DEFINE NEGLIGIBLE!

"Darling, when you read and hear about the wonderful gains our army is making, keep in mind it just didn't happen--that many guys gave a lot of blood, even lives, to gain that objective. Don't forget that--even when the newspapers say "our losses are negligible."

Keith Winston (edited by wife, Sarah Winston)
V-Mail: Letters of a World War II Combat Medic
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill  1985
p. 176

Oh my gosh! Even when I thought negligible meant "few" I couldn't count any death above zero as negligible. How do you tell a parent, "I'm sorry your son died in combat--but he was the only one in our company . . . ?"

Then I actually looked up the definition of negligible. "Worthy of neglect; trifling." --American Heritage Dictionary.

I'm several decades late for writing an editorial, but let me make myself clear. I disagree!

Lonnie

LETTERS FROM WAR

"This morning we saw scores of haggard Russians walking toward our rear--prisoners the Nazis had used as slaves and left behind when the Krauts retreated. Darling, when I saw their faces--their smiles of joy, their revived hope--and American food in their hands, it brought tears to my eyes for I knew I was seeing first-hand just what we're fighting for--the right to be free--to go unmolested, to have freedom from oppressive tyranny--something these poor souls hadn't known for years."  (emphasis mine)

Pfc. Keith Winston (edited with preface by Sarah Winston/wife)
V-Mail: Letters of a World War II Combat Medic
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill   1985
p.195

Do we even begin to appreciate our freedom? Or the sacrifice of blood, limbs, family time, or even finances paid to obtain it? Do we appreciate those representatives who fight to maintain it?

EverGrateful,
Lonnie

What is V-mail?
"A V-letter was written on a single sheet of special stationary, which was on sale at post offices, and was photographed after mailing; the film was sent overseas by air, and the letter was then printed in reduced size on photographic paper and delivered . . . this did not always work out." p. 100

ASK THE QUESTIONS

"God calls us to question, because only then can we learn for ourselves. It's the truest foundation of faith. How easy it is to have the foundation of our beliefs shaken with a simple question, if we haven't asked ourselves those questions already."

Michael Spaulding
March 18, 2013--Facebook


I have understood, forever, that my faith can't save my children. They can't hang on to me and slide into heaven on my shirt tails. Probably what I "haven't" understood is that my beliefs can't be the skeleton of their faith either. They have to ask the questions and find the answers themselves. That is HARD on parents' hearts. But, we have to let them question and trust God--who loves them with such a pure, unconditional and overwhelming love.

Mike makes comments on facebook that make me re-examine my beliefs instead of just accepting the most prevalent Christian opinion. He makes me ask questions; and they're good ones. We may, still, not end up on the same page; but I also may not end up on the page where I started.

When our son, Mat, was in highschool he tried to convince me that our nation and government weren't perfect. (Yes, please laugh with me.) I'd barely passed history and current events in school, but in my forties I began reading--mostly antique history books that concentrated more on "character (s)" than events. I still read an occasional book that debates political issues today. I do this because Mat "questioned." And he was right to do so. I still don't "get" a lot of the political jargon and the connection between this and that, but I've moved off my page.

We can't accept "just because." We have to question, dig, and form our own beliefs. As a parent, we still need to guide. I don't think we need to encourage testing of every faith and experience. But we need to allow freedom to Ask the Questions.

Mike, a young man and a soldier, once again gives me pause. I hope he does the same for you. Thank you Mike, for your challenging comments and for staying connected. So glad you will be home with your family soon.

Ever-Ever-Growing,
Lonnie

FIGHT DISEASE -- WITH GRATITUDE

"According to San Franciso researchers, acts of appreciation and caring actually can contribute to having a healthier heart. Doctors found that when we dwell on more altruistic actions, heart rates slow and levels of disease-fighting chemical ImmunoGlobulin A (igA) rise and stay that way for several hours."

