Whose Will It Be After I'm Gone? Part I

Ecclesiastes 2:18-23
Covenanted Reformed Presbyterian Church, Albany NY
Rev. Greg L. Price

When we are so attached to someone or something in this life that we worry and fret over what will become of that someone or something after we die, we will likely not find true joy in that someone or that something while we yet live. For how can you presently enjoy what you fear losing? Or how can you enjoy what you fear leaving when you die?

For example, if a man works hard all of his life and builds a sizable estate, but he lies awake at night worrying about what will happen to his estate once he dies, his worry and fear will rob him of the joy he might have in his estate while he yet lives. Or if a woman has become a mother and loves her children dearly, but she worries day and night what will become of her children when she dies, her worry and fear will likewise rob her of the joy she might have in her children while she yet lives.

The problem is not that it is wicked to enjoy an estate in this world or to enjoy the children we dearly love. However, we can be assured that joy in anything in this life will continually elude our grasp if we worry, fret, and fear losing it when we die. This was a question that plagued King Solomon as he considered his great wealth, large family, and vast possessions. Whose will they be when I die?

From our text in Ecclesiastes 2:18-23, we will consider three areas related to Solomon's death which he considers to be vanity:

(I) It Is Vain To Leave All That I Have Worked For To A Fool Who Will Waste It (Ecclesiastes 2:18,19);

(II) It Is Vain To Leave All That I Have Worked For To One Who Has Not Earned It (Ecclesiastes 2:20,21);

(III) It Is Vain To Worry About All That I Have Worked For And Will Surely Leave Behind (Ecclesiastes 2:22,23).

This Lord's Day we will only have time to cover the first main point from our text.

I. It Is Vain To Leave All That I Have Worked For To A Fool Who Will Waste It (Ecclesiastes 2:18,19).

A. In the previous sermon from Ecclesiastes 2:12-17, you will recall that Solomon introduces an event that comes upon the wise man just as it comes upon the foolish man: DEATH. Solomon concludes that this certain event of death which comes upon both the wise and the foolish makes all of the time and resources he invested in knowledge and wisdom to be vanity and emptiness. In fact, Solomon in his backslidden state declares that he grew to "hate" the life he was living because there was no advantage to the wise man over the foolish man as it relates to their common end on this earth: DEATH. Frustration seemed to envelope Solomon when he saw that all of his worldly knowledge and wisdom did not help him grasp that everlasting joy any better than the foolish man who gave himself up to the mere pleasures of life. Solomon in great turmoil of soul cries out, "all is vanity and vexation of soul" (Ecclesiastes 2:17).

B. Now as if that realization about death was not enough, Solomon moves to another sobering thought about death in Ecclesiastes 2:18,19. Solomon in effect says, "It's bad enough that I have no advantage over the fool in enjoying life. For death will snatch away from me (just as from the fool) whatever I have worked so hard to obtain. But add to that this depressing thought: "After all I have worked so hard to accomplish in my life, I may leave it all to one who will be a fool and waste it all." The thought of this possibility drives Solomon to worry about what will become of all that he has accomplished. And that worry and fear robs him of any enduring satisfaction in the work of his hands. After all, how can you enjoy what you have if you fear losing it all or if you fear it will fall into the hands of a fool who will destroy it all? Dear ones, when that happens our work becomes a curse rather than a blessing to us. For every thought we might have about our work or our accomplishments only reminds us of what we will sooner or later leave behind to one who may waste it or squander it. Such is the end of all those who look and seek for a lasting joy and contentment in the creature rather than in the Creator, in the gift rather than in the Giver of all good gifts. Their fears rob them of true enjoyment in those earthly possessions.

1. Note carefully how this truth hit Solomon, one of the richest men that ever lived and the wisest man who ever lived (except for Jesus Christ), "Yea, I HATED all my labor which I had taken under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 2:18). Here is strong language, but honest language nevertheless. Solomon grew to despise all his work and all that he had accomplished (as magnificent and beautiful as it was). Why? Read Ecclesiastes 2:18b,19. Solomon hated his work, and he SINFULLY hated it (I would submit) because he feared what would become of it after he died. But I would ask you a question which perhaps you never really considered? Is there a right and biblical sense in which we should hate our work? Actually, there is a proper and biblical sense in which we should HATE our work as well as a biblical sense in which we should LOVE our work.a. First, how should we HATE our work in a way that pleases God? We should HATE our work whenever it becomes the first love of our life, or when we make unethical decisions at work in order to keep our job or in order to move up the ladder. In this sense, Jesus says we are even to hate many other important things in this life: Read Luke 14:26. When it comes to being a faithful disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, we should so cherish Christ and His promises, Christ and His righteousness, Christ and His love, Christ and His commandments that anything else in life that may compete in our heart for that supreme love and obedience which Christ alone deserves, we turn away from it as if we hated it. Not that we actually hate mother or father, husband or wife, children, brother or sister, our work or our own life, but that we have such a love for Christ that we desire Him and His will more than we desire anything else in this life (Matthew 10:37,38). Dear ones, we must be so jealous of that supreme love we have for Christ above everything else in life that any competing lover is hated in vying for our supreme affection. Let me illustrate it this way.

(1) Those of you who are married, let me ask you: Should you enjoy the flirting of men and women in this world that would seek to turn you from that special love you should have for your wife or husband to other women or men? Or should you not rather be righteously angry that someone even attempted to turn your eyes or your affections from your husband and wife?

(2) And if we should have that unique love for our husband or wife, how much more so for Christ, our first and supreme love. What is there in your life presently that you desire and would sacrifice even obedience to Christ in order to have and to hold? Is it a friend? Is it a family member? Is it a job? Is it financial prosperity? Is it a home in that special location? Is it your health? Is it popularity? Whatever we would forsake our Savior and His commandments in order to enjoy has become a harlot that we are cherishing in our hearts and lives (according to James 4:4). So in this sense Christ commands us to hate our work.b. However, I do not want to leave you with only a right and biblical sense in which you are to hate your work, but I want to leave you also with a proper and biblical sense in which you are to LOVE and to enjoy your work and the fruit of all your labors in this life (Ecclesiastes 2:24). Dear ones, God commanded Adam to work and to till the Garden of Eden even before the fall of man into sin, not as a punishment to bring misery, but as a means of enjoying God and all that with which God had blessed him. Hard work is good for us and God does want us to love and to enjoy our work. For God gives us richly all things in this life to enjoy (including our jobs) according to 1 Timothy 6:17.

(1) Now what if you are not presently doing the kind of work that you would like to do? You can still find joy and contentment in serving the Lord in whatever you are presently doing. You don't have to be miserable. If you are miserable in your present work, it is because you have chosen to be miserable (and likely to make others around you miserable as well). For you can (by God's grace) look to Christ and find your joy and contentment in Him who has you right where He wants you in order to grow you and in order to use you for His glory.

(2) We always seem to think that we would be so much more happy if we were only doing what we really wanted to do in life. Such an attitude only reveals our ignorance and immaturity in not recognizing the sin of discontentment that is active in each of our own hearts. For the grass is always greener any where except for where we presently are. Dear ones, do not deceive yourself into thinking that true joy is found in a particular job. It isn't. True contentment and joy is found in a particular Person (Jesus Christ) who is able to give us a song in our hearts whatever job we are doing.

(3) Paul and Silas had been beaten for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Their backs were bleeding and raw from the beating they had just received. They were isolated in a dark, damp, prison. Their feet were in stocks so that they could not find a comfortable position for their body. But there was a song of praise to Christ in their hearts which then flowed out to their tongues (as we see in Acts 16:23-25). And here we are enjoying all of the necessities and many of the comforts of life by means of the job that we have, and we have no song in our hearts, but only bitterness which rises like venom from our hearts to our tongues. Even if we cannot enjoy the kind of work that we are doing or the people that we work with, we can still learn to enjoy Christ in our work. We can still learn to be thankful to Christ for even the crumbs that fall from the table or that same manna that falls from heaven. We can choose to complain about the crumbs and the manna or we can choose to see Christ in the crumbs and in the manna.

c. Now when Solomon says that he had come to hate all his work, clearly it was not in a biblical sense that he hated it. He did not hate his work as Jesus said we should hate anything that competes for that place that Christ alone should hold in our lives as our first love. It was rather in a sinful and unbiblical sense that he had come to hate all his work. Why did Solomon confess that he hated all his work? He says it was because he might leave all that he had worked for to fools. Solomon had set up in his mind sinful expectations concerning his work, namely that his work would bring him a lasting joy in and of itself. And when it did not do so, he hated it.

(1) This is precisely what happens in so many marriages today. A husband has the false expectation that his wife can make him truly happy, and a wife has the unrealistic expectation that her husband can meet all of her needs. And because of these sinful and unrealistic expectations, they soon become utterly frustrated with one another. And then they begin to despise one another and pick one another apart. Hopelessness with regard to the marriage then settles over their minds, and a bitter divorce finally ensues. How did such a beautiful beginning end in such a horrible divorce? If you are expecting your husband or wife to meet all your needs or to make you happy, you are placing more on his/her shoulders than any one mere human being can possibly bear. For only the one true living God has the power to make us truly happy. Only He who is perfectly at peace in heaven, who is completely filled with joy, who needs no one outside of Himself to make Him happy, who is dependent upon no one or nothing for his life, breath, or existence, only He can make us truly happy.

