Today you are to receive The Gift. That is exciting in and of itself. It is not every day that you receive gifts. Your birthday is a fun day that is resplendent with gifts…and cake. On your birthday you can have your cake and take some photos of it…and then eat it too. Often I plan throughout the year what I would like to receive for my birthday. After all, it only comes once a year. During my career, I often took my birthday off. It was a primary holiday for me. There is a fine dinner in the plan and perhaps a movie in St. Louis and whatever we old folks have the energy to do. Reflection over a Dirty Martini or two is part of the festivities. What happened during the past year and what would I like to accomplish during the next…God willing.

Christmas is my major celebration and it is Christmas in my head all year through! Since the days of Laughing Santa in Chicago Christmas has been firmly implanted in my soul and the entire concept enhances my life. I am already planning a gift for my Christmas. MJ has an Apple Watch as well as Aaron…and now dad must have one. MJ has a feature on her Apple Watch that if she would fall the watch would notify someone to come and help her. I like that idea as I spend my time in the woods on a daily basis and would appreciate having more than my wildlife family be advised if the old man was down. Santa Claus fascinates me. He came to my house in Eldorado when I was just a lad. I have a collection of Santas and have been working on it for some years. I love receiving gifts and I love giving them. The looks of surprise and enthusiasm and wonder are priceless! The mystery of opening a Christmas gift and having the possibilities of the world beneath the shiny festive yuletide paper and the bright ribbon is exciting and energizing and rewarding. I am sad when Christmas is over…for about a week…until I start thinking about it once again.

You woke up this morning…and so did I. We had a birthday party and Christmas rolled into one. Another day of life! Our gift has endless possibilities and rewards and avenues to travel and mystery to solve! Life is the gift that keeps on giving. I spoke to my friend at church yesterday and he said that he has good days and bad. Another asked me how I had been and I said fine other than I keep getting older. He replied that is what I wanted as to stop getting older was not the alternative that I was looking for. Wendy told me that I was such a positive person. A wonderful compliment! I mentioned that as a child I had experienced some bad things in my life and I decided that I was going to choose to focus on the bright and good and positive happenings of my days. I knew that my dear mom was counting on me for morale support and that life was too short to wallow in negativity and misery.

Remember…each day you will receive The Gift…it is up to you what you do with it…

It is simply a lovely day in Little Egypt. This morning I read Ezekiel’s account of the Dry Bones. The prophecy was addressed to Israel but is also applicable to us today. I customarily read a scripture passage that I have been asked to read publically a few times to ensure that I can get through it without messing it up too terribly and to feel the writer’s expression. Indeed, the concept of the Spirit of God breathing life into Dry Bones has applied to my Christian Walk on many occasions. On the few occasions that I am asked to read a passage I am cognizant of my human voice and poor skills of reading will be little more than sounding brass and tinkling cymbals unless God’s Spirit breaths life into the words. Twenty-five years ago when MJ and Aaron and Jonathon and I began attending First Presbyterian Church in Carbondale I loved hearing Pastor Judy Beyler read scripture. Each time that she read a passage the words became life to me and I could visualize what the writer was speaking of.

Life can be a bit tedious if God’s spirit does not quicken us from time to time. As we go about our daily routine and that is including our Christian Walk…we can feel the sameness of what we have been doing for many years. However, with a Breath from our Creator, we suddenly are able to see through the veil and discover the wonder of what life is and our magical part in it! Dry Bones can apply to individuals and peoples…such as the Israelites…and churches that have looked so long for the secret and the revealing…that they have forgotten what it is like to see the Burning Bush and feel the majesty of following Christ and his benevolent teachings.

What a difference ‘They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,’ the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.’ Jesus spit on the ground and made the mud poultice for the blind man’s eyes and he was not troubled that it was the Sabbath… In an instant, the blind man was in a new world and the religious restrictions of the day did not impede a miracle for him.

May God grant us the courage to step out of our comfort zone and receive a Breath on our Dry Bones…

Happy Eyes are revelatory. Have you ever noticed a person who mimicked or aped happiness but had tired or dead eyes? Or perhaps their eyes were angry. We, actors, have not perfected the art of dramatic eyes. Happy eyes come from a heart with purpose. The tribulations and trials and hurdles of life can divert us from our primary vocation…to be homeward bound.

