Eternity

Forever is forever.

Think about that for a moment.

When we say forever, it means never-ending. It goes on for eternity.  Now, apply it to your spiritual life. Do we pray and hope for life after death, to live forever? I think most live just for the day and the moment. Not thinking about how our thoughts, words, and deeds affect our forever life after we die. But most of the time, especially in our younger days, it seems like we will live forever. The actual reality is we start the dying process once we are born into this world. The time for us to prepare for our eternal life is now. God has given us the guidelines for us to follow through the Bible. For thousands of years, He has been telling generation after generation how to live forever in heaven with God. But do we listen? I would say most of the time, we don't hear Him. That's why praying and reading the Bible every day is vital. Any day, your time ticket will arrive for the journey to eternity, and that ticket is a one-way to either Heaven or Hell. 

Where do you want to spend your forever life?

Photo - pixabay - TheFunkypixel

An Adventurous Day

Is there ever an ordinary day?

As much as we might think there is no such thing as an ordinary day. I know we have our routines.  Monday through Friday, sit in traffic, go to work, come home, and go to bed; the whole routine starts the next day. We might even come to a point where we dread the next day.

The fact of the matter is that every day is extraordinary. When we look at each day as a new beginning, even if our life doesn't seem so. 

Here is a short story of a lesson learned from our cats. 

We have two cats, one orange cat named Rex and the other black cat named Jack. These two are completely opposite of each other in their personalities. Rex is the king cat. He is bigger and bolder in his personality. Jack, on the other hand, is laid-back and docile. The one thing they have in common is their routine. They go outside, looking for the next mouse to catch or the perfect spot to lie down to take that afternoon nap. And as evening falls, they wait patiently to come into the house for the evening meal and retire for the night until the next day.

Once the sun comes up, this is when the subtle difference between the two takes place. We will announce the call for the cats to go outside. And the first one at the door is Rex followed slowly by Jack. Our hand is on the doorknob, and Rex has his nose on the edge of the door, waiting impatiently for the door to open. The door is opened, and out goes Rex, looking for the next adventure, while Jack casually strolls out, looking like he would instead go back into the house but seems content with the sunshine and the possibility of the next nap.    

The lesson learned.

We all have to approach each day like Rex and know we will have those occasional days like Jack.  Every day is a new adventure. The uncertainty is always there, but it is a new day, and we must venture out and look for the good things in life. We are the product of our personalities, whether we are like Rex or Jack.

Look forward to your next adventurous day!

    

Goals

This is always a good time of the year to set goals. Although, most goals will not be completed.  So, why do we do it?  

Most of us consider the New Year a fresh start, a chance to dust off the previous year and start new.  But to take it a step further, it is a sense of hope. When we have set goals, they are either completed or not, but hope is ongoing. If you happen to miss the mark, the next step would be to try again, even if it's next year. It is a constant process. At the same time, goals seem to be a pass-or-fail event.

Be hopeful going into the New Year. 

12 Days of Christmas

Here are some articles from the web to describe the true meaning of the 12 days of Christmas.

The 12 days of Christmas in Christian tradition signifies the time between the birth of Christ and the arrival of the three wise men, also known as the Magi. It starts on December 25, which is celebrated as Christmas Day, and lasts until January 6, which is the Epiphany, also referred to as Three Kings' Day.

             12 Days of Christmas Carol - Lyrics Meaning and History (christianity.com)

            Twelve Days of Christmas - Wikipedia

Merry Christmas!

Days Away

Soon, it will be Christmas day🎶 as the song goes. 

Every year, we prepare for this one day. Shopping for gifts and planning parties. But many things are missing every year. 

Going to church, lighting an Advent wreath, family prayer and spending quality time with friends and relatives. It is a time when we recognize God the Father sending His Son to us to give us the salvation that we will all be reunited in heaven. 

In the next few days, slow down, pause from the season's rush, and thank the Father for sending His Son to us. 

98.6% of Americans Agree

 

In a recent survey of Americans, they believe __________

This is where you fill in the blank.  The news media controls what you think based on surveys. However, they do not emphasize only 100 people of probably like-minded individuals of the same political party with a +/- degree of error.  

Is this a fair assessment of how the American people think?

As of 2021, there were 331 million people in the United States.

100 people surveyed do not determine the general opinions of millions of Americans. 