(2) The example of Solomon shouts at us that whenever we look to someone or something in this life to bring that fulfillment and satisfaction to our lives which only Christ can bring, we will likely end up despising and resenting it just as Solomon did his work. Remember that Solomon in his backslidden condition had said earlier in Ecclesiastes 2:10: "And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; FOR MY HEART REJOICED IN ALL MY LABOR; and this was my portion of all my labor." Solomon did find a measure of joy at the outset in his work and in his many accomplishments. But because he sinfully expected he would find a lasting joy and satisfaction in the creature, he deceived himself with a lie and was bitterly disappointed when his new god did not deliver an enduring contentment as he believed it would.

(3) And the way to a deep enduring joy that can face the various storms in life is one of trust in Christ and obedience to Christ. For we cannot be truly happy if we are not united by faith to Him who is the source of real joy. And we cannot be truly happy if we are not desiring and endeavoring to see the holiness of Christ more and more manifested in our lives. The world has lied to us in saying that obedience to Christ and holiness unto the Lord is the surest way to squelch all of our joy in this life. And we have believed that lie to varying degrees. However, dear ones, the road to happiness is called "HOLINESS." Why (I might ask) will we be completely happy IN HEAVEN? Why will all tears be wiped from our eyes IN HEAVEN? Why will all sorrow be blotted out IN HEAVEN? Because God will make us completely holy so that we think no evil, speak no evil, see no evil, hear no evil, and do no evil. Disobedience to Christ and His commandments brings misery. Obedience to Christ and His commandments brings contentment and joy. Dear ones, the Lord says that His commandments are not grievous to those who love Him (1 John 5:2). There may be that struggle in our hearts with our own wicked desires to obey the Lord, but God's commandments are not a heavy burden to those who love the Lord. Loving and obeying the Lord may cost us relationships with people. Loving and obeying the Lord may cost us certain pleasures in this life. But loving and obeying the Lord will bring a joy and happiness that no relationship or pleasure on earth can match.

2. Solomon says that all of his worries about who would inherit what he had accomplished in this life did not cause him to enjoy his work, but rather caused him only to see the vanity of his work. All that he had worked so hard to accomplish might in fact be wasted upon the desires and pleasures of a fool.

a. Do you see, dear ones, the underlying problem that Solomon had here and which led to the overwhelming sense of vanity and emptiness? Solomon believed he could control what he possessed. He thought he could command what he possessed to make him happy. He have come to believe that what he possessed was his gift to himself rather than God's gift to him.

b. Dear ones, the thought of leaving our loved ones in death or leaving all of our possessions in death may simply reveal who we really believe owns all that we have. Do we believe and act as if we are the source of all that we possess? If so we will always fear losing it and will cling even more tightly to it for fear of losing it. Or do we believe and act as if God is the source of all that we possess? Do we see ourselves as masters of all that we have or as stewards of all that we have? Do we view ourselves as managing the measure of wealth, gifts, graces, family, and friends that our heavenly Lord and Master has allotted to us? If so, we are not going to fear giving it back to the Lord who gave it all to us in the first place when we die. We are not going to worry about the child who may become a fool in wasting all that we have accomplished. For we know that God sovereignly disposes all these earthly blessings upon whom He wishes. Our duty is simply to be faithful in our use of what the Lord has given us to enjoy and to be faithful in leaving what the Lord has given us to enjoy to those who are walking faithfully in covenant with the Lord. What our heirs may do with their inheritance after we are dead, we need not worry about. Do you worry as though all that you possess belongs to you? Or do you rest as though all that you possess actually belongs to the Lord?

You are

What Rejected Crayon Are You?

The Rewards of Persevering --Take 2

(Elodie went and sent this before I was ready to publish, and then Blogger went and lost the rest of the post when I did re-publish. So here is the complete post, re-posted AGAIN to prove that I have what it takes to persevere!)

Today was a productive day in a number of ways. The kids and I blasted our way through a bunch of grammar, my bed was made and bedroom tidied up as well as the ensuite, I thoroughly cleaned the half bath downstairs, my mudroom/laundry room was spotless, the laundry got done, Garnet did all his homeschooling, I went for a walk in the morning, I had a client in the afternoon, and it looks like he might be interested in becoming a business partner with my husband and I in our rapidly expanding home-based business and most of the housework is completed and it isn't even 7 pm yet.

One of the questions I get from time to time is "how do you do it all?" And then I have to sit down and think, "How DO I do it all?"

There was a time when I didn't do it all and I couldn't have managed the amount of children or work that I am doing now. When I only had one child, learning to manage her and my other duties consumed my time. Then 14 months later, another baby was added, and again I was stretched to accomodate two little people plus all the work they caused on top of looking after my home, cooking, etc. I didn't have the benefit of grandparents who were able to help out because they were 3 000 miles away. In addition, we moved around a lot which meant not being able to get to know anyone well enough to feel safe leaving the girls with them while I ran errands or went on a date with my husband. My husband also spent a lot of time away from home due to work, so single parenting was often something I had to do.

We hit critical mass when baby #6 was born and I had 3 in diapers (all cloth, the kind you had to fold) and my eldest was 9. At that point, I was not only doing most of the cleaning (with the children learning to do dishes and easy chores), I was also doing a load of diapers daily, several loads of other laundry, all the cooking, most of the cleaning, homeschooling, and baking bread and all other foods from scratch (meaning grinding the flour, etc.) and managing a garden. The pace was exhausting and somehow homeschooling was done in between it all. It was about this time that I began to read books on home management and to try and find ways to streamline what it is that I had to do. Books like Side-Tracked Home Executives (the same system adapted by the Fly Lady), and Don Aslett's Make Your House Do the Housework, were read and devoured and applied by yours truly. I also took his words about de-cluttering to heart and to this day try not to keep around things that are not being used on a regular basis because they only create more work in keeping them nice, storing , and cleaning them.

A few years ago I found out what all this sort of activity forced me into when my husband took an extended trip across Canada with four of my boys. All of a sudden, the number of hands I had available to help with chores went down, but so did the work. The laundry load dropped, the amount of food needed to feed people fell, as did the dishes and all sorts of other things. Cleaning the house with only five children left at home, including a toddler and baby, was a breeze and it was amazing how fast and easy it was to accomplish this. I was able to clean a
3 000 square foot home in half of the time it took me to clean a 1000 foot condo with only two children back in my young mothering days. In other words, I had grown into the job as it had grown, and the hardships and hard work had served to make me more efficient and proficient at what I was doing.

Another thing that happened along the way was that a lot of the fear and angst about babyhood and toddlers fell by the wayside as I became more experienced with having babies around. Instead, all my anxiety was reserved for the teen years, and I can honestly say that it has only been in the last few months that even that is beginning to give way as my husband and I have gained experience and counsel from those who have gone before us. Bear in mind, that it has taken us five teens to get to this point. Short of booting all the children out at the age of 13, we have had to persevere in learning the skills necessary for raising teens.

To sum up what I am trying to say: mothers and fathers should take encouragement from the fact that they can learn to be proficient at being parents and all round citizens if they stick with it. As a wise friend once told me, the only way to fail at this is to quit.

What to Post when You have No Topic

This came to me via Samantha, who got it from Donna, who got it from Julie D...

1. Grab the nearest book
2. Open the book to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog, along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it. Just grab what is closest!

"The crazy thing is that our father always said that he loved us, but he could be so hurtful. I have a brother who is quite heavy, and he'd ridicule him in front of people. He'd say some terrible things to him."

The above is from the book, When the Body Says No: Understanding the Stress-Disease Connection by Gabor Mate, M.D.

I am trying to increase my knowledge of the biochemical changes that stress places upon the body as well as learning about effective ways of dealing with it.

Mental Bric a Brac

This blog post is probably going to be my "rapidwrite" equivalent to what Samantha does, except that I like to put in paragraph breaks to denote a change of subject matter and I can't quite free myself up to just let it all go. At least not yet.

Lately I got into a bit of hot-water on one of my lists (what else is new? sigh) by stating that I hate homeschooling and would rather stick pins in my eyes than teach small children to read. The obviously un-pinned state of my eyes should tell people how seriously I really am about hating this particular chore, btw. When I sat down to really analyze it, it isn't really hatred that I feel for homeschooling. Instead frustration would probably be a more accurate term to use. The frustration stems, not from the homeschooling itself, but rather having to homeschool in combination with doing laundry, cooking, cleaning the house, planning meals, errands, deal with toddlers who table dance where we are doing schoolwork, being pregnant and wanting to sleep in the middle of a lesson, finding lost books and tools needed for a particular subject, and running two home-based businesses on the side. I like to be focus in on what I do and naturally tend to being project oriented. The often fractured nature of trying to do multiple things all at the same time and not being able to give my mind over completely to one of them is very trying for me and any sense of accomplishment I may feel on any given day. One of the reasons I prefer to do housework instead of homeschooling is that it is often mindless work that allows me to focus on doing a good job in cleaning, while still contemplating interesting things or listening to good music or informational radio or tapes while I do it. It is a form of productive meditation if you will.