‘I do not remember when it was so windy and rainy and such powerful storms,’ Neva J. remarked as she searched for her raincoat and Duck Boots. ‘Visibility will be limited on the road,’ Chet noted. ‘If it was not for missing home so much I would suggest that we stay until the storm passes over,’ Billy B. added. ‘Storm…it looks more like paintings that I have seen that depict Hell,’ Daryl exclaimed! ‘I am usually an upbeat person but this darkness is enveloping my soul,’ Jane bemoaned.

Neva J. took her flashlight and shined it at the 57′ Chevy’s driver’s side door and began to haltingly walk between the mammoth water puddles and the inky black of the night. The 57′ sputtered and then started with a cough and a wheeze. No more than they had gotten on the road home there was an old man standing in the middle of the path and waving his arms for them to stop. ‘The bridge is out and you will need to turn around and drive the other way…there is a connecting road about ten miles back that will take you in the same direction,’ he said. ‘You also have a headlight out… which is bad in this pervasive darkness,’ the old man continued.

As the travelers drove the ten miles back to the connecting road they saw the dim marquee for a motel and the sign said Vacancy. ‘I think that it would be the better part of wisdom for us to stop for the night with our one-eyed Chevy and start again at first light,’ Neva J. said. ‘So there are five of you I see,’ the young girl said as she asked each of them to sign the guest register. ‘Breakfast begins at 6:00 A:M: ‘We have salami and chocolate croissants and exotic cheese,’ she said with a smile and dead eyes. ‘What town are we near,’ asked Chet? ‘Why Rome of course,’ the young girl smiled a wicked grin. ‘Tomorrow many of us are going by caravan to Golgotha outside Jerusalem…a man named Jesus is to be crucified as he claims that he is the Son of God…

One day I take my daily walk with ease and gusto while the next day it may take a more concerted effort. At times the road of life seems stretched out before me with no clouds in view and at other times it seems obscured by clouds and rain and lightning and the loud claps of thunder on the horizon. Each time I receive a good medical test result I am renewed to make the most of my golden years. But good medical reports and test results are not a given. Little things make me happy. A new pocket watch or a steel ring. Did you know that they make steel rings that are quite unique? I was looking at MJ this afternoon while we were ordering some new blinds for our bedroom and I thought…what a pretty girl! Friday will be our 45th anniversary.

Health becomes an ever-increasing issue as we get older. It was always an issue but we think about it more as we get closer to discovering the Secret… Carolyn reads scriptures in our church on Sunday. She is inspirational and has the ability to make the scriptures come alive which I have not seen in my 55 years of attending church. Life tends to make us a bit stoic. Also, it opens vistas to us that we did not imagine in our youth. What appeared insurmountable yesterday is a dim memory tomorrow…

At times we feel that our lives are whisking by us like the turns of the Weavers Shuttle. That is because they are. When we were children we thought that being old like grandma or grandpa was a long way off…until we woke up one morning and discovered that we had become what we thought would not happen for a millennium. Many folks believe that the end of times is near and that the battle of Armageddon is soon to be upon us. Do not worry too much as it will have to hurry to catch our fleeting existence.

Living can be likened more to a marathon than a sprint. If we judge the value of our days by how bad we feel for a day or two or even a year or two…perhaps we have missed the finish line of our joys and tribulations. The poet Rumi said that suffering carves out more room for joy…and I think he may have been on to something. When we experience the deepest and darkest valleys…we are much more grateful for the brilliance of the mountaintop!

I remember being so poor that I had no money for food. I have a vivid picture in my mind of walking while my friends were riding. I understand the herculean struggle for financial security. I have been there.

