Winter may be over? But I have asked this question in years gone by and been fooled. Nevertheless, it is a pleasant land in Little Egypt today.

Zone Of Interest is an intriguing movie. MJ and I saw it last Tuesday. Although it seemed to have little dialogue its images spoke volumes. A look at Rudolf Hoss and his wife Hedwig in their new home that is next to the German Auschwitz concentration camp. The photogenic family with Hoss takes his children out to swim and fish until human remains float by him in the water. The screams of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust can be heard just over the wall that encircles the Hoss home. The smoke of the gas chambers is easily seen. Hedwig’s mother comes to stay and is at first overwhelmed with the seeming prosperity of her daughter and family…until she sees the flames of the crematorium at night.

Hoss is recognized for creating a new crematorium and is seen toward the movie’s conclusion… wrenching…where the camera then cuts to modern-day and a group of janitors cleaning the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.

The mendacity of many of our political leaders is droning on…we fish and swim…while the remnants of our friends and neighbors…float by…

‘The phrase ‘Come and see’ appears four times in the Gospel of John, and the pattern that appears is this: when we see Christ and what he has to offer, we see life, but when we see what man has to offer, we see death.’

So that is our family…the human family…we like to see what is happening if it is alleviating suffering and bringing hope. Jesus PR department was word of mouth. As time went by there were an increasing number of mouths.

I have good friends who have been adherents to Alcoholics Anonymous. They believe in their organization and its efficacy in enabling them to not drink. They talk about it. They each have a mentor who stays close to them and affords someone to talk to when the temptation gets tough.

Do not believe that we have become such a secular society that people are not looking for an answer that is beyond themselves. There are more hurting people than ever. Addictions to substances both legal and illegal are rampant…because lonely and troubled folks want someone to proclaim to them, Come And See!’

The answer to this riddle is simple…the rich and the poor must agree together that the goal is to help lonely humanity. The Bible tells us that ‘faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.’

Amazing Grace is my favorite hymn. It illustrates God’s love for all of us irrespective of our station or financial means.

It has been said that music soothes the savage beast. Music speaks to our broken spirit. We are all seeking a song to sing with people who love and care about us and will hold us up when we stumble and fall.

This has been a cold Saturday. After having unseasonably warm weather now a dose of unseasonably cold weather. How quickly things change.

So it is the time of Carnival in Venice and Fat Tuesday in the United States…and now Lent. We as our earth are in transition. We seek to be better than we are. We hope for the forgiveness of our shortcomings. For those of us in churches that are diminishing, we say come to the Holy Spirit and revisit us…you are welcome here. We all have our masks firmly affixed…we love our masks…we are safe behind them.

We ponder our visage as we gaze into the Winter Water. We know things need repair but can not see them clearly as our Masks have become our countenance. We pause to ponder what manner of man and woman that we are…

Winter Water is cold and exhilarating. It jars us a bit and wakes us up from our pleasant slumber. We look so different without our Masks…

‘What fun we had at the V Ball the other night,’ said Jane. The decision to make it a masked Ball in the spirit of Venice’s Masked Ball, she continued.

‘I had a lady speak to me at some length regarding my deceased father…she seemed to know him well and when I asked her how she knew him she said that they had come to the V Ball together,’ Chet remarked. My father died several years ago…,’ Chet noted with some incredulity.

‘I had some lovely Punch with a Masked Gentelman who enquired as to the health of Neva J…and noted that he had known her in Mt. Vernon and Chicago and when they both lived in Eldorado,’ Billy B said.

‘The V Ball was so full of Masked participants that I felt the need to go outside for a little air,’ Jane said. ‘I suddenly was in front of the Orpheum Theatre and we were all kids…Chet Billy B and me,’ Jane said with wonder and a sense of the mysterious. ‘I saw a familiar gentleman standing outside the Theatre and I asked him if he knew the way back to the V Ball…he replied that there was a Valentine’s Day Movie being screened in the Orpheum and after the movie was over there would be Valentin’s Candy for all members of the audience,’Jane noted.

‘It is great to see you, Chet,’ the Masked man said. ‘I have missed you…how is Mom,’ he continued?

‘Who are you and how do you know my mom, Chet asked. ‘She and I have lived together for some time until she died…she was a widow…, Chet said sadly.

‘Hello, my dear…what a lovely Ball,’ the Masked woman said as she offered him an Oscar Mayer Weiner fresh out of the package on white bread…just like his mom always gave him at lunch.

It is another beautiful day in the neighborhood. But it will snow tomorrow. We are surrounded by doubt. The walk of life is a bit like spelunking as it is pitch dark with our little flashlights showing the dimly lit path. So at times, we say…what happened?