Despite the fractured nature of our homeschool, when I was taking stock of things the other day I found that I am not doing as badly as I feared I was. I was reminded of the fact that when my daughters went to highschool, they had to be tested because the schools didn't know what to do with them. They tested in third year university levels in some of their subjects, which surprised all of us quite greatly. Patricia landed a job as a store manager for a shoe store when she was 19 and has been quite successful at it. Trista is now a mother of two, but she was a supervisor when she was working in some of her jobs despite her tender years, and her diligence has always been a welcome aspect when it comes to getting employment. Nathanael, who is 18, is now a foreman for the landscaping company he works for and will be in charge of a work crew on his own this summer. He's also completing his highschool through a local flex-time program at the community college. He managed to get 92% on his trigonometry test despite not having any tutoring from the teachers nor really displaying an interest or aptitude for math in previous years. Benjamin, who is almost 17, is a favored employee at the local forestry nursery because he is a hard and diligent worker. They tend to call him before even some of the more experienced workers.

Call me slow, but I finally figured out one of the ways to alleviate my homeschool fractured frustration. Instead of trying to do half a dozen subjects every day, I am focusing on just one or two until we get large chunks of it done. The past week we finished up some social studies work, we are almost completed a year's worth of spelling lessons, and I intend to blast our way through the grammar work this week. All this is in preparation for sending in some sample work for the purpose of getting it graded for report cards through the E Bus program we are using this year. In fact, I am seriously contemplating on sticking with a few subjects over the summer in order to get a leg up on next years work. After we finish the spelling and grammar, we are going to do some intensive stuff on creative writing and focus on science experiments for the rest of the year. My goal is to have all the work completed by the end of May so that I don't have to think of school while I am getting ready to have this baby.

Garnet, my five year old is now counting to 100 by one's, can count by 10's and is working on counting by 5's. He is also reading and his printing is coming along nicely. Tamara is our spelling whiz. It isn't uncommon for her to get almost all her spelling words correct on the pretest. Bethany has finally been bitten by the reading bug and has been gobbling up Patricia St. John novels in her spare time. Elodie, at 2 has already learned how to count and spits out the occasional bit of knowledge that has us wondering when and where she picked it up.

Anyhow, I don't feel so bad about my homeschooling as I used to. It seems to be working, even if it is lamer and I'm more frazzled than I would like it to be. With the older children, I have often fretted because I hadn't seen them applying themselves to their work the way I would have liked to. In each one of their cases, the real self-motivated learning started to happen when they found some motivation outside of getting a nagging mother off their case that helped them get going. It is hard work trying to drag reluctant learners over the finish line. However, when they catch the vision for themselves, it is hard to hold them back, and all the effort goes out of it. You just stand there and try not to eat too much of their dust as they whizz by.

When I really think about it, I am a product of homeschooling despite the 12 years I spent in the public school system. Most of the most useful and important learning I have had took place in the environment of my own home through a variety of means like correspondance schools. I am currently enrolled in a nutrition course through the University of Miami's School of Medicine, for instance. I also have done applied nutrition courses, continuing education courses for medical professionals, and am studying anatomy and physiology on my own time through books I have picked up here and there. I have a midwifery course that I worked through part time, did doula training in labor support, apprenticed as a midwife's second attendant for a short time, took a neonatal resuscitation course (but wasn't allowed to write the exam because of medical politics of the time -- others were able to do so later, but I was pregnant again and opted not to take it over), have studied herbology on my own time, learned how to read medical studies and sort fact from fiction and junk science from valid studies. In short, I am a homeschool student myself. Homeschooling must not stink so badly or I guess I wouldn't do so much of it personally. Hopefully some of this practical example will rub off on the kids and they will do the same. I am also hoping that some of the shortcuts in housekeeping and home managment will help them to be more organized than I was when I first started out. I have had to learn to streamline my methods and plan ahead in order to accomplish everything I want to do in a day. If nothing else, they will have a leg up in getting things in order so that they don't have to figure out how to do it all .

Anyhow, I was going to write more on other topics, but I have run out of time and need to get back to the grammar.

Objective and Subjective Aspects of Faith

Yesterday's sermon was on the story of the woman with an issue of blood for over 12 years. It was never a point made in the sermon, but one of the things that struck me about the passage itself (Mark 5:25-34 for inquiring minds) was the two-fold nature of her faith. First, it was objective in nature, based on knowledge that she had about Christ. She must have known something about Him for her to think that even touching His garments would be efficacious to her healing. Thus her faith came by hearing of the Word and caused her to take action.

Secondly, her faith had a subjective aspect to it. "Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction."

What this all brought to mind was the extremes that Christianity sometimes goes to. On the subjective extreme you have charismatic Christians who seem to focus on the subjective feelings and experiences that they have in order to confirm to themselves and others that they are in Christ, and often contrary to or in disregard of the objective standard of God's Word which tells us how we are to govern ourselves and what to expect of the Christian life. On the other end of the objective extreme, you have churches, like some of the reformed churches, who suffer from a dead orthodoxy which is correct in doctrine, but lifeless when it comes to the subjective aspect of it.

There is a fine tension that must be held between the subjective and the objective in order for Christian living to be experienced in a healthy way. It is neither solely one or the other. We must have the objective, but we must not forget that a doctrine like assurance of salvation is based on our subjective experience. Our foundation is to be built on nothing less than truth, but faith without works is dead.

In churches where doctrine has a high and honored place, the temptation or blindness we can easily fall into is one of self-satisfaction that our doctrinal ducks are all in a row. We must be diligently on our guard that our purity in doctrine and worship doesn't blind us to or make us complacent about the practical outworkings of that doctrine. People should be drawn to the truth, but they should also be drawn to the ways it manifests itself in the subjective realm.

This is my new grandson, Rogan. He's almost three weeks in this photo. Cute isn't he? 

Sub-Cultures, Christian or Otherwise

Samantha posted a wonderful post today on her blog that really resonated with me. You should go there are read it.

Sometimes I think one of the reasons that there can be difficulties between brothers and sisters in the Church is because we may be tempted to think that our own particular subculture is the standard for holiness and visible Christian living. Thus, people who prefer the short hair, clean cut, suited men and women with dresses only/jumpers, long hair in a bun may have difficulty understanding how someone who prefers Birkenstocks, hemp jewelry, and bohemian clothing could still be a Christian and look like that.

The differences extend beyond superficial looks to personality types, parenting styles, and even ethnic backgrounds. These sort of things challenge our spiritual maturity because it is far harder to accept the brothers and sisters who differ from us in their style of doing things than it is to accept those who are just like us.

As a matter of interest, it isn't just the upright, clean-cut folks who have a problem with judgementalism and prejudice. One of the reality shows that I watch with some regularity is Wife Swap. It is really eye opening to see how judgemental and nasty some of the laid back bohemian types are when confronted with a more orderly manner of doing things.

Untitled and Disjointed Thoughts on Christian Life

I just spent an hour browsing amongst the blogs of various women, some of whom I know personally, some I have never met before, but whose links were posted on the blogs of those that I know. There are a lot of intelligent women out there with thoughtful things to say. Some of them make me feel like a mental midget with a soul a mile wide and an inch deep.

I truly admire women who aspire to be Proverbs 31 women and who love their husbands, children, and homes. They work diligently in their callings and homeschool creatively. They are the unsung heroines of the nations who will one day be the "older women" that so many of them feel are lacking in the church at large.

If I ever end up being an "older woman" it will likely be an accident. I feel so deficient in so many areas that it seems like it would be the height of arrogance, not to mention self-deception to say that I aspire to be one. I saw a slogan once that nicely expressed what my life is most likely to be: "It could be that your main purpose in life is to serve as an example of what not to do."

One of the things that I greatly appreciate in others is transparency. I like being able to relate to other humans who are human and I like being human with them. But not everyone appreciates this. It is sad, really. One of the greatest ironies of Christian life is that those with whom we are like-minded in important areas like the Faith are often people with whom we have no other thing in common. Sometimes trying to be open and honest in that sort of situation is an invitation to be criticized, rebuked, and reproached.

I had a conversation with another mother the other day who was sharing some of her struggles with her small children. I had just had a battle royal with some unnamed teens complete with high drama on their part, and , I am proud to say, a total lack of drama on my part, much to their disappointment. However, as I shared a bit of what she might have to look forward to, I was aware of a definite change in body language and facial expression that came over her. I wanted to ask, "Ok, what's going on with you?" but knew it would be no use. I also knew what was more than likely going through her head. "My kids will NEVER act like that !" Transparency didn't get me very far with her, at least not now. I am an inept mother in the eyes of many. But maybe in the future when she is experiencing trials with hormonal teens she will remember that if anyone could relate to her, it might be me.

People who are outside the church like to complain that those who are in it are often hypocrites. This is certainly true. Sometimes the hypocrisy is just straight sin, and sometimes it is an unintentional side effect of trying not to get squashed by others' size 12 boots. The church is composed of all kinds of people in various stages of growth spiritually. Some of them have achieved a remarkable level of maturity, others think they have achieved it, and some know they don't have it. There are those with less maturity and a view of life "the way it's s'posed to be" who have little to no tolerance of anything that is less perfect than their picture. And so, in an effort to a) avoid stumbling them before reality sets in, and b) a desire for self-preservation, we will often hide our true struggles from each other so that we don't get broadsided by those with all the answers.

One of my own personal paradoxes is that the less sure I feel about having all the answers, and the more I realize my own innate helplessness, the more the Lord seems to grow my faith. Life isn't the way I imagined it would be when I was younger. I have not achieved the level of success, or else success looks a lot different than what I expected it would. Sanctification has not manifested as an increasing sense of "arriving," but instead as a need every moment of the day to say, "Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner."