During my career at Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale, I wanted to extend opportunities to those who were unseen and unheard and to those who had no voice. I understood these people…they were my people…I had been them…

Marginalized is a category that I am a bit familiar with. However, I refused to become bitter…I wanted to be better than my anger and hurt feelings. Long ago I decided to forget the bad…as much as is within me…and remember the good…

‘I can not wait for our campout this evening at Giant City State Park,’ Jane exclaimed! ‘It still seems a bit chilly for camping and the wind is neverending, Chet observed. ‘Well one thing is for sure we will be able to see where we are going with no leaves on the trees,’ Neva J. laughed. ‘I believe my new Winnebago Sleeping Bag will keep me warm,’ Billy B. announced. ‘As for the Wiz and me we are erecting our tent for the frosty night,’ Daryl said. ‘It has been a custom in my family to camp on the second night of spring each year…no matter what the weather brings,’ Billy B. noted with a satisfied smile. ‘We are just like the postman in that neither rain nor snow shall keep us from our heritage of Second Night Camping,’ Neva J. said.

‘It seems every few days we hear of another suspicious fire in our area,’ Jane said with a furrowed brow. ‘They are suspected of arson but thus far no one has been apprehended,’ Neva J. responded. ‘It has been speculated that they may be politically motivated, Chet observed. ‘No chance of suspicious fires at the GC…it has been raining all day,’ laughed Billy B.

Our group arrived at the GC late afternoon and it was cloudy with light rain falling. They quickly began setting up their tents as no one wanted to sleep in the rain. The odor of something that was either burning or had recently been burnt hung in the air. ‘It must be a fellow camper’s fire,’ said Daryl. ‘I was camping in a woods in England many years ago when a fire started from a campfire and I barely made my way out alive,’ The Wiz said with some unusual pleasure. ‘It was rumored that Jack The Ripper’s ghost lived in the woods and he loved to blow on campfires and create havoc…for his entertainment,’ The Wiz continued. ‘Perhaps he is here at GC tonight as it certainly is windy,’ Chet replied as he snuggled into his sleeping bag. ‘Let us not sleep until we all enjoy a glass of Merlot,’ Neva J. said as she uncorked a bottle and the pop resounded through the quiet forest. ‘I must visit the restroom before I zip myself into the bag,’ Billy B. advised as he quaffed his last drop of red wine.

Goodness, the acrid smell of burning is getting stronger Billy B. mused as he made his way to one of the nice outdoor privies that were located throughout GC. ‘Hello Mate…fancy a wee do you,’ said the Victorian-dressed man exiting the restroom. ‘What is going on said Billy B…I smell smoke and it is getting stronger,’ Billy B. asked the strange and dignified-looking man who appeared from another time. ‘Controlled Burn…Mate…good for the foliage…

Our last day of winter has been unusually cold in our neck of the woods. I was listening to an article from the Washington Post as I walked the woods and was caught by the writer saying that her primary goal was to get people to tell her their stories. Our stories connect us. I think it is a bit the same in church life in which I have been involved for 55 years. We can believe that the sermon on Sunday will compel people to enter the church’s doors…but what gets them to the threshold to open the doors and come in? Stories that connect them to a fellow human being that finds fulfillment in the church. If you share with me some of your walk of faith and hope for the future and your church is a part of the narrative…you have my attention. There are so many glossy and grandiose places to focus our time on…but we search for the real and the authentic.

Exclusive clubs are a part of life. Many of us have been shut out of the Clubs that require a certain portfolio and a preferred status. When you talk to me about how faith is common sense and a bedrock part of your life and I can see through your story that it is relatable to my struggles and challenges…I am interested. I read recently that denominational churches have become frozen in time as to their outreach and outlook. Baby Boomers and the generation prior to the Boomers had focused on the problems of their generations while Millenials and Generation Z have many different issues and need from the church.

Pastor Kerry spoke eloquently this morning regarding the issue of depression. Depression and other mental illness issues are throughout our world and yet we hear little about these very real health problems. Kerry mentioned that one in ten of us suffer from depression.

Testimony was a part of the holiness Church’s Sunday service. Testifying was people telling their stories. Indeed none of us want everyone to know our business…but there is real efficacy in explaining the meaning of Faith in your life. Nothing captivates our attention and our hearts like the truth out of the mouths of our friends!