Life hands us reversals. One day we are flying high and the next we are pushing the boulder up the hill like Sisyphus. Today we see Faunie Willis’s trial and her relationship with her lead prosecutor. Watching the trial to decide if there is election interference is interesting to see transpire. It is difficult for me to ascertain how her romantic interests diminish the indictments in the case. If Ms. Wade is found to have lied due to her romantic relationship with the lead prosecutor…another prosecutor surely can take up the case.

Indeed there is a double standard between men and women! Where Ms. Willis’ romantic interests have been emblazoned as so horrendous…others have referred to the former President as…just an Alley Cat.

What happened from the Cuban Missel Crisis where we were certain that Russia was our enemy to now where many in our government laud Putin the leader of Russia?

What happened when a former President called Putin to, ‘Do whatever the hell he wants to NATO countries who he perceives have not paid their dues to NATO?

One day we are in fine fettle…the next we are ill and hoping to survive. What courage to battle illness and still work toward the betterment of others.

Jonathon and I had the lovely opportunity to visit with our dear friend at SIUC. When I see her in a lovely office and a position of responsibility I am so proud that I burst my buttons… At Southern Illinois University I notice with some consternation the unusual result of people who were originally known for their extreme gifts and value to SIUC. Then…suddenly…they became pariahs and were soon talked about in a very disparaging manner. Countless people went from a Hero to Zero without a noticeable difference in their job performance but rather they fell out of political favor with the University Administration.

So we look for guidance in darkness and hope in trouble. Often we are pushing the boulder up the hill and when it rolls down…we begin pushing again…in the hope of making our human journey better for us all…

Wet snow was in the forecast for us but the weather front moved to the south and thus we will have rain. This is life. There is always something waiting for each of us around the corner. As Tony Soprano said to his family on the last episode of The Sopranos, it was the little things like enjoying a restaurant meal together as a family that made life special. Of course, the culmination of the episode when the screen suddenly went black was the question as to whether Tony and his family were going to be assassinated…

Indeed there is always another train coming down the track…another shoe to fall…another joy and another sorrow heading our way. The joy of living is the Joy Of The Rollercoaster. Sometimes up and sometimes down and a lot of sharp curves…

We seek the Secret. What is our purpose? Where are we going? Life is chock full of love surprises and hope joined together with sadness grief and suffering… It is an exciting and demanding ride! 

I am always interested when folks say that they do not believe in God. I assumed that their experience had led them to this decision. I wonder what they do with the seeking of their souls to understand the Secret?

When you think of what we understand and what we do not the difference is larger than the universe. The vastness of Space…the meaning of Time…is there life on other planets…are all questions without solid answers. 

The popular actress Betty White said what her mother had told her before her death…when we die we will find out the Secret. So prayer is a good thing. Prayer brings faith and faith engenders hope and hope is the panic bar on the Rollercoaster Of Life that we all ride…

Another day down in 2024. They go by quickly and almost without notice until you look backward and see them piled up. The Soap Opera The Days Of Our Lives opened each day with the words, ‘Like sands through the hourglass so are the Days of our Lives.’ Or as someone observed we have long days and short years…

The smallest of things bring happiness while the big things are a bit elusive at times. ’So many people are hanging by the thinnest of threads. Treat people with kindness, you could be that thread.’

It has been said that you will pay for what you value. Look at what a person spends money on and you will find their heart. Or the one I like is that one person’s trash is another treasure…

A smile may be the light in a person’s darkness that will cause them to rethink suicide. Often little more is needed to jar a person out of the circular mindset of ending it all. There is a plethora of loneliness in our world and it is spoken of seldom. People become so disconnected from others that their conspiracy theories take over their mental and emotional persona. As the television commercial said many years ago…Reach out and touch someone…reach out and just say hi…

Mental illness is much more prevalent than we realize. A high percentage of us humans suffer mental illness at some point in our lives. 

We are lonely in a crowd. We are homesick at home. We need a kind word while we are surrounded by media 24/7. It is only funny to think about these problems until you experience one or more of them…

Depression is a silent killer. Many of the seemingly happiest people are depressed and hiding it well from the eyes of others. There are Sad Clowns. 

Replace a Criticism with a Compliment. Instead of laughing at others…love them and let them know that you do. 

‘Who’s idea was it to take a February 10th woods hike,’ Jane asked? I can not believe our good fortune with the weather in the 60’s,’ she continued. 

‘Well when I planned the event the day after Christmas I thought I might have to purchase some new warm clothes for the cold,’ Billy B laughed. ’I bought a new compass to secure our safety from becoming lost,’ Billy B remarked. 

‘It is a unique compass in that it has no markings for north or south only east and west,’ Chet quipped. ’What if we are traveling northernly or southernly, and we have no official instrument to notify us of our direction,’ Chet asked? 