I'm not even sure how to measure success any more. Just Somebody, get me across the Finish Line even if its in last place.

Samantha's Interview of Me

Ok, I got to choose the questions from a list she provided, so here goes:

- Has your theology changed over the years?

Most definitely. I grew up in the Plymouth Brethren assemblies/Gospel Hall, which are a sort of inconsistent Arminian type of church. I then migrated to a Fellowship Baptist church and was converted to Calvinism by a Sunday School teacher. Following quickly on the heels of that, I got involved with the Christian Reconstruction movement, and snuck into the Reformed Faith through that particular side door. I am now a communicant member of a Covenanted Reformed Presbyterian church in the Reformed Presbytery of North America (General Meeting). It feels like I am home, theologically speaking.

- What were your favorite books as a child?

I loved the "Anne" books by Lucy Maude Montgomery. I still have the original set of paperbacks that an aunt gave me as a gift one Christmas. They are old friends and never fail to take me back to a happier, gentler time of my life.

- What is your best quality? Your worst?

This is kind of a difficult one for me to answer because I could choose from a variety of things that I value/dislike equally.

I am a giving sort of person and think that being generous with my time, talents, and abilities is one of my better aspects that is balanced by the sense that you can't give everything away to everyone because some people need to work for and pay for what you have in order for it to be of any value to them.

One of my worst qualities is my quick temper. I sometimes find it easy to take offense with others, but thankfully have learned better self control and am less likely to shoot my mouth off than I was in years before. Things would likely go more smoothly in my home if I could get a grip on this one besetting sin.

- Do you plan your meals or choose what sounds good that day?

It depends on how organized I am any given day or week. I like to be organized about it to the extent that my grocery shopping is based on a definite menu for the coming week, but it doesn't always happen that way.

If I happen to have a client booked for the day, I try to get preliminary food preparation done ahead of time, or else make something that fixes up fast like a main course salad. Other days I may be more loosey goosey, but still have a general idea of what I will be making. The best days are when I make sufficient quantities of something that will do for two meals, thus eliminating any thinking I have to do about food on the next day.

- If you could distill your philosophy of life down to one paragraph, what would you say?

My philosophy of life has changed over the years. When I was young and full of zeal, but not according to knowledge, I was much more hardline, cut and dried, black and white, and obnoxious about it. God's providences and life have a way of smacking you around and knocking a lot of youthful pomposity out of one.

Now I would describe my philosophy of life as one of standing firm in the things that are of a morally unalterable nature and praying that I would have the wisdom to recognize and give latitude to the areas of life that are morally indifferent and live and let live in them. Do as you would be done by and give people the benefit of the doubt wherever possible.

If YOU want to be interviewed:

1. Leave me a comment saying “interview me.”

2. I will respond by asking you five questions (not the same as you see here).

3. You will update your blog/site with the answers to the questions. (If you don't have a blog, let this inspire you to begin one!!)

4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Your Brain is 53.33% Female, 46.67% Male

Your brain is a healthy mix of male and female You are both sensitive and savvy Rational and reasonable, you tend to keep level headed But you also tend to wear your heart on your sleeve

What Gender Is Your Brain?

Super Nanny


I have to admit that I enjoy watching Super Nanny. It is quite amazing to see how quickly she takes a family with tyrannical toddlers and turns it into a haven of peace and good living just by implementing a schedule, sensible rules, and firm, consistent discipline. A lot of parents think they are to be their children's friends and that they must win their good behavior by catering to them instead of being their authority.

I just wish they would show Super Nanny working with teens.

How To Talk When You Can't Speak ~ Communicating with Unconscious Minds.

By Clive Thompson

Posted Thursday, Feb. 10, 2005, at 3:33 PM PT

This week, Neurology published an unsettling study of two brain-damaged men who are "minimally conscious"—able to breathe on their own but otherwise generally unresponsive. When neuroscientists scanned the patients' brains as they played audiotapes of loved ones, the activity was strikingly normal. The visual cortex of one of the men even lit up in a way that suggested he was visualizing the stories that his relatives told. One of the researchers told the New York Times that they've repeated the experiment on seven more patients and found the same results.

If the study holds water, we may need to rethink how we treat the estimated 300,000 Americans who are regarded as unreachable. The good news is that there are ways to communicate with some patients who seem completely unconscious. Spying into the brains of the unresponsive—as well as the "locked in," patients who are fully conscious but paralyzed by diseases such as ALS—can create a vehicle for them to talk. This conceit is at the heart of brain-computer interfacing, a booming field in which scientists are crafting tools that translate mental activity into keystrokes, mouse movements, and even robotic control.

Now for the bad news: Brain-damaged, "minimally conscious" patients like the ones in the Neurology study may be so impaired that they're unable to communicate with the outside world. Neurologists can usually figure out for sure if the mind of a locked-in patient is functioning well; the challenge is in setting it free. Doctors have a harder time figuring out the mental state of brain-damaged patients, especially if they can't open their eyes. Since most of the brain interfaces that are in development require the subject's eyes to be open wide, a patient whose eyes are shut—at least for now—is pretty much rendered mute.


One promising technique for unlocking the thoughts of paralyzed patients is to hook them up to electroencephalograms. EEGs read the electrical impulses caused by brain activity, including the "P300 wave," something like an involuntary "aha" response. When you're looking at a set of items and see something you suddenly recognize, your brain automatically kicks out an electrical spike 300 milliseconds later. You don't have to think about it; it just happens.

Psychologists Lawrence Farwell and Emanuel Donchin have turned this response into a rudimentary typing machine. The patient gets hooked up to an EEG, then looks at a computer screen that shows a six-by-six grid of the letters of the alphabet. When he focuses on a certain letter, the computer begins highlighting each column. As the column containing the chosen letter comes up, the subject's brain spits out a P300 "aha" response. When the computer repeats the same thing with the rows and gets another "aha," it gets the X and Y coordinates for the correct letter. Using this technique, people with ALS can "type" about four letters per minute. Best of all, because the "aha" response happens automatically, they don't have to learn any new skills.
Other scientists have developed techniques to train subjects to signal the outside world by actively changing their brain activity. The German researcher Niels Birbaumer, who was profiled in The New Yorker in January 2003, has trained two locked-in patients in meditation techniques that let them control "slow voltage changes" in their cortexes. This meditation allowed Birbaumer's students to manipulate a pointer on a computer screen to pick out letters by a process of elimination. After weeks of training, one patient with ALS wrote a 78-word message in 16 hours, about two characters per minute. Birbaumer speeds this up a bit by using predictive technology that auto-completes a word after a few letters—precisely the same thing that helps you type more quickly on your phone.

None of this is quite touch-typing, but in a networked, gadget-strewn world it's not necessary to spell out entire words. Even a simple yes/no command can turn a light switch on or off. At the Georgia State University BrainLab, Melody Moore is working on "neural prosthetics" that could control everyday devices like lights and heating or help a patient pilot a wheelchair. And for those who want to explore the world outside the home, Moore is also developing a brain-controlled Web browser.

At this point, brain-computer interfaces have only been tested on a small number of patients. They also face huge barriers functioning outside a lab: Try to use an EEG machine in your living room, and it will probably catch interference from your television and stereo. What's more, these brain-interface tools are mentally tiring. If a patient hasn't used his brain for a long time, they might just be too taxing: Many doctors theorize that the brain's responses can atrophy like those of an unused muscle.

If these devices ever do become ready for prime time, they'll introduce some fascinating moral and legal shifts. The ongoing battle over the life and death of the supposedly brain-dead Terri Schiavo would play out quite differently if Schiavo herself could signal her desires, or even if we knew just a bit more about her mental state. The impact on politics could be even greater. How would President Bush react to a petition in favor of stem-cell research that's written and signed by 10,000 locked-in Americans?

Special thanks to Brendan Allison of the Georgia State University BrainLab, Emanuel Donchin of the University of South Florida, Jonathan Wolpaw of the Wadsworth Center, and Joy Hirsch of Columbia University.

Is it Ok....

...to hate spammers? Lately I have been getting a lot of spam in my comments from poker players and drug dealers and I hates 'em! I would delete their comments if I could, but alas, my comments are not hosted by blogger and the gal who helped this html illiterate has disappeared into cyber air. I don't know if it is possible to run two comments systems side by side or how to delete the old system so I could reinstall the new one. Anyone have any ideas?

Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence

src="http://www.quizdiva.net/bt/linguistic.jpg">You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well.An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly.You are also good at remembering information and convicing someone of your point of view.A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding your vocabulary. You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator.

Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

Things that Make a Housewife's Heart go Pitterpat

Sometimes you really do find something that is almost too good to be true, but then turns out to be really as good as it is represented. Today I found one of those things: a non-toxic cleaner that kids can eat with safety, but yet will clean just about anything including grease, ink stains, crayons, markers, etc.

I was busy minding my own business at Costco today, just getting groceries for the tribe when I was attracted to a demonstration booth. This guy was demonstrating a sort of white substance that looks like shortening in a large tub. It is made from some kind of a seaweed, and a little dab will do ya. One tablespoon melted and added to a gallon of water makes a solution that is good for cleaning windows, counters, and light cleaning. It costs 25 cents at that dilution. For heavy-duty cleaning, like carpets, linoleum, wood floors, shower stalls, hard water stains, etc, you melt 2/3 cup in a gallon of water and can dilute it down further. You can use it straight on ovens and eliminate the toxic oven cleaners and still keep your hands from being tortured by harsh chemicals. In fact, you can use it on your hands straight before digging in the garden and it won't hurt your hands while keeping them from getting that ground in look that can last for days.

