Sunday Reflections -- Contentment

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:12-13)

The Greek word for “content” in the above verse is “autarkes” and means sufficient in oneself, self-sufficient, needing no assistance.

The hard part is learning to be content in “any and every situation.”  It’s easy to be content when things are going well, when the refrigerator is well stocked, when we’re both healthy, when the children are doing well, when the retirement account is growing.

It’s much harder to be content when money’s tight, when our health is not as good, when our kids are having a difficult time.

Paul doesn’t give us an out and say we can learn to be content in the good and not so bad situations in our lives.  Nope, he says “any” and “every” situation.  That doesn’t leave much wiggle room.

Fortunately he gives us a clue as to how we can learn to be content in any and every situation in the above verse:

I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

We can learn from our mistakes, we can learn from the experience of others, we can learn from a teacher – but the real test is when we try to exercise what we have learned.

It’s the presence of Jesus in our lives that gives us the strength to be content – even when life sucks.

Saturday Prayer – Losing a Loved One

If you have watched the Olympics at all, you know the story of Joannie Rochett, the Canadian figure skater whose mother died of a heart attack two days before her competition.

Joannie carried on through her compulsory skate and the free skate two nights later.  Against terrific competition she was able to win a Bronze medal.  Given what was going on within her heart and mind that’s quite an accomplishment.

Prayer for Losing a Loved One

Surrounded by friends
yet all alone,
the one I loved
God has called home.

The hugs of friends
helps ease the pain
and I know my loss
is my loved one's gain.

But tears now flow
across my face
as I long for just
one more embrace.

Then comfort comes
and I see Christ's face;
He hugs my loved one
and I feel God's grace.

Friday Funny – What Really Happened

A lot of scientists believe the dinosaurs were exterminated by a giant comet’s collision with the earth.

Now we know what really happened…

Snow Flakes Keep Falling On My Butt

OK, I know that’s a terrible take off of the song from “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” but I couldn’t resist.

Nothing much going on today so I thought I would share a picture of Morgunn “enjoying” a recent snow shower.

The Path Between The Seas

I just finished a great book – also a great big book – called “The Path Between The Seas” by David McCullough.  He’s the historian/author who wrote the book about John Adams that was made into a series by HBO.

The book details the history of the Panama Canal.  The French actually started the canal in the latter part of the 1800’s but it was unsuccessful for a lot reasons.  The US government bought the rights to the development of the canal from the French in the last part of the 1800’s and the book details the trials and triumphs of those who brought the canal to a successful conclusion.

Besides being a good, if long (617 pages), read about the history of the Panama Canal, I was interested because I went through the canal twice while I was in the Navy.  The first time was the summer of 1969 when our ship went through from the Pacific to the Caribbean on our way home from Vietnam.  The second time was the winter of 1971 when we went from the Caribbean to the Pacific on our way to our second deployment to Vietnam.

At that time, the US still had control of the Canal Zone and US military ships had priority.  Regular paying commercial ships were anchored at each end waiting their turn to make the passage.  We were able to sail up and start our passage without any wait at all.  I’m sure they didn’t like us very much for that.

It takes about 12 hours to make the passage from one side to the other.  At each end of the canal there are series of locks which raise or lower your ship to the respective sea level. 

This is a picture of the lock gates opening to allow a ship to pass through to the next lock.  The leaves of each gate are 65 feet long and 7 feet wide.  Their height varies from 47 to 82 feet depending on the depth of the lock.  The gates weigh up to 745 tons each, yet swing so easily that it only takes a little under two minutes to open or close them.  Everything in the canal is run by electric motors. The gates are set in pairs as in the picture for safety reasons.  If a ship were ever to hit the first set of gates (which hasn’t happened), the second set would contain the water.

This is a picture of a Naval ship similar to mine in one of the locks.  You’ll notice a small engine to the left of picture.  This is a “mule,” an electric engine and one of four such engines that pull your ship through the locks to maintain control.  The ship is not under it’s own power any time it is entering, within, or leaving the locks.

Besides the locks on each end of the canal, the passage involves going through the Culebra Cut, a massive earthen cut through the middle of the country.

In addition to the Cut, the passage also includes a beautiful and leisurely passage through Gatun Lake -- a crystal clear, fresh water lake.

In looking for pictures to illustrate this post, I ran across a picture of the battleship, USS New Mexico (BB 40), transiting the canal in 1919 only five years after it was opened.