Loretta LaRoche
Relax: You May Only Have A Few Minutes Left
Villard  1998
p. 65

A perscription with no co-pay.

EverGrowing,
Lonnie

HUMILITY AND NOBILITY

Title of a Magazine Article:
HUMILITY AND NOBILITY: Marks Of A Weaned Child

"God made man from the dust of the earth, which teaches us humility. He made us in His image, which gives us nobility."

David Faust
The LookOut  July 31, 2005
p. 3

Faust's title speaks volumes. Humility comes with maturity; and we usually associate it with discomfort. But Faust takes a little of the sting out, doesn't he? What an amazing God! What an amazing love!

EverGrowing,
Lonnie

CHANGE "HIM"

" . . .  a wife requested prayer for her husband. She painted a rather sordid picture of him, and I gathered that she wanted us to pray that God would punish him.

. . . . .If we hadn't prayed the Scripture, we would have prayed the wife's frustration and anger instead of the nature of God . . . "

Judson Cornwall
Praying The Scriptures
Creation House
p.130

A friend and I carry totally different memories of our mothers. If someone hurt my friend, my friend's mother berated her own daughter and gave the offender every excuse for causing the hurt.

If I was hurt or frustrated, I called Mom. She'd get mad along with me.

God will listen; and He will comfort. But he won't be like either of our mothers. He loves, unconditionally, the offended and the offender. When I struggle to know how to pray and don't know appropriate Scriptures to do so, one way I can always pray for an offender, an enemy . . .  a President, congressman, or boss that irritates every fiber of my being is, "God, Thy will be done."

Or . . . as I have prayed in the past, "God, change him or change me." ( I always suspect the need will require God to change both.)

This year, I'm praying that God will teach me how to pray.

EverGrowing,
Lonnie

THEY USED TO CALL THEM TRAMPS

"When he saw me he gathered himself together with reluctance and stood fully revealed. It was a curious attitude of mingled effrontery and apology. 'Hit me if you dare,' blustered his outward personality. 'For God's sake, don't hit me,' cried the innate fear in his eyes. I stopped and looked at him sharply. His eyes dropped, his look slid away, so that I experienced a sense of shame, as though I had trampled upon him.

"I confess that my first impulse, and a strong one, was to kick him for the good of the human race. No man has a right to be like that.

"And then, quite suddenly, I had a great revulsion of feeling. What was I that I should judge without knowledge? Perhaps, after all, here was one bearing treasure. So I said:

"' You are the man I have been expecting.'

"He did not reply, only flashed his eyes at me, wherein fear deepened.

""'I have been saving a coat for you,' I said, 'and a pair of shoes. They are not much worn,' I said, 'but a little too small for me. I think they will fit you.'

"He looked at me again, not sharply, but with a sort of weak cunning. So far he had not said a work.

"'I think our supper is nearly ready," I said: 'let us go in.'"

David Grayson/Ray Stannard Baker
Adventures In Contentment
Grosset & Dunlap  1907

I would love to share the whole story, but I've already taken more liberty than I should. What strikes me is, while fiction, I suspect Mr. Baker has accurately portrayed the inner feelings of a homeless person. (used to be called tramps) And sadly, I suspect, he has captured our feelings when we see someone standing on a corner with a sign or crouched in a doorway. We can't stop the thoughts and we can't always help--and sometimes shouldn't. But, we can pray for the person and if God "does" ask us to do something (even if it's only to smile or say hi), we can be obedient.

We often see bumper stickers that say, "Start Seeing Motorcycles." Do we "see" the homeless? Or do we look through them or past them? No one wants to be invisible.  

EverGrowing,
Lonnie

P.S. Incredible book, by the way. And while fiction, Grayson's/Baker's biography bears much resemblance to his story. Grayson has wonderful wit and wisdom. Reading this book is about as relaxing to me as some would think it would be to lounge in a hammock beneath a full-leafed maple tree.