It is non-allergenic, leaves no residue, keeps the mirrors from fogging in the shower, and its uses are only limited by your own imagination. The price was fairly reasonable too: $49 for a very large tub that will likely last me for a good six months or more, if I use it for everything recommended.

Things that work and are economical make me feel extremely virtuous. Excuse me while I go and polish my halo with it....

Stress and the Broken Heart


I enjoy reading articles like the one that follows, and which I got off of Medscape, because it is a wonderful illustration and validation of a contention that I have held for some time: emotions can greatly impact your health, and the better you can manage them, the better your health will be.

This shouldn't surprise Christians who take God's Word at face value. God tells us that a merry heart is like good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. Constant negative thoughts, bitterness, railing at God's providences and lack of contentment with our lot in life will show up in our biology as ill health and even be a cause of death. Unfortunately, many Christians have been taken captive by the materialistic and darwinian presuppositions that afflict western medicine and fundamentally deny the integrated nature of the brain/body connection that God gave us in how they treat their bodies or practice medicine. There is a lot of helpful information in eastern forms of medicine that are more wholistic and recognize the soulish aspects of health IF (and this is a big if) a person is able to sort out the religious pantheistic notions from what is actually in existence.


Probably one of the most effective things that I do in my private practice as a kinesionics practitioner is to help clear people of stress. They feel the results immediately, and it isn't unusual for me to have people fall asleep on my table as I am working on them. I had a new family use my services this week and they were all amazed at how fast and effectively they lost their stress using the non-invasive and simple techniques that I use. (I can't really describe what I do here but one form of therapy that is easily successful for all can be found at this website. Just download the free manuals and follow directions.)

I'll explain some of the theory behind this so you can understand something of how it works.

Our bodies produce electricity. This electricity is measurable through things like EEG's and ECG's. The power transmission lines of the body were discovered by the Chinese thousands of years ago, and the things we call accupuncture points act like little amplifiers that boost the power of the electrical transmissions along the power grid. This power grid is tied directly into the nervous system, and it is in a direct current form of electricity, such as you find in batteries with the negative and positive poles at each end.

Now the nervous system is divided into two halves: the sympathetic, and the parasympathetic systems. The sympathetic system is responsible for what we call our fight or flight response and the parasympathetic system is the more chilled-out side responsible for relaxation, digestion, and other building functions. Because of the stresses of modern living, our sympathetic system gets turned on far more than it needs to be, and it stays on resulting in what is experienced as chronic stress. This has the same effect on the body as trying to drive your car by stepping on the gas and brakes at the same time -- the wear and tear is incredible.

When we experience various stresses, whether an emotional stress like a hurtful comment, a trauma, such as in an accident, or some other negative providence, it has the potential of "shorting out" the electrical system for that specific event. Most phobias, for instance, which are specific fears that have been generalized to cover more than is necessary for safety's sake, are the result of these shorts in the electrical system. They have the effect of keeping a person "stuck" in that state of fear or anxiety until such time as the short is cleared out.

The EFT website that I linked to above and on my sidebar is a technique that is effective in clearing out these electrical shorts by stimulating the various meridian lines and it forms one of a type of "energy" therapies that are available. I use EFT with my clients as a sort of stop-gap measure between visits because it helps them to keep their stress levels down if they use it as things arise. My other methods are more effective of clearing out a number of issues at the same time and to a deeper level than EFT, but at least the EFT can help a person cope.

Once a "short circuit" has been cleared from the electrical/nervous system, the intensity level of emotional stress disappears. It is a joyful thing to see people totally amazed at how something that had been bothering them intensely, or even holding them back from doing important things, suddenly melts into thin air and no longer affects them.

Anyhow, here is the article I promised:


Feb. 9, 2004 — Emotional stress can precipitate severe but reversible left ventricular dysfunction caused by an exaggerated sympathetic response, according to the results of a study published in the Feb. 10 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

"The potentially lethal consequences of emotional stress are deeply rooted in folk wisdom, as reflected by phrases such as 'scared to death' and 'a broken heart,'" write Ilan S. Wittstein, MD, from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and colleagues. "In the past decade, cardiac contractile abnormalities and heart failure have been reported after acute emotional stress, but the mechanism remains unknown."

Using coronary angiography and serial echocardiography, the authors evaluated 19 patients presenting with left ventricular dysfunction after sudden emotional stress. Five patients underwent endomyocardial biopsy, and plasma catecholamine levels in 13 patients with stress-related myocardial dysfunction were compared with those in seven patients with Killip class III myocardial infarction.

Median age of patients with stress-induced cardiomyopathy was 63 years, and 95% were women. Presenting symptoms included chest pain, pulmonary edema, and cardiogenic shock, and most patients had diffuse T-wave inversion and a prolonged QT interval. Although 17 patients had mildly elevated serum troponin I levels, angiography revealed clinically significant coronary disease in only one of 19 patients.

On admission, all patients had severe left ventricular dysfunction (median ejection fraction, 0.20; interquartile range, 0.15-0.30), which resolved rapidly (ejection fraction at two to four weeks, 0.60; interquartile range, 0.55-0.65; P < .001). Endomyocardial biopsy revealed mononuclear infiltrates and contraction-band necrosis.

At presentation, patients with stress-induced cardiomyopathy had markedly higher plasma catecholamine levels than did those with Killip class III myocardial infarction (median epinephrine level, 1,264 pg/mL [interquartile range, 916-1,374] vs 376 pg/mL [interquartile range, 275-476]; norepinephrine level, 2,284 pg/mL [interquartile range, 1,709-2,910] vs 1,100 pg/mL [interquartile range, 914-1,320]; and dopamine level, 111 pg/mL [interquartile range, 106-146] vs 61 pg/mL [interquartile range, 46-77]; P < .005 for all comparisons).

Study limitations are those inherent in any small, observational case series, as well as inability to prove a causal relationship between sympathetic activation and stress cardiomyopathy.
"Emotional stress can precipitate severe, reversible left ventricular dysfunction in patients without coronary disease," the authors write. "Exaggerated sympathetic stimulation is probably central to the cause of this syndrome."

Because patients with stress cardiomyopathy typically present with clinical features resembling those of acute myocardial infarction, the authors recommend coronary angiography in most cases.

The Bernard A. and Rebecca S. Bernard Foundation partly supported this study, and the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation partly supported four of the authors.

N Engl J Med. 2005;352:539-548

The Brain Test
What Your Brain Says About How You Think and Learn

Cheryl, you are Balanced-brained

That means you are able to draw on the strengths of both the right and left hemispheres of your brain, depending upon a given situation. When you need to explain a complicated process to someone, or plan a detailed vacation, the left hemisphere of your brain, which is responsible for your ability to solve problems logically, might kick in. But if you were critiquing an art opening or coming up with an original way to file papers, the right side of your brain, which is responsible for noticing subtle details in things, might take over.

While many people have clearly dominant left- or right-brained tendencies, you are able to draw on skills from both hemispheres of your brain. This rare combination makes you a very creative and flexible thinker.

The down side to being balanced-brained is that you may sometimes feel paralyzed by indecision when the two hemispheres of your brain are competing to solve a problem in their own unique ways.

Take the test here.

The Eye Was Satisfied, But The Heart Was Still Empty

Ecclesiastes 2:7-11
Covenanted Reformed Presbyterian Church,
Albany NY
Rev. Greg L. Price


The eyes of a man, woman, or child can take in a lot of sights which they would consider to be very desirable. Every day people cast their eyes upon many desirable things in this life: new cars, fashionable clothing, sumptuous food, interesting books, beautiful houses, high-speed computers etc. But with most of them, the mere seeing these items will definitely not lead to receiving these items. They simply lack the resources, so they must learn to live within their means. Because most people simply cannot receive everything that they see, they may be tempted to question at times whether this or that would, in fact, bring them the joy and satisfaction they feel they are missing in life. “If only I could have ______ (you fill in the blank), I would be filled with such joy and satisfaction.” What is it that you can see with your eyes that you believe would bring that lasting joy if you only had it?

Dear ones, Solomon has written the inspired book of Ecclesiastes in order to correct such wrong thinking. For whatever his eye saw and his heart desired he grabbed it. He had no lack of resources that hindered him from getting whatever he saw and desired. If satisfying the eye of man could bring a person an enduring happiness, Solomon should have enjoyed more happiness than any person that ever lived, for he was rich beyond imagination. Yet, the faithful testimony of Solomon who did not refuse his eye anything it desired was that everything his eye desired was utterly incapable of bringing him closer to true joy and contentment. You and I will never (in this life) be able to receive all that our eyes behold and desire. But we do not need to be able to do so in order to know that we will end up just as empty as when we began, for God has told us this will be the case through one (namely, Solomon) who did receive all that his eyes saw and heart desired.