The Panama Canal was and still is an engineering marvel.  Other than some modern electrical control improvements and the addition of lights for night passages, the canal is the same today as it was when it opened in August, 1914.

The cost was $352,000,000 which was actually $23,000,000 under the projected cost seven years earlier.  And, it opened six months ahead of schedule.   Don’t you wish we had that kind of excellence and controls today.

The greatest cost was 5,609 lives lost mostly due to disease (i.e., malaria, yellow fever and typhoid).

Some people say the Panama Canal is the greatest engineering feat the world has ever seen up until the engineering feats of the space age.

I’m of the opinion that anything this amazing that could be built with the technology of the early 1900’s and still be in perfect working order almost 100 years later is still the greatest engineering feat – and we’ll probably never see anything like it ever again.

For a young Naval Officer who was fortunate enough to pass through the Panama Canal twice, the memories I have are still fresh and exciting.

Monday Video – Ricochet

Kleenex alert. 

Here’s the story of a dog who its owner thought should be one thing, but she was wise enough to let him be who he was meant to be – and the amazing things he wound up doing.

Enjoy.

Sunday Reflection – A Time Apart

Psalms 48:9 -- Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love.

After my cataract surgery,  I had a follow up visit with my eye doctor to check to see how the eye was doing.  The technician did some preliminary tests to get some basic data and then told me that Dr. Clatanoff would be in shortly.

Normally, he shows up within about 10 minutes or less.  This time he didn’t show up until 30 minutes later.

After about 10 minutes when he normally would be there, I was starting to get a little peeved.  As each minute ticked past with no Dr. Clatanoff I got a little more peeved.

Then I suddenly realized how quiet it was.  Mercifully, his office doesn’t play any music and no one was around the little exam room I was in.  It was quiet and still.

I think God nudged me and said this is an opportunity, not a problem.  It’s a small time apart from the distractions of the world to spend time with him.

For the next 15 minutes or so, I had a blessed time where I could focus on the presence of God in my life and just be with him in that quiet, still place.

The Bible calls this meditation.

The Hebrew word literally means to ponder.  In our busy, noise and distraction filled world it’s hard to find small, quiet times where we can ponder the presence of God.

I’m grateful God nudged me in the midst of an eye exam room so that he and I could hang out together for a few minutes.

Saturday Prayer – Lent

This past Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, the entrance into a 40 day preparation for the Celebration of Easter.  This 40 day period is called Lent or the Lenten Season.

In the early church this was a time of preparation for new believers who would be baptized on the Saturday before Easter.

For many Lent is a time of discipline, a time of withdrawal from something in their lives that gives them pleasure.  Lent can also be a time of drawing to – drawing closer to the source of life, Jesus Christ.

A Prayer for Lent

Heavenly Father, I am called to walk by the light of Christ, your Son, and to trust in his wisdom.

During Lent, I submit my self to him more and more and am striving to believe in him with all my heart.

I enter on this path of repentance so that in dying to self I might rise to new life.

Lord Jesus, you spoke peace to a sinful world and brought mankind the gift of reconciliation by the suffering and death you endured. I love you and joyfully bear the name Christian.

Teach me to follow your example. Increase my faith, hope and charity so that I may struggle to turn hatred to love and conflict to peace.

Loving Redeemer through your passion, teach me self-denial, strengthen me against evil and adversity and so make me ready to celebrate your Resurrection.

Healer of body and soul, cure the sickness in my spirit so that I may grow in holiness through your constant care.

Forgive my sins against the unity of your family; make me love as you loved me.

Good Master, make me mindful of the dignity you gave me in Baptism, may I live for you at every moment.

Give me a perfect heart to receive your work, that I may bring forth fruit in patience.

Friday Funny -- Now We Know The Answer

After all these years, it took a cartoon to give men the correct answer to that most difficult of questions…

Finally

If you’re concerned about the quality or lack there of of many TV shows – especially when it comes to values and morals, here’s a little good news.  P&G is where I worked for 27 years and I’m proud it’s still an ethical place.

As the Wall Street Journal recently reported:

The world’s biggest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores, and Procter & Gamble, the world’s biggest consumer-products maker, are jointly creating a made-for-TV movie, in an effort to promote “family-friendly” alternatives to what they say is increasingly risqué TV fare.