‘The strangely attired gentleman at the Outdoor’s Store told me that most folks had decided that the directions North and South were not so important any longer since the New Politics had become in vogue…but rather if the user was drifting to the right or left…east or west,’ Billy B said with a look of consternation on his face. ’The Proprietor was dressed in a white suit but his eyes were like black coals…he smiled often and seemed to look through you,’ Billy B observed. ’The P went on to say that people had become much more fascinated with being considered liberal or conservative rather than identifying with a church or worrying about the afterlife,’ he said with a tear in his eye.

‘Well I am old and understand North and South without a compass and thus we shall begin walking north and see what happens,’ Neva J said with determination. ’The New Politics be damned,’ she proclaimed. ’I have been traveling both North and South all of my life…and all of the variations of the combination of directions,’ she noted.

‘So where are you folks heading,’ asked the man in black with the kindest blue eyes? It had not seen so many coming this way in some time what a nice day for a hike, he continued as he came toward them with a limping gate and a wide smile. ’It seems that people have exchanged faith for political expediency and cults and riches,’ The Old Man In Black said with a sad countenance.

‘Where does north take us…will it take us home,’ asked Chet?

‘

My friends you are home now if you believe,’ The Old Man said…

‘It is good to be the emporer.’ Or so it has been said. It also may be said, ‘Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown,’ Shakespeare told us. We all experience this disability as we negotiate the pitfalls of leading others such as our family staff…or President. 

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court said today that Insurecion is, ‘Such a broad term.’ Could it be that Insurrection is in the eyes of the beholder…or that it is like pornography that another Supreme Court Justice said many years ago…’ You know it when you see it?’

Crossroads is where we find ourselves. This is often the life case. It is always been hard to stand for right when our colleagues say that your stand is wrong and that they are truly the ones who are standing for right…

Is there a reason that we have lost confidence in our institutions? When I was a young lad growing up in Eldorado we reverenced our President and trusted our Congress. Then came Watergate and the ignominious resignation of President Nixon and then the Pardon of him by President Ford. I remember it well and thought that I was witnessing something that I would not see again in my life. 

We have lost the Middle Ground. We are a bit like two kingdoms behind massive walls with moats all around the perimeter and boiling oil in large vats at the ready to dump upon our enemies should then seek to breach the walls…

Contrary to many’s opinions right and wrong are not exclusively defined by what your pastor says or your friends or your social group. Right is not subject to political expediency. 

What would the former Vice President say as the armed mob cried for his being hung and had erected a gallows to do the job? 

I voted for former President Reagan twice. I voted for former President George H.W. Bush…it is not about political party…

Sixty degrees on February 7th. Winter hit us like a sledgehammer last month and now has run and hidden. I saw flies in the forest. I continue to walk the Happy Trails. 

I watched a movie on Netflix last night that illustrated the sadness of the humans last Christmas. The dichotomy was jarring. Snappy Christmas songs and what appeared at first to be joyous yuletide fun and frolic morphed into the secret that all of the characters knew was coming in a matter of hours. The explanation of the show had several words in its review including comedy and horror. Somewhat like life, I considered. Silent Night was at a posh country estate with an upscale family. Slowly I realized that things were not what they seemed.

How The World Ends is a popular series on satellite television. Folks preparing for the end of the world by several different sources. Some of their reasoning seems flawed…but they believe it to such an extent that they have upended their lives to get ready. Then there is the rest of us who go about our daily lives hoping for the best.

We spoke of the end of the world a lot when I was a kid. Grandma A lectured me on the coming Battle Of Armageddon where she explained to me that the blood would run to the horse’s bridle. I did not have a horse and thus did not know what a bridle was. 

Many built backyard bomb shelters and in school, we had bomb drills where we Ducked And Covered…

Climate change is real and for those who do not believe it…it does not make it go away. If Our Pandemic showed us anything it illustrated the fragility of human life. Some of us enjoy throwing rocks at the Sun…but we never hit it…

The Pandemic Climate change and mutually assured destruction do not respect Republicans or Democrats. The Bible admonishes us that it rains on the just and the unjust. 

Cult is captivating to many. We love stories. We are enthralled with a leader who will tell us what we want to hear. We shut our ears when facts get in the way of our beliefs. ’We can’t feed the poor but we can fund a war.’

The Woods is peaceful and lacks conflict. We love our traditions…we love our clan…we love the sweet camaraderie of those who agree with us and we say, ‘To all our friends we wish them well…and all the rest can go to hell.’

The shock is that with our Cult philosophy…we are all going together…

‘We are all in the same boat on a stormy sea…and we owe each other a terrible loyalty…’