How self-destructive we are when we allow our eyes and desires to lead us into such sins of envy, covetousness, and discontentment. We become utterly miserable. We hate our lives. We hate others who enjoy their lives. In the state of discontentment, we want to be miserable and want to make everyone around us as miserable as we are. This, I submit, is self-destructive. By our actions we (in effect) spit on God’s blessings, treating the many mercies of God as if they were raw sewage. It is a grievous sin against the goodness, faithfulness, mercy, and love of our holy God who has blessed us with so much. Let us repent even now where we sit ofsuch sins at the mercy seat of our Savior.

As we consider our text today, let us note the following:

(I) Solomon Sought For Joy In Wealth(Ecclesiastes 2:7,8);

(II) Solomon Sought For Joy In Music (Ecclesiastes 2:8);

(III) Solomon’s Search For Joy Was Empty (Ecclesiastes 2:9-11).

I. Solomon Sought For Joy In Wealth (Ecclesiastes2:7,8).

A. So far in Ecclesiastes chapter 2, Solomon has personally sought for a lasting joy and contentment in mirth and laughter (verses 1-2), in wine and food(verse 3), in various building projects (verses 4-6),and yet Solomon’s search continues for that peace that passes all understanding.

B. Solomon next increased his wealth greatly in order that he might bring his tedious and exhausting search to an end--but to no avail. There were only endless days and nights in which he continued to find joy had eluded him again and again and again. There are three areas wherein Solomon specifically enlarged his wealth.

1. The FIRST area where in Solomon enlarged his wealth in order to find an enduring joy was in multiplying SERVANTS unto himself (both male and female servants). The excessive number of servants engaged by a ruler of that part of the world was an indication of his great wealth. For servants had to be supported and provided for by their masters. So the more servants meant the more wealth on the part of the master that owned them. Servants were part of the household and were cared for accordingly. Note that Solomon says he had servants that were born in his house and were, therefore, considered members of his household. These servants born in his house were literally called “sons of my house” in Ecclesiastes2:7 (servants bought or born into the house of the priest were entitled even to eat the holy food of the altar as a family member which no one else was permitted to eat according to Leviticus 22:10,11). These servants were not trash to Solomon, but like“sons” of his household for whom he faithfully provided. Solomon says concerning these servants and maidens, “I GOT FOR ME servants and maidens.” TheHebrew word for “got” also means “buy.” In fact, this very Hebrew word is used by the Lord in regard to buying a bondservant in Exodus 21:2. Did Solomon sin in buying servants? Was it contrary to God’s Law to own another human being? Of course, no one can own another person’s soul or conscience, for God alone is lord of the conscience. But we shall see that a master may own the body of a bondservant (as it relates to the bondservant’s work). The Scripture, in fact, distinguishes between a bondservant that was owned and a hired servant that was not owned(Leviticus 22:10,11). In some cases it was NOT contrary to God’s Law to own servants, but in one notable case it was contrary to God’s Law to do so.

a. IT WAS NOT CONTRARY TO GOD’S LAW TO OWN SERVANTS IN THE FOLLOWING CASES (NOR DO I BELIEVE IT WOULD BE UNLAWFUL TO DO SO IN THE PRESENT AGE). For the cause of servitude in each of these cases yet remains in all nations.

(1) One who was the spoil of a just war(Deuteronomy 21:10). Not just any war, but a just war.

(2) One who was a poor and destitute brother and voluntarily became a bondservant (Leviticus 25:39-46).

(3) One who was a thief that must make restitution for what he has stolen (Exodus 22:2,3).

(4) One who voluntarily became a bondservant due to the benefits he received from his master (Exodus21:5-6).

(5) As we see, poverty was not remedied by the civil government, but by the family. There was no national welfare program to provide for those who were capable of working but fell into bankruptcy. Such a person indentured himself (and perhaps his family as well) until his debt was paid off and he was able to get on his feet (at least for those who were Israelites it was temporary--7 years, Exodus 21:2). Also note, there was no racial servitude in the Scriptures as was sinfully practiced in the UnitedStates at one time. Servitude was not an issue of race in the Bible, but one chiefly of how to care for the poor who needed help.


(6) There is a wonderful application of the law of servitude that is found in Psalm 40:6 where the Lord Jesus comes to do the will of His Father and uses the same language of voluntary servitude that is used in Exodus 21:5,6 as it relates to boring a hole in the ear (see also Hebrews 10:5-7). If all forms of servitude were inherently sinful, such language of servitude used here by the Lord would be inappropriate in any sense (even in a spiritual sense). Because Christ figuratively had His ear bored as a bondservant to persevere in doing the will of God, you are redeemed from being the bondservants of Satan to being the bondservants of God (Romans 14:4; 1 Corinthians9:19; Galatians 4:7).

Dear ones, have you voluntarilyoffered your ear to be bored (in a figurative sense) as a token of your love and gratitude to God as your Father who has made you His own heirs and joint heirs with His only begotten Son? What more could the Lord do to show His everlasting love for unworthy sinners like you and me? Let us lay our heads today against the door and voluntarily have our ears (spiritually) bored in love and obedience to our Savior.

b. IT WAS CONTRARY TO GOD’S LAW TO OWN SERVANTS INTHE FOLLOWING CASE.

(1) One who had been kidnapped or stolen against his will (Exodus 21:16; Deuteronomy 24:7). The one exception to this would be in the case of a just war.

(2) In fact, it was a capital crime to kidnap a man and to sell him. Thus, it would also be criminal to knowingly buy one who was kidnapped as well. For it is a crime not to return stolen property whenever you find it. How much more a stolen person made in the image of God (unless one purchased another that was kidnapped so as to set him free). On the basis of this, it should be evident that the form of servitude practiced in the United States wherein people were kidnapped from their own country (Africa) and were sold here was a crime worthy of death.
(3) Dear ones, if to rob a brother of his freedom is a grievous sin and crime, is it not a heinous sin in the sight of God to rob a brother of his good nameby dragging it maliciously through the mud? A person’s name is as precious to him as is his very own life. Even when it is necessary to warn others concerning the sins of professing brethren, it is not necessary to hate the brother, it is not necessary to demonize the brother, it is not necessary to tarnish every area of the brother’s life and character. Love compels us not to destroy our brethren with our words and deeds (even if they have offended us or are walking scandalously). There will never be restoration in love and in the truth with brethren if such sin continues in our thoughts, words, or deeds.

c. You may think you do not have any servants in your house, and in a strict sense, you probably don’t. However, we all have many “servants” in a more broad sense in our house. Think of all the modern conveniences that we have to serve us every day: electric refrigerators instead of ice boxes to preserve food, gas/electric stoves and ovens instead of wood stoves, gas/electric washing machines anddriers instead of the washboard, indoor water and plumbing instead of fetching water from the stream or the outhouse and many other servants, cars and airplanes instead of carriages. Have you considered how blessed you are to have all of these “servants?” Are you taking these “servants” for granted that God has given to you?

2. The SECOND area wherein Solomon enlarged his wealth in order to find an enduring joy was in acquiring great herds of CATTLE (Ecclesiastes 2:7). No doubt Solomon needed an enormous amount of cattle just to feed his enormous household.

3. The THIRD area wherein Solomon enlarged his wealth in order to find a lasting joy and contentment was in gathering SILVER AND GOLD (Ecclesiastes 2:8). Not only could Solomon swim in the amount of silver and gold he possessed if he had wanted to, but he continued to add to his great wealth (by way of tribute or taxes) from the neighboring kingdoms that served him (I Kings 10:27).

a. Dear ones, money is not evil in and of itself. There is nothing wicked with being rich in and of itself. However, God tells us through the apostle Paul that “the LOVE of money is the root of all evil”(1 Timothy 6:10). In other words, when we fall in love with money (whether we have it or don’t have it but want it), such covetousness leads us into all manner of sin and temptation (as Paul makes clear in 1Timothy 6:10,17-19). With money comes the temptationto be proud (forgetting that it is God that has blessed us with the riches that He has), the temptation to trust in our riches as that which supplies our own needs (rather than the living God), and the temptation to glory in our power wherein we are tempted to think that the rules that apply to everyone else do not apply to us because we are rich.

b. This is why the wise Agur (in Proverbs 30:7-9) taught us to pray the following prayer: Read it. Agur prays that God would keep him from two extremes: ABJECT POVERTY wherein he is unable to provide even the necessities of life for himself and his family and EXCESSIVE WEALTH wherein he is able to obtain whatever his eyes see and his heart desires. Again, remember that neither extreme is sinful in and of itself. Agur, however, prays for a sufficiency in order that he might avoid the temptations of both extremes (as found in Proverbs 30:9). The inspired words of Paul on the matter of contentment whether we have enough to pay the bills or whether we struggle in not having enough to pay the bills is to the point: ReadPhilippians 4:11,12.

c. Dear ones, most people around the world would consider us in our present circumstances to be wealthy by comparison to what they have. They may think about us who are so unthankful, “How could you not be thankful and happy with all that you have?” Has the Lord allowed you to go hungry? Has the Lord put you out in the streets? Has the Lord stripped you naked of all clothing and protection? He has promised to provide for all your needs (Philippians 4:19) as you cease from worry and trust Him day by day.

d. Do not forget that God graciously supplies us with the riches that we have not only to provide for ourselves and our family, but also to provide for the ministry of the Church in promoting the Kingdom ofChrist (1 Corinthians 9:13,14) and to provide for those who are in need (Ephesians 4:28).

e. Solomon was one who could have (with the snap of a finger) whatever his eyes beheld and whatever his heart desired. And yet this same Solomon tells us that enduring joy is not found in the accumulation of wealth. Dear ones, heed the inspired words of Solomon who had it all when he says, “Labor not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven” (Proverbs 23:4,5).