The two advertising heavyweights have teamed up on the two-hour “Secrets of the Mountain,” to be broadcast in April on NBC. The movie, which focuses on a single mother who brings her family to a mountainside cabin, highlights values—such as generosity, honesty and togetherness—that Wal-Mart and P&G executives say are in short supply on television.

Betty Update

Several folks have asked how Betty is doing so here’s an update on her shingles condition.

We recently shared how the epidural she got about a month ago has really helped calm the nerves down.  Shortly after that she was able to quit taking the Oxycodone pain pills.  We saw the pain clinic doctor several weeks ago and he said she could begin to slowly reduce the amount of Neurontin, the nerve pain medication, she was taking.

Originally, she was taking one 800 mg pill three times a day.  She started by cutting one pill in half to 400 mg and did that for about 5 days.  Then she cut a second pill in half for five days, and, most recently, she cut the third pill in half.  Now she’s taking 1,200 mg instead of the original 2,400 mg.

She still doesn’t have the extreme pain, but is noticing some discomfort every once in awhile.  So, the plan is to stay at the 3 1/2 pills for a period before cutting back any more.  The next step would be to cut out one 1/2 pill and go from there.  But, the doctor told her not to rush it and to be sure there is no pain or discomfort before reducing any more.

The good news in all this is physical activity doesn’t cause any pain.  So she’s able to exercise at the gym and we’ve started doing some light ground work with the horses.  It wears her out, but doesn’t cause any additional discomfort.

We’re still hopeful there will be no pain or discomfort in the long run, but Betty is aware that there is a possibility she may have to live with some discomfort in her life for a long while – hopefully not – but she’s realistic about the possibilities.

We appreciate any prayers for continued healing and strengthening for Betty.

Monday Video – Time-lapse Meditation

If today has been a little stressful for you, take a few minutes to enjoy this Time-lapse video.  Even the credits at the end are worth watching.

Enjoy.

HDR Time-lapse 2009 Reel from HDRtimelapse.com on Vimeo.

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day to all our blog reading friends.

Dan & Betty

Saturday Prayer – The Nicene Creed

Betty and I attended an Episcopal Church for years and one of the things I loved was the Book of Common Prayer.  I loved the many prayers, most scripture-based, that are part of the liturgy.  One of my favorites is the Nicene Creed which was adopted by the church in 325.

 

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Friday Funny -- Feelings, Wo..wo..wo Feelings

As many of you know, Betty and I do marriage counseling through our church.  Dealing with feelings is often very hard to do, especially with men.  Today’s Friday Funny is all too true…

More Views

(My cataract surgery on my right eye went well and the eye is healing well.)

Here’s another view of the mountains with some neat cloud cover, especially the low bank of clouds at the base of the mountains.

Later, as the sun went down, a nice, rosy glow added to the view.

Have a great day.

Here’s Looking At You – 2

This afternoon I’m getting my right eye fixed – another cataract surgery.  The left was done in early January.  It helped a lot.  I have 20/20 distance vision in the left so it will be interesting to see if the right eye does as well.

Betty wasn’t able to go with me last time because of her shingles.  However, she’s well enough this time to go and it will be nice to have her there.  The set up is such that they have a little room where Betty can actually watch the surgery.

Before we leave, our farrier is coming by to give Morgunn and Sugar a trim.  All in all it will be a full day.

I probably won’t be posting for a couple of days so be good while I’m gone.

Monday Video – Meet George

Betty and I used to have second Golden Retriever years ago named George.  We found George a new home because we didn’t need two Goldens and George was a hand full.

Here’s another George, the world’s tallest dog.

Enjoy.

Sunday Reflections – Companionship

But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship
as we walked with the throng at the house of God. (Psalms 55:13-14)

One of the definitions of “companion” is “a fellow traveler” – someone we trust who goes along with us as we travel.  If we’re fortunate, we may have a few people in our lives at different times who travel with us through the ups and downs of our lives.

A good friend when you’re young, a room mate at college, a fellow officer in the US Navy, a husband or wife throughout most of our adult life – all travelers with us, companions, through different parts of our travel through life.

For those who are fortunate to be found by God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit become companions in our journey through this life into eternity.

Betty and I have been fortunate to have two other companions through this latter part of our lives – Morgunn and Sugar, our horses.

If you know anything about horses, they are prey animals.  Their instinct is to first and foremost stay alive.  If a horse lays down it’s a sign she is at peace – feeling safe.  For a horse to allow a human to come up to them while laying down is a great sign of trust.