Spring is almost here! The sun is shining and the wind is howling with the last vestiges of Old Man Winter! I thought of my days in Eldorado so many years ago. We got up in the morning, went to work or school, and came home in the evening to watch Walter Cronkite on the CBS Evening News. We had our share of drama but it was primarily portrayed on our television sets and we only could receive three channels and two of them were fuzzy. My fun was watching movies at the Orpheum Theatre and the Starlight Drive Inn during the summer months. Pounds Hollow was the primary dramatic event of the summer. We did not know much about the world around us except what we heard by word of mouth or front porch gossip. When we wanted to do research we went to the Eldorado Public Library. I thought the Library was too good to be true. How could they afford to lend books with nothing but a few pennies in overdue fines? Eldorado Pubic Library had the wonders of the world inside its walls and I was mesmerized!

I dreamed of owning a set of World Book Encyclopedias…but we did not have the money. Later I sold World Book door to door…and still did not have the money to purchase a set. Now I have the funds for a set but instead can read them on the internet.

Although we enjoyed dramatic movies and television shows we did not concern ourselves with either what our neighbor was doing or how the Kardashians of our day were fairing. Neva J. enjoyed reading the National Enquirer but we knew…although I am not certain if she knew… that it was hyperbolic and written for maximum entertainment value. Entertainment was fun but we did not base our life’s path on it.

I loved our annual journey to the DuQuoin State Fair. The Carnivale Barker and the Hucksters and the Freak Shows were mind-expanding. They did not give me a roadmap to my political or faith life. I discovered that people will lie to your face and have a wide Cheshire Grin while doing so. This could represent either theatre or deceit.

Often things are not as dire as they seem until they are placed under the Dramatic Enhancing Magnifying Glass. News has become about 90% opinion. The opinion is purposefully directed toward the people who view the newscast. Facts have become fungible. Lies are promulgated as truth…and many adopt these lies as their

mantra and feel so strongly about what was given to them as a creed with money at its core…as the indisputable fact of their existence.

Library research has fallen on hard times. As we obtain our truth from News Anchors who are explicitly concerned with their wallet or pocketbook and not with the facts. Faith is obtained through prayer and endeavoring to follow the kind teachings of Christ. When we sub-contract that duty to entertainers and charlatans we are made poor both spiritually and monetarily.

Simple is good. Life can be both fulfilling and easy to navigate if our compass is working properly. We were discussing recently how so many of us want to live a bit higher than our finances will carry us. Contrary to common opinion this is not just the working class but indeed the upper middle class and even affluent folks as well. As we sit in our warm homes and drive our Subarus we wonder what it would be like to drive a finer automobile and live a step up home from what we are enjoying. We enjoy a glass of Aldi’s Wine but wonder what a $200.00 bottle would taste like. Don’t look too close but this is what has happened to our failing banks. They were monetarily secure but they wondered how it would be to become bigger than their dreams. Thus they lend to people and businesses who are not capable of fulfilling their loan requirements. Greed.

Facebook and Media tell us that the sky’s the limit for us. Gold is King Of The Castle! You are not a success unless you can soar with the eagles…rather than the Blue Jays…

It is another beautiful day in the neighborhood as Mister Rogers daily reminded us for years. Some folks brought their children or grandchildren out to Giant City Park to play on the playground equipment…although I am certain that the slides were cold. I stopped by the University to capture some photos of the spring buds but they had already been bitten by the unusually cold snap that we experienced the past few days. As I pondered the frost-bitten buds I thought that we are a bit like them in that cold human actions beget similar responses. Being an old guy I remember when the conversation was civil and especially public discourse. When speaking with someone older than your self you did not use their first name unless they invited you to do so and you addressed them as mam or sir or Mr. or Mrs…and later Ms. Certainly profanity in the open arena was verboten. Many blue words were off-limit completely… though you could hear them in the pool hall.

Several years ago I was surprised when walking among a lot of students at SIUC I heard the F— word in every other sentence among many speakers in casual conversation. At the last State Of The Union address, President Biden was shouted at on numerous occasions by members of the opposition. Differences of opinion are what makes this country great…but there is a time and a place for such rhetoric.

Facebook dialogue reveals too much personal information. Now Facebook is not doing this without the willing participation of its membership. I know much more than I need to by reading the posts of those who are probably upset and want to tell their friends about why they are. Remember…not everyone who reads your passionate posts is your friend.