II. Solomon Sought For Joy In Music (Ecclesiastes2:8).

A. As I have noted before, Solomon was not a warrior like his father, David. Solomon was at heart an artist. He loved fine art whether in food and beverages, whether in architecture, or whether in music. Solomon gathered to himself the best vocalists that could be found to perform for him. Whatever the style of music that would be most pleasing to the ear and would bring the greatest amount of pleasure, Solomon acquired it. He could afford to have a concert with the best choir and the best musicians to enjoy every day and every night. He made a thorough search to see if a lasting joy could be found in a pursuit of music. No doubt, there was a temporary enjoyment with the finest of music as there was with the finest of food and drink. However, as with a gourmet meal, the enjoyment quickly subsides once one gets up from the table, so with exquisite music, the satisfaction quickly diminishes once the last note sounds. Then there is the silence and the quiet of the night and all that can be heard is the crying out of an empty soul that cannot find a lasting contentment. For life is not wealth. Life is not music. Life is Jesus Christ. And without Christ, one cannot find a lasting joy in either wealth or in music.

B. The two Hebrew words used here in Ecclesiastes 2:8 for “musical instruments” are only used this one time in all of the Old Testament (in fact only this one time in all of Hebrew literature that is presently available). Thus, the meaning of these words is very uncertain. Whatever they mean, we can say this with certainty. These words further describe the phrase they follow: “and the delights of the sons of men.” And these two words are essentially the same word--first in the singular, and second in the plural forms. Thus, if these words refer to musical instruments, the literal meaning would be “a musical instrument and musical instruments.” However, there also exists the possibility according to various Hebrew scholars that these two Hebrew words refer to“a wife, and wives” or to “a concubine and concubines”due to these words being possibly derived from theHebrew word for the “breast of a woman.” In which case, this would only add to Solomon’s experience in order to find true joy and happiness in that he sought for the contentment in life which he was missing in sexual intimacy with many different wives and concubines (which we see was actually the case withSolomon according to 1 Kings 11:1-3).

1. We must condemn the polygamous marriages ofSolomon (as well of Abraham, Jacob, David, and all others that practiced it) as being contrary to the original institution of marriage as stated by God in Genesis 2:24 and as being contrary to the precept ofGod in Leviticus 18:18 (the preferred translation is this: “Neither shalt thou take one wife to another”)and 1 Corinthians 7:2. How could David, a man after God’s own heart, fall into the sin of polygamy? Remember that David also fell into the sin of murder and adultery. Likewise, Solomon, the wisest man thatever lived (apart from the Lord Jesus Christ), fell away from the Lord and embarked upon this worldly search to find true joy and contentment. Likewise, the high places were not removed by certain righteous kings (even though they were clearly sinful). The sins of the saints are manifest to us all in order that the amazing grace of God might be more manifest and glorious against the dark backdrop of man’s sin. If Solomon refers in Ecclesiastes 2:8 to the multiplication of wives and concubines as another place that he sought to find lasting joy, he again came up empty. Sexual intimacy is not sinful in a lawful marriage, but sexual intimacy in any context cannot bring lasting joy, satisfaction, or contentment. If it could, Solomon would not have needed to continue to add to his harem.

2. Those of you who are not yet married, do not think for a moment that sexual intimacy will in and of itself bring you the joy that is missing in your life. It is true that Paul says that it is better to marry than to burn with lustful desires (1 Corinthians 7:9). However, if one believes that joy will automatically follow from sexual intimacy, he/she is truly deluded. Sexual intimacy without spiritual intimacy with Christ will only lead to frustration, discontentment, and in some cases to sexual immorality of various kinds. Sexual intimacy can only be enjoyed (as God intended) when it is within a lawful marriage and flows from love for Christ and love for one’s spouse.

III. Solomon’s Search For Joy Was Empty (Ecclesiastes2:9-11).

A. We now come to the same conclusion that Solomon had reached in Chapter One. In Chapter One, Solomon had conducted an investigation into all of the activities of man by way of his own observation of men in general, and he came to this conclusion: Read Ecclesiastes 1:13,14.

Now in Chapter Two, Solomon has conducted an experiential investigation into all the pleasures that his own eye might behold or his own heart might desire, and he came to this conclusion: Read Ecclesiastes 1:11.

All Solomon’s personal experiences were not only VANITY (i.e. a vapor that was momentary and fleeting, that boasted greatly ofbringing joy and satisfaction, but did not deliver what was promised), but all his personal experiences were also VEXATION OF SPIRIT as well. In other words, Solomon was not only left with an emptiness or a nothingness from his search, there was a painful gnawing at his soul which tormented him. As a result, Solomon concludes not only from his observation of men in general, but from his own personal experience of not denying himself any pleasure he beheld or desired that there is “no profit under the sun.” Solomon says in effect, “When you pursue joy in the creation apart from the joy of the Lord, you will find that joy, satisfaction, and contentment are always just out ofyour grasp.”

B. Dear one, do you really think you can search more fully the pleasures the world has to offer than did Solomon? Can you grasp all of the pleasures your eye beholds or your heart desires? Jesus said it so well in Luke 12:15: Read it.

Of what would you say your life consists? Of what would those who know you best say your life consists? Whatever your life consists of, that is your God whom you are serving. Our lives, as Christians, consist of Christ. If our lives consist of anything else, we will not know that enduring joy and contentment that comes from enjoying Christ.

This is One Reason Why We don't Vaccinate Our Children...


LOS ANGELES (AP) - A memo from the drug maker Merck & Co. (MRK) shows that its executives were concerned about high levels of mercury in children's vaccinations nearly eight years before federal health officials disclosed the threat, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

Six-month-old children who received shots could get a mercury dose up to 87 times higher than guidelines for the maximum daily consumption of mercury from fish, according to the March 1991 obtained by the Times. [Emphasis added. CG]

"When viewed in this way, the mercury load appears rather large," Dr. Maurice R. Hilleman, an internationally renowned vaccinologist, wrote to the president of Merck's vaccine division.
The memo came at a time when health authorities were recommending shots for children that contained an anti-bacterial compound called thimerosal, the Times reported. Thimerosal contains mercury and was once used in the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine.
In 1999, federal health officials warned that routine vaccinations were exposing many infants to high quantities of mercury.

Merck officials declined to discuss the memo with the Times because of pending litigation.
Mercury-laced vaccines have led to more than 4,200 claims in a special federal tribunal by parents who claim their children were harmed as a result. Alleged injuries include autism and other neurodevelopment disorders.

The newspaper obtained the memo from a lawyer who works with parent groups on vaccine safety issues and who said he acquired it from an unidentified whistle-blower.

Thimerosal has been largely removed from pediatric vaccines in recent years.

Separately, Merck faces hundreds of lawsuits over Vioxx, the popular painkiller it introduced in 1999 and pulled off the market in September.

The company, based in Whitehouse Station, N.J., has been accused in the suits of marketing a drug that caused heart problems and concealing the risks. Merck has denied the allegations.

Please note, thimoserol is still being used in things like the yearly flu vaccine.

1. Your name spelled backwards. lyrehc

.2. Where were your parents from? Mom is from Burnt Church, NB and Dad was born in Dundas I think, but could be wrong.

3. What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer? A word document I had uploaded onto my yahoo account and then downloaded onto my laptop as a convenient means of transferring the document from one computer to the other.

4. What's your favorite restaurant? Earl's

5. Last time you swam in a pool? I can' remember swimming. I usually stand at the edge rescuing children from drowning. Doesn't leave much time for swimming

6. Have you ever been in a school play? I had a bit part in the "Sound of Music" as a nun when I was in Grade 10. After that, I stuck to working backstage designing and building the sets and managing the crew who moved it between scenes.


7. How many kids do you want? All that I am given. Used to think only 2 but I surpassed that over 18 years ago

8. Type of music you dislike most? I loathe and despise country music. Southern Gospel annoys me, but I have been known to sit politely through a whole DVD of the Bill Gaither vocal band while being silently relieved that the DVD player became too hot to play another one. Jazz is not a big favorite either. And middle eastern singers always sound like they are whining through their noses.

9. Are you registered to vote? I don't think so. Haven't voted in years for reasons of conscience.

10. Do you have cable? Of what sort? Non television cable, no; rope cable, yes.

11. Have you ever ridden on a moped? Don't think so.
12. Ever prank call anybody? My conscience is pristine in this regard

13. Ever get a parking ticket? Yes. [hangs head]

14. Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving? Are you insane? I'm not.

15. Farthest place you ever traveled. Somewhere in Mexico.

16. Do you have a garden? Sometimes

17. What's your favorite comic strip? Cathy. I so identify with her weight issues.

18. Do you really know all the words to your national anthem? Nope.

19. Bath or Shower, morning or night? Bath with bubbles, usually at night. I typically fall asleep in it.

20. Best movie you've seen in the past month? Hmmm. I haven't finished a movie all the way to the end in a while. Saw parts of "Troy", and watched parts of "King Arthur" with Clive Owen and Ioan Gryffd, but shut it off before the end because it was so awful. I do better with one hour TV shows like "Lost."

