More Odd People

Jen and her mother have both blogged about odd people or "those" kids. I have known very many such people. I spend a lot of time in nursing homes, mental health facilities, etc. I even worked at the state mental hospital many years ago, though in an office on one of the wards. One day we, the office staffers, were invited to go on an outing with the residents (we called them patients then) to the local zoo. So I went. We were standing around in a large group when I noticed some of the folks walking toward the lion and tiger house. One after another got in line and soon there was a long line of people walking across the park. I went with them (not particularly trained to deal with mentally ill people) and we all looked at the big cats. That was probably 40 years ago and the zoo still just had the cats in indoor cages, not like today where they have places to roam outside. Anyway, I figured it was time to go back to the bus so I started some of them back that way. One man stood there awhile and I wasn't sure if he was one of the group or not. I didn't want to offend someone by implying such, so I just announced in a rather loud voice, "It's time to go back to the bus now." He turned and followed the others! When I think back about this, why in the world didn't some psych tech accompany me? I went with a group to the Air Force Academy one time, too. It's amazing how uninhibited you feel when you know that the public will excuse your behavior because they think you're one of "them". I loved working there and it carried over to my love for other "odd" people.

Oh, why, why, why?

Why is one death more tragic than another? Why is it more tragic when a straight A, upright student gets killed in a car wreck, than it is when a bad student, shady kind of guy gets killed in a car wreck? Is one life actually more valuable than another? Perhaps the good student would grow up to contribute to society and perhaps the bad student would grow up to be a detriment to society, but doesn't God love them both equally? Look at the apostle Paul. He was a religious rat, that killed people just because they were Christians. God made him into a fairly spectacular and respectable guy, wouldn't you say? Why do we say, "Oh, what a shame!", and "Well, he probably deserved it." Why do we say, "Well, she was old and probably ready to die.", and "Oh, she was so young, what a waste." Just who is in charge of these things anyway? Not us. All we can do is trust that God will see us through it, again and again and again.

Who will feed His old sheep?

When a pastor retires, does he lose his calling? Evidently he does. I say this because we have several retired pastors who attend our church and, as far as I can tell, most of them aren't doing any kind of ministry. I think they need to understand that they retired from PASTORING, not from PREACHING, or from serving God for that matter. There is one retired lay pastor who does one nursing service per month, for which I am very grateful. Another fills in whenever I need him. It is hard to get someone to fill in at a nursing home service. I guess it's because they are afraid of the prospect of getting old or unable to take care of themselves. Two men who are more than willing to go have a reason to appreciate the fact that they aren't in a nursing home. One is a man who suffered a severe head injury in a motorcycle wreck about 7 years ago. He had to rehab, learn to walk, talk, etc., again. While doing that, he had a heart attack, bypass surgery, and a stroke. He plays the piano, which he had to basically relearn. He had been a concert pianist previously. He loves to go and play for the folks and visit with them, always willing to give his testimony. The other man has little use of one arm, I believe from birth. He loves to go and sing, usually a capella, and does a good job. I was thinking of this the one Sunday they are at a facility together. How here are two guys who barely escaped being in a nursing home and they rejoice in going to entertain the people who haven't escaped being in a nursing home.

Sweet testimony

On Mondays, I take the preaching tape from the day before to a local nursing home. Today one of the men (who I suspect might be there because of mental problems) told me that he accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior in 1955. He would have been about 22. When I asked him to tell me about it he said, "Well, I was in jail in California. A guy was telling me that I needed to ask Jesus to be my personal savior. I asked him how to do that and he said, 'I don't know how to tell you but I know a guy who can.' So he took me upstairs to this guy and he told me how to get saved." Then this 74 year old man asked me if there is a Bible school in the area. It's probably next to impossible for him to do that but his heart is so tender. I'll see if he's interested in some study books he can work on in his room.

More My Thoughts

Watching the campaign "game", I have been appalled at some of the attitudes on both sides. "If the candidate I want isn't nominated, I AM NOT GOING TO VOTE!" Well, just go ahead and vote for the one in the other party. You might as well, you're giving that person your vote anyway. If you want your party in the white house, then vote for your party. If it isn't important enough for you, then stay home and keep your mouth shut. I truly believe our powers that be need to regulate this a little. Maybe a three-month only campaign or something. By the way, who has been doing the Senators' jobs while they've been on the campaign trail? Why are they being paid their regular salaries while they're totally out of their offices? Bah! Humbug! :>( :>0

My testimony of salvation

My daughter, Kay, posted a blog titled "Without Him", in which she described her testimony. I posted a comment on that blog about my testimony of salvation. If anyone is interested, go to Loopdeloops.blogspot.com. Thanks.

My Own Thoughts

MondaythroughSunday asked me what I thought of all this political stuff. Boy, she has no idea what kind of can of worms she opened! First of all, the caucus I didn't go to had a huge number of attendees. The Republicans chose Mitt Romney and the Democrats chose Obama. The next day Romney suspended his campaign. So now what about the Republicans? When I listen to some of the speeches, especially from Obama, I always wonder what "change' actually means to him. What does change actually mean to Clinton? Or to any of the other candidates? Change isn't automatically a good thing. It could be a bad thing. I want these people to talk more about specifics rather than generalizations. Recall how Hitler promised change? Bin Laden wants change for our country and for the world. Granted some things need to be changed.

By the way, the President doesn't have as much control as we think he does. That's why we have Congress and Senate, etc. President Bush has been blamed for things way beyond his control, as though he has freedom to do anything he wants. The same thing with the next president. He or she can make all the promises in the world, but that doesn't mean those things can be accomplished. We talk about being a democracy but we are actually a republic. Cuba is a democracy and the people "vote" Castro in time after time. In our country we have some constraints by having people other than just the president involved in decision making.

Super Tuesday

Well, tomorrow is the big day all of the candidates have been waiting for. I am being urged to go to the local caucus but I don't like turmoil and confusion unless I start it myself. :>)