It’s this demonstration of trust that I witnessed this morning (and other times as well) between Sugar and Betty that made me start thinking about companionship.

 

Betty and I are fortunate to have Jesus, each other, and Sugar and Morgunn as trusted companions in the journey of our lives.

Saturday Prayer – Pain

Reflecting on the pain that Betty has struggled with over the past few months led me to this prayer from the book, “Praying Our Goodbyes.”  (Betty is getting better every day but here pain is still not completely gone.)

Prayer Of One Who Is In Constant Pain

God of oneness, wholeness, I hurt and I dream of a day when I no longer feel continual distress in my body.  I cry out to you to hear me, to stretch your arms of compassion to me and to embrace me with your comfort. 

My being needs to be filled with your spiritual energy.  I am weary with the struggle to feel well and to be in good health.  It is so easy to slide into depression and self-pity, to be impatient and despondent. 

God of the living, hear me.  Fill my empty places with hope.  Fill my life with a sense of joy in spite of this ceaseless pain.  Help me to fight that giant oppressor of spirit: discouragement.  Remind me often of the good people of my life and of all the blessings that are mine as I struggle with this pain which is ever present to me.  I praise and thank you for being a God who never leaves me.

I love you, God.  I know you are my inner strength, especially now when my body does not have the strength that I took for granted in the past.  God, my deliverer, I turn to you. 

Sometimes I feel that I do not want to go on.  I get swallowed up by the floods of self-pity and discouragement.  In my distress I cry out to you.  Reach out to me and rescue me from the enemy of pain.  Set me free of its grasp of resentment.  Fill me with courage.  When the darkness of constant pain threatens to overcome me, brighten the darkness with your presence. 

With you by my side I can go through this.  You are like a rock.  You will be my strength.  You are like a shield.  You can protect my spirit from being broken by my body’s pain.  I will keep coming to you, touching the hem of your garment of love and feeling the spiritual energy which you share with me.  I love you and I place my trust in you.

Amen.

Movie Review

Betty and I enjoy watching movies.  Some movies, such as “Avatar,” are best seen on the big screen and I like computer graphic and special effects as much as anyone.  I also like old movies like the ones you can see on Turner Classic Movies on TV.

Every once in awhile we run across a small movie that is something special.  We saw one of those special, small movies yesterday.

We went to see “Crazy Heart” with Jeff Bridges and I will say it’s one of the best movies I have seen in a long, long while.  It’s the kind of movie that Hollywood used to make more often – a movie about people.  No special effects, no car chases, nothing blows up – just an in-depth character study of the kind of real people who fill this world of ours.

It’s also a movie of redemption, but in a simple, true, and believable way.  No Hollywood visions of what redemption should look like.

It you like country music, this movie has some of the best you will hear and Jeff Bridges does all of his own singing and guitar-playing.  He has been nominated for a Best Actor Oscar and if he doesn’t win it will be a real shame.  It’s one of the best performances I’ve ever seen.

Finally, “Crazy Heart” was filmed mostly in New Mexico and it was fun spotting places we knew and places we have been.

Great movie – don’t miss it.

PS: It was such a small movie, shot in only 24 days, that it was originally considered to go direct to DVD until people started seeing it.  There was such a good response they made the correct decision to put it into distribution.

Memories -- A Boy and His Knife

While we were home for Christmas, we had a breakfast brunch for all the family who were in for a family wedding and I was helping getting everything ready.  Our niece and her husband were given the job of cutting up some ham to put into biscuits.  Tom asked if there was a knife and there wasn’t.  Without thinking, I said, “Here use my pocket knife.”  Tom was surprised that I had a knife on me.  He’s a young man and the idea of carrying a pocket knife was new to him.

I carry a knife at all times.  When I was a kid every man and boy carried a pocket knife.  My grandfathers did, my father did, my uncles did, and all my friends did.  We even played with our knives at recess almost every day – playing mumbly peg.

Mumbly peg is a game where the goal is to get the other person to touch the ground or fall down.  The two participants face each other.  I would throw my knife to get it to stick up in the ground to the side of the other person’s feet.  If it successfully sticks up in the ground then he has to stretch his foot out to that point.  Then he gets to throw his knife to the side of my feet.  If the knife does not stick up then you don’t have to move your foot.  This goes back and forth until one touches the ground with his hand or falls.  It’s kind of like Twister with knives.

