Month: July 2022

When Donald Trump ran for the Republican nomination, my husband and I cringed when he insulted, belittled, and disparaged his opponents. I was routing for Marco Rubio who was young, idealistic, and credible. But in spite of this Trump somehow trumped the field. I really doubt any President was ever more controversial, arrogant, or unpolitical.

We vowed not to vote for him but in the end I grew to ‘love’ him. It wasn’t really him but his enthusiastic American followers, the thousands of them who came to, it seemed, that many rallies. In his last week before the election I watched four rallies in my beloved Pennsylvania. They were my people; coal miners, construction workers, farmers, etc. They were supporting an America we knew and wanted back.

I am not sorry for my vote. It seemed we were on our way to being GREAT AGAIN! I just don’t know: Am I crazy. Is he ?

Why would or could anyone withstand the ridicule and outright campaign to destroy him? Could he possibly win again? I believe it is in God’s hands and He has used unlikely people to do His work. And work Trump did, for his four years in office digging us out of the swamp. A builder, a flawed human being but somehow lovable and capable..

Have you noticed at some point down the road a pound of coffee became 14 ounces, then 12 on down to now 10.5 ounces. I blinked thinking ice cream cartons got thinner, etc. etc. Last week I needed sugar but the usual 5 pound package was 4 pounds. I made lasagna for our grandchildren Thursday and realized the noodles were shorter by an inch. I also bought white sliced bread for the children and noticed the slices were a third smaller. The only thing that remains the same are the prices; although, don’t you know, prices are going up because of inflation.

Is anyone fooled by any of this? Every company is following suit. The price is the same for the 16 oz coffee and the now 10.5 oz coffee. My grandfather, a wise man, had a saying: If you do something long enough you get used to it, even hanging.

Something that never changes and that’s the ingenuity of dishonest people, as attested to by the following verse from the old testament.

When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the Sabbath, that we may open the wheat market, to make the bushel smaller and the shekel bigger and to cheat with dishonest scales? Amos 8:5

I’m telling you, it’s hard to get used to shorter lasagna noodles. Well, maybe not. I haven’t checked the size of lasagna pans lately!

Unless souls are saved, nothing is saved; there can be no world peace unless there is soul peace. Peace of Soul by Servant of God Fulton J. Sheen (page 1 first sentence)

Sometimes I wonder what I will find scattered around the surfaces of my home: the desk. tables, etc. The other day I found a scrap of paper with quotes from a favorite book of mine, Peace of Soul by Fulton Sheen (only one of which was legible). On the other side of the 8 x 4 scrap was a poem I wrote one morning probably sitting on my side deck as the sun came up.

Come Lord Jesus; wake up my soul. Remove the weariness: inspire, challenge, instruct. In seeking, open the door to finding. The great gift given in reward for silence, sacrifice of time. That in quietness with you there is peace and love. No regret, but hope in all things for the good.

On the way home from visiting friends in Maryland we were thankful to stop for late lunch at a McDonald’s. The table or actually tables next to us were taken up by a family with about ten young children including a baby, and their young parents. Mommy was sitting in the center distributing food. Daddy was going back & forth with ketchup, straws, napkins etc.

It wasn’t what you would call chaos but lively. In other words full of life. It made me think of our recent travels. A young man throwing a ball to his dog in the hallway of our motel. Dogs barking at night from somewhere in the motel. Huge dogs coming to lunch with their owners.

Seeing that family in Mickey Dee’s made me think. We hadn’t seen any children in the lovely hotels but many young couples with dogs. Nothing wrong with pets. In fact they are great and provide much happiness for people. But somehow in seeing that family, I saw hope; confidence that these parents had to bring many children into the world believing each of them would bring something the world needed. That something is love.