Christian has taken on a false definition. Bellicose strident speech under the moniker of Christian is a false narrative. To take the grand vision of Christ’s teachings and say that your little sub-group of people who hate anyone who is not like you…is a lie!

To be human is an unparalleled miracle! Being a temporary inhabitant of our planet with the possibility of not seeing tomorrow is a gift. The ability to do as much good as you can for as many people as you can is an awesome responsibility. When I look inward I wonder how I could ever criticize anyone.

Kind words and actions beget kind words and actions. We knew this truth at one time. We were not so much concerned with posturing and preening for political or personal aggrandizement. In politics we understood that compromise and finding the middle road was the key to accomplishing something good for our constituents. Christians were taught that Jesus loves the little children…all the little children of the world…

A financial secret I learned several years ago is that many monetary institutions are not working in their customer’s best fiduciary interest. As a youngster mom took me to the local Eldorado Bank and opened for me a savings account. I received a bank book that each deposit was hand recorded and the banker initialed the entry. You could not borrow money unless you could demonstrate that you had the resources to pay the money back. Senator Elizabeth Warren said the other night on a television interview that, ‘Banking should be boring.’ I agree with her statement. The second-largest bank in United States history failed the other day. When did finance become let me get rich…and the hell with you?

The love of money is the root of all evil…mother often said. I really did not know as we had little money…but a lot of love! I think our endemic monetary problem goes deep into the unbreakable bond that many politicians have with those who are the leaders of the industry. When the government looks the other way and lauds removing checks and balances and oversight from Wall Street and our banking system…the common people suffer. It is business as usual for many financial advisors to push investments that enrich them and make poor the investor.

There is a reason when a big bank fails we all quake. It has not been long since we experienced almost the meltdown of our financial system in this country. Confidence in finance is engendered by logical and bedrock principles of banking and investing. When it sounds too good to be true…it usually is.

I vividly recall when it looked like the stock market was the best game in town. Pension systems in most states saw an opportunity to get out from under the fiduciary responsibility of doing their part for their state employees and sold the idea to their staff that they could do much better by having their pensions based on the Market. In those halcyon days, it seemed that the Market was going to keep going up. State Houses had borrowed from their employee’s pension plans until the debt was herculean. Now those retired employees are left with a fraction of what they could have had if many States had kept their end of the Pension Agreement.

Blood may be thicker than water but the love of money is thicker than both. If you do not think so let someone who has resources die in your family and enjoy the Wake with all of those loved ones who you have not seen in many years.

Mundane is not a bad word. Quiet and effective principals of finance or any worthy vocation lack the thrill of immediate riches or political experimentation but they engender confidence in the stewardship of our resources.

There is a chill in the air today. Spring is a week away…we have sprung ahead by an hour… we feel the loss. I have heard that time and chance wait for no one. Opportunity is knocking if we are watching the door and listening.

Each day is a bit of a new world. A new beginning. An embarkation on the rest of our life. Since our Pandemic, we have not traveled as much as prior to it. However, the Trip Of Life is more exciting than any holiday. Spring brings us hope for new life and a renewal of our spirits. The mystery of how we came to be here and where we are going is a daily unveiling. If we are not careful we are in danger of losing the through line or forgetting the plot of our journey. Each time we have taken a Europen Holiday…somewhat like Chevy Chase and family…we have attempted to prepare and think of all exigencies in order to facilitate our smooth enjoyment of the wonders that we expected to be exposed to. There is the currency exchange and the packing in a small suitcase and a backpack. Will we require warm clothes or summer wear or both? We research the popular tourist destinations and book tours that were applicable. Then there is the issue of transportation. How busy is the area that we are going to visit or how remote is it. Most important…where do we eat!

Now, life is much more of an adventure than a month’s holiday in Europe! Each day can bring a new surprise and holiday at home. Much of life’s pleasure is discovering the fulfillment of your abilities. Contentment is somewhat elusive to many of us. As it has been said…’ Happy In Your Own Skin!’ Is your skin fitting well? Mine is a bit looser as I have aged. I enjoyed the actor Brendan Fraser’s Academy Award acceptance speech. His humility and gratitude were overwhelming. Well, we have been given the Oscar Of Life…each day that we are here…what an honor!