The game combines not only precision in knife-throwing, but also a show of bravado – it’s a guy thing.  The teachers knew we were playing, but no one thought it was a problem back then.  It was just what boys did.

I carried one of three knives during my boyhood.  I had a knife similar to this – the basic  pocket knife which also works well for whittling.

Then for a while I carried a camper knife which came out of my experience in the Scouts.

The other kind of knife I had was a Barlow knife that I got from my grandfather.  A Barlow knife is not a brand name, but a particular type of knife with two specific types of blades.  It’s also a good whittling knife.

Today, I carry one of three knives in two types.

If I’m out and about I usually have my Buck pocket knife on me.  It has a clip and fits nicely in my pocket.  This is the knife I gave to my nephew to cut the ham.

When I’m around the house and any time I’m around our horses, I always carry a hoof pick knife in a sheath on my belt.  I have two – first a Case hoof pick knife.

My favorite is my MooreMaker hoof pick knife that’s made in Texas.

I have used the hoof pick for a lot of things besides cleaning hooves – opening the lid off cans, digging out a fossil from a hillside in Drumheller, Alberta, cleaning out most anything, etc.

I know things are different today, but I think boys miss out on a lot in our “safe” world.

Kamikaze Birds

We have some big windows in our living area – about 4’ wide and 7’ tall.  There are five of them across the front wall that allows us to look out onto our courtyard and further out to the Sandia Mountains.

We really enjoy them.

The only down side is at certain times of the day and certain times of the year the reflection is such that birds think it’s a way out.  So, we have birds occasionally fly into the windows.

Most bounce off and fly away.  A few are stunned and will sit in our courtyard until their senses return and then they fly off.  A rare few sustain life-ending injuries and they become food for the Roadrunners and Coyotes.

Most of the birds that fly into the windows are the small birds, Sparrows and Finches.

We usually wind up with little round smudges where they hit the window.

The other day a Rock Dove, otherwise known in the city as a Pigeon, flew into one of our windows.  He/she hit pretty hard, but did fly away which was good.

However, the smudge our Rock Dove left wasn’t a slightly larger round spot.  He/she left something much more definitive:

I guess that’s what you call giving it your all.

PS to Mark & TJ:  Lane Moore and his wife Margie are friends who own a ranch in Canada.  Lane is a barefoot farrier who holds seminars to teach others.  I set up a blog for them to publicize their seminars and I set up the profile with his name.  What I didn’t realize is that profile affected my blog as well since I was doing it under my account.  So when I commented on your post it showed his name.  I changed it back so it’s fixed now.  So, I don’t go by Lane at home.

Rodeo Up Close

As many of you know, Betty and I volunteer at Galloping Grace Youth Ranch (GGYR) where kids can experience the joy of being with horses and all for free.

GGYR is the official charity of the New Mexico Stampede, a PRCA sanctioned rodeo.  Betty and I enjoy going to the rodeo, but this past Saturday we were able to be a small part of some pre-rodeo activities.

The rodeo asked Max and Michelle Wade, founders of GGYR, if they could help put on a pre-rodeo event for some Cub Scouts who wanted to earn their horsemanship belt loop (similar to Boy Scout merit badges).

Starting about 5:00 PM and with the help of some of the rodeo personnel we put up two round pens on the arena floor.  Max had brought four horses from the ranch and we worked with the Cub Scouts to help them mount, dismount and ride a few times around the pen.

In addition to riding the horses, the Cub Scouts were given a tour of the bucking chutes by the rodeo announcer and they were able to do some roping with some of the rodeo cowboys and rodeo queens.

It was a fun evening and we finished in plenty of time for the rodeo staff to get the arena ready for the show.

Here are some pictures of our Cub Scout riding experience:

 

Afterwards, we were able to watch the rodeo and here are just a few pictures:

One of the highlights of the night was Max Wade was recognized for being a finalist in a national rodeo humanitarian program.  He was nominated by the NM Stampede Rodeo for his work at GGYR and came in second in the nation.  He was given a pair of Justin boots by Miss New Mexico Rodeo Queen.

Well done Max and thanks for all your hard work and giving me and Betty a chance to be a small part of Galloping Grace Youth Ranch.  (And thanks for getting us free tickets to the rodeo.)

Monday Video – Modern Day Dreams

There are some Monday Videos for which words are not sufficient.  You have to see it.

Enjoy.