21. Favorite pizza topping? Ham and Pineapple. or Marinara. Had a really good Marinara lately.

22. Chips or popcorn? Neither. I would rather have nachos.

23. What color lipstick do you usually wear? I alternate between a raisin red, clear, or taupe-ish pink.

24. Have you ever smoked peanut shells? Why would a person do that?

25. Have you ever been in a beauty pageant? Isn't beauty a pre-requisite? My features are not regular enough to qualify.

26. Orange Juice or apple? How about grapefruit instead?

27. Who was the last person you went out to dinner with and where did you dine? My sister and I went to Boston Pizza in Moncton, NB with her daughter Emily. I had the taco salad with grilled chicken on it. Yum!

28. Favorite type chocolate bar? Lindt 70% or 85% cocoa mass dark chocolate.

29. When was the last time you voted at the polls? Hmmm.... about 12 years ago?

30. Last time you ate a homegrown tomato? Last summer. We have an organic farmer who lives close by and sells them at the Farmer's Market.

31. Have you ever won a trophy? Yes. I was the "Best All Round Camper" at Camp Berea when I was 13.

32. Are you a good cook? [Blushes and traces coy arabesques in the carpet.] I am usually accounted so.

33. Do you know how to pump your own gas? Yes, but I prefer to have strong manly men do it for little ole' me.

34. Ever order an article from an infomercial? Nope.

35. Sprite or 7-up? Sprite tastes moldy to me. Make mine a 7 -Up, or better yet, a ginger ale.

36. Have you ever had to wear a uniform to work? Yes. Back in the dark days of waitressing.

37. Last thing you bought at a pharmacy? Acetaminophen and some greeting cards.

38. Ever throw up in public? I don't think so. I am more polite than that.

39. Would you prefer being a millionaire or find true love? I already have the love. Hand over the dough.

40. Do you believe in love at first sight? Absolutely. Ever had a baby?

41. Ever call a 1-900 number? Don't they cost money or something?

42. Can ex's be friends? Ex what's? Ex-enemies?

43. Who was the last person you visited in a hospital? My daughter Tamara. Actually I lived at the hospital with her while she was in there.

44. Did you have a lot of hair when you were a baby? I think I was probably average when I look at the pictures.

45. What message is on your answering machine? "Hello, you have reached ************. We are not available to take your call at this time, but please leave a message and we'll return your call asap.

46. What's your all time favorite Saturday Night Live Character? I never watch it so I can't answer that one.

47. What was the name of your first pet? I seem to recall having a budgie called, "Pretty." He was blue. I remember finding him dead in the bottom of his cage. I also have vague memories of a goldfish being flushed down the toilet on Emory Street, but I don't know if he was named or not.

48. What is in your purse? Too much. It could be considered a blunt instrument due to weight factors alone.

49. Favorite thing to do before bedtime? Read.

50. What is one thing you are grateful for today? My family in both directions up and down the geneological ladder. God has blessed me coming and going through them.

Reflections on Grammy Hannah's Passing

It is not unnatural when a close family member dies to find oneself in a state of reflection, not only on remembering the life of the one who has just passed, but also to think about the inevitable passing of one’s own life.

Last night I was reading in the book of Ecclesiastes and I happened upon the following:

A good name is better than
Precious ointment,
And the day of death than the
Day of one’s birth;
Better to go to the house of
Mourning
Than to go to the house of feasting,
For that is the end of all men;
And the living will take it to heart.
Sorrow is better than laughter,
For by a sad countenance the
Heart is made better.
The heart of the wise is in the
House of mourning,
But the heart of fools is in
The house of mirth.

Ecclesiastes 7:1-4

I don’t like pain, especially emotional pain. Losing a loved one forces me into a state of pain, and yet Solomon declares that this is good for my soul, just as the apostle James tells me to “count it all joy” when I fall into various trials because the end product is completion and maturity.

Death is a rude wake-up call that this life is not all that there is. It is a time when I am forced to remember that I too will make the “great change” one day. When I was young and all my life stretched out before me, it was easy to ignore this. Death only happened to other people and the very old. But as I grow older, I see my contemporaries falling by the wayside, cut down by Death’s sickle in their prime. I know of children born dead, and of those who died soon after birth, young people as well as the old, now dead, and I am forced time and again to face the fact that at some point my turn will come.

It is amazing to me how quickly the wounds close over and life goes on without the people who were once here. How quickly they are forgotten, maybe not by those who were immediately and intimately connected to them, but by everyone else. Over my parents’ fireplace mantle is a portrait of Grammy Hannah’s parents. If it were not for them, my grandmother, my father, I , my children, and my children’s children would not exist. Yet I never knew them and don’t know their life’s story. They have become merely a picture on the wall to me, rather than the living souls they are or once were. My own children only know of Grammy Hannah’s existence from a few memories and photos. One of my children will not even have a picture taken with her.

There is no remembrance of
Former things,
Nor will there be any
Remembrance of things that
Are to come
By those who come after.
Ecclesiastes 1:11

The ease with which we are forgotten would be discouraging to contemplate in relation to even my own life and impact I hope to leave on others but for one thing – God’s covenant mercies. Though the sins of the fathers are passed down to the third and fourth generation of those that hate him, His covenant love extends to thousands of those who love Him and keep His commandments.

How many of us are Christians because God used Christian parents to be a means of grace in our lives? How many of Grammy’s descendants will be one of the Heavenly throng because she was used by the Lord to be a means of grace to her children? And will our own children find us faithful or will we leave behind a legacy of profane and usesless living that no one really profited by in eternal terms, and which proved our own undoing?

I have many memories of Grammy to cherish. I can remember how excited I used to be when very small and it looked like we were headed to her home in Attleboro. I remember her nursing my grandfather through various illnesses and how she took care of him. I remember her helping out her older friend Annie, and hanging out clothes with her on the clothes line on Major Street. Going to Grammy’s to be babysat overnight was always a treat filled with cookies and cereal late at night. Her closet was a mysterious and aromatic cave of Avon cosmetics and I was always thrilled and felt so grown up when I got those tiny lipstick samplers from her. Some of my favorite bathtub toys were from Avon. I can’t think of Avon without thinking of Grammy.

I remember the terrifying trip down Route 9 with Grammy and my sister, where we alternated between hilarity and horror as Grammy took blind corners on the wrong side of the road. Mom was so upset because we were late getting into to town and no doubt wondered if we were dead in a ditch somewhere. Whenever possible, I tried to be the driver after that. Our last trip together came about eight years ago when she was still living with Uncle Irving. I had my old van and eight kids that I had driven across the country with and Grammy and the kids and I spent several days doing one of the things she liked best – bombing around the countryside.

After Grampy died when I was in grade 11, I moved into the basement apartment of my parents’ house with her to keep her company. Sometimes she drove me crazy. I couldn’t do anything remotely wrong without Grammy complaining that my Grampy would likely spring up from the grave to scold me if he knew what I was doing. Other times we laughed like hyenas over jokes she told or silly things we did together. Can I ever forget the night we sat on the kitchen floor, Grammy with her foot up behind her head to show me how she was double jointed?

I think my sense of humor and ability to quip is a direct inheritance from my Dad who got it from Grammy. One story she told me of Uncle Harry has stood me in good stead when dealing with my own teen boys. Uncle Harry was a teen at the time and one day he was feeling his oats and took it into his head to inform his mother that he was stronger than she and could whip her easily. Grammy replied, “Maybe so, but you better not be around when I come to. You have to sleep sometime, you know.”

There are many more things that I could name as remembrances of Grammy, but her main effect on my life has been subtle but all pervading. Can I ever forget sitting between Grammy and Grampy on the Lord’s Day, singing “Hallelujah, What a Savior?” during the Breaking of Bread service at the Good News Chapel in Attleboro? It is the effects of covenant mercy bequeathed me through her and my grandfather that has had lasting and eternal consequences. Because of Grammy and Grampy’s faithfulness my Dad was brought to church and now serves the Lord as a minister. Because of Grammy and Grampy, I was brought to church, and I serve Him too in my role as a wife and mother, though not as faithfully or as well as I ought. Because of Grammy and Grampy, my children are being brought up to know that there is no hope of salvation outside of Christ. I pray that these covenant mercies will be extended to my children’s children through many generations until the Lord returns.

Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words
Of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a
Parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,
Telling to the generation to come
The praises of the LORD,
And his strength and His
Wonderful works that He has
Done.

For He established a testimony
In Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which he commanded our fathers,
That they should make them
Known to their children;
That the generation to come
Might know them,
The children who would be born,
That they may arise and
Declare them to their
Children,
That they may set their hope in
God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments;
And may not be like their
Fathers,
A stubborn and rebellious
Generation,
A generation that did not set
Its heart aright,
And whose spirit was not
Faithful to God.

Psalm 78:1-8

Yes, Grammy’s death has affected me powerfully. I shall miss her, though the parting is only temporary. As my pastor, Greg Price, pointed out, my tears of sorrow are her shouts of joy and triumph now that she has made her way to our True Home. She will be forgotten and even unknown by many who come after her. But though my children’s children may not know more of her than what they read in a geneology of their family, her effects will be felt through the coming years and generations because of the promises of God.

May I too be found faithful.

Grammy Hannah, Elodie and I 

Passages

My paternal grandmother was gathered home to the Lord today.

Bertha Bernice (Fisher) Hannah

Born August 28, 1915

Died February 7, 2005

Goodbye, Grammy. We'll meet again.