We often see surveys telling us we are either in the majority or minority, but this is not the reality.  Decisions are being made at a corporate and government level to manipulate what you should believe, and that propaganda is destroying America.  

Wake up, America. Think for yourself. Do not let someone else tell you how to think or what you should believe.

Photo - pixabay - Mohamed_hassan

       

The Light of Christmas

December is the darkest month of the year. The days are shorter, and the dark hours take over the night.  Waiting for the dawn of morning, we feel the renewal of a new hope.  

Every year, my wife and I have an advent wreath.  There are many symbols and rituals around the lighting of the candles.  Four candles represent the weeks leading up to Christmas day and the lighting of the fifth candle for the Birth of Jesus Christ.

"The Advent season is a time of preparation that directs our hearts and minds to Christ’s second coming at the end of time and to the anniversary of Our Lord’s birth on Christmas."  What is Advent? | USCCB   

Waiting for the light of Christ gives us hope just as we wait for the dawn of a new day. And beyond Advent and Christmas, this hope will continue throughout the year as we are in constant preparation for the second coming of Christ. 

What is preparation?

We must have our souls ready. We are both body and soul and when Christ comes again, He will be here to judge the depths of our souls to determine our worthiness to meet the Father in Heaven. 

In the next few weeks, take the time to reflect in prayer and prepare for Christ's coming.

Photo - pixabay - fincayra0204  

My 2 Cents Worth

It has been a long time since I posted something about all the world's current wars.  Mainly Ukraine and Israel.  About a year ago, I gave my opinion about the war in Ukraine primarily because of my opinions about the tactics and strategies. But with the two current wars, much of the politics goes deeper than the general public hears. I don't have any inside information on this. It's just my opinion. 

Ukraine, the bottom line here, it's about the equipment, supplies, and money.  Once this war started, it seemed everyone was on board with supporting their efforts, but now the bottomless pit of draining the American dollars into the war efforts does not have an endpoint. It's time to stop the funding of this war. It is mainly because it is exhausting not only dollars from our economy but is now depleting our military supplies, making us more vulnerable.

Israel, the United States, has always been in support of this small country in the Middle East. It ties with the Judo-Christian values of America as the main focus, plus it's an excellent ally to have in that region. The countries surrounding Israel are not allies with the United States.  American involvement should be limited.  Israel was attacked, and it is their war.  They seem to be advancing and have the military strength to finish. 

The United States needs to stay out of any significant conflicts.  Our economy is in a shambles.  The politicians in Washington are fighting among themselves.  The citizens have been divided politically, and morality does not exist. 

God help us all.

Perfin

A small hobby I have is stamp collecting.  I mainly collect used stamps.  This stamp is called a perfin, which stands for perforated initials.  It was once used in business to discourage theft of business postage.  

Changing Temperatures

I haven't posted anything in a while. I'm trying to catch up on things I haven't done in the last several months. I'm not looking forward to the upcoming months. It's winter in the South. The colder temperatures are not something we generally have to cope with, but it can get frigid here.  There was a time last winter when it was sub-zero for almost a week. Rolling power outages didn't make the situation any better. The winter sets in from the end of December to the end of February.  

The end of November is here. I wanted to post more about Veterans and Thanksgiving. Still, we can do that any time as we all should in giving thanks for the many blessings and gratitude for the Armed Forces of the United States and the veterans that have contributed to the military might that America has known for 248 years.     

Fall 7

 

November

 This month is dedicated to the Veterans and Thanksgiving.

They both seem to go hand in hand.

Also, the last month of fall.  I will probably post more pictures of the fall trees.  In this part of the South, November's colors are always brighter.

Morning Offering Prayer

 Morning Offering Prayer

O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,

I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day

for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart

in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world,

for the salvation of souls, the reparation of sins, the reunion of all Christians,

and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father this month.

Amen.

Fall 6

Fall 5

Fall 4

 

Fall 3

 

Fall 2

Fall 1

The leaves here have not changed overall.  I'm guessing it will probably be another week.

Here is a picture from last year at about the same time.

October

 

The month of October.

The changing of color and season.

This month is the time of the year when the temperatures are almost perfect and the transformation of the color of leaves on the trees begins. 

I'm considering posting pictures of trees this month to capture the color transformation of the trees.