of house sparrows with bulldozers and chain saws they make the little bird a protected species. Now every one gets their BVD's in a knot because someone goes Rambo on one of them. They want to kill this guy for shooting one bird, yet the whole Dutch nation has benefitted from the wholesale destruction of habitat that supported tens of thousands of these same birds - the world has gone up-side-down!

Jesus lends us some balance here... "Aren't two sparrows sold for only a penny? But your Father knows when any one of them falls to the ground. Five sparrows are sold for just two pennies, but God doesn't forget a one of them. Even the hairs on your head are counted. So don't be afraid! You are worth much more than many sparrows." (Matthew 10:29, Luke 12:6-7)

Peace, Love, and Light through Jesus the Christ!
Kevin (Cloud)

Running On Empty

This last few weeks have been very full, lots of projects to finish and deadlines to meet. The nonprofit that I work for put on a fundraiser benefit concert with several musicians and Jackson Browne as the main act. The concert was sold out with three thousand in attendance and all the proceeds from the event going to help fund the programs that we run for adults with disabilities. It was a great concert and it was such a thrill to see an event of this size for such a great cause.

By the end of the week I could really relate to the lyrics from two of my favorite Jackson Browne tunes, The Pretender and Running On Empty. I got to the point that all my gauges were pointing to empty - I needed sleep, food, ice tea, love, and most of all I needed my spiritual tank refilled. Spiritually I was running on empty, I had not found (or made) the time to meditate on the Bible, sit and listen to Father, or pray. Spiritually I felt dried up, parched, and run down.

Jesus said "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?" (Luke 9:25)

This is a condition that I have been in before and by it's self isn't too bad, but left unchecked it leads to a cycle of spiritual emptiness that ends up being filled with things that aren't so good. Nature abhors a vacuum and our heavenly Father meant our lives to be filled with him. When there is a lack of his presence in our day to day experience then the enemy of our soul rushes in to suggest things to fill the void, and that is when we get into trouble. Relationships take work to cultivate, and the same is true of our relationship with Father. We need to take time to hang out with him, talk to him and listen to him if we expect to have a sense of his presence in our lives. I find that prayer, quiet meditation on his great love, reading the Bible, singing songs to him and about him all help me to keep my spiritual tank full.

Running on empty isn't a good idea because when you run out of gas getting out and pushing that old '56 Chevy isn't so easy!

Peace, Love, and Light through Jesus the Christ!
Kevin (Cloud)

Who Ordered The Chaos?

This last week I was sharing with a coworker about some of the latest challenges that have presented themselves in our otherwise quiet empty nest. Being a devoted christian and avid gardner she had some Godly advice that was seasoned with down to earth examples from her garden that an old hippie like myself could relate to. I love it when Father talks to his kids in the garden, after all that is where it all began - in his garden.

One of her favorite metaphors about life and its unexpected trials comes from her love of gardening. She asked me if I was familiar with English Gardens and the concept of "Ordered Chaos". I joked about not placing any orders for chaos, how I didn't remember ordering this current situation and I certainly didn't request this super sized order of chaos. After a brief chuckle she went on to explain that "Ordered Chaos" is the term used to describe the way an English Garden is planted. The intent is to recreate a natural looking space, like a small meadow bursting with wild flowers untouched by human hands. The appearance of the garden is chaotic and random but in fact it is planed with great care and it is quite deliberate in its design and execution.

To the observer the English Garden is totally random and without any visible hint of design, just as life's trials can appear seemingly senseless and without purpose. The truth is that there is a designer that has every situation under his control, no matter how horrific the pain or how mind numbing the confusion, the Father loves us and holds us in his hands. Our challenge isn't getting through the chaos, but rather understanding that the chaos isn't so random and senseless. The challenge is to learn to trust God in the depths of darkness knowing that he will bring us through it, hopefully stronger and more compassionate, able to help others in their painful time of chaos.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

We may never understand the reasons for the chaos beyond learning to trust Father in every situation. It is in trusting him that the chaos begins to loose its ability to hide the designers hand.

Peace, Love, and Light through Jesus the Christ!
Kevin (Cloud)