Rare earth metals put there by God

Q. Why would God place rare earth metals mainly in China and Russia-occupied Ukraine for a time in world history when they had become essential to all our technology?

A. I don't know, but He somehow figured out how to get President Trump into the same time frame to make a deal.

". . . minerals such as titanium, cobalt, and various rare and rare earth metals have become critical components of green technologies, playing a pivotal role in the energy transition from fossil fuels to alternative energy sources in advanced economies. Ukraine possesses substantial reserves of rare and rare earth elements, including tungsten, tantalum, niobium, indium, and others. These elements exhibit unique physical and chemical properties that render them essential for industrial applications, including use as alloying additives in steels and alloys, in electronics, magnetic materials, catalysts, and nuclear technologies. Nearly all titanium and iron ore deposits in Ukraine are complex, containing valuable rare-metal impurities such as vanadium, scandium, tantalum, niobium, zirconium, hafnium, thorium, tungsten, tin, gallium, indium, and yttrium. the present study identifies three primary sources of rare earth elements in Ukraine . . . : This research is based in investigations of titanium-bearing minerals within the Ukrainian crystalline shield, as well as the review of over 200 production reports ( GEO&BIO • 2024 • том 26)

"The American Geosciences Institute’s list of critical minerals encompasses “rare earth metals and other metals such as lithium, indium, tellurium, gallium, and platinum group elements.” Their shared importance is that they are crucial in the manufacturing of various advanced technologies, including, notably, clean energy generation assets (solar photovoltaics and wind turbines, especially offshore ones), battery systems (utility scale, household scale, and batteries for electric vehicles), as well as various digital technologies (needed in the energy transition process but also in the broader global information technology and communications sector)." https://www.mei.edu/publications/ukraines-critical-minerals-and-europes-energy-transition-motivation-russian-aggression?

Watching movies on Hallmark

 I was bored with politics and Antiques Roadshow reruns so I found some good movies to watch.  From Wikipedia--Riding the Bus with My Sister is a 2005 television film that aired on CBS as part of the Hallmark Hall of Fame anthology series, based on the 2002 memoir of the same name by Rachel Simon. The film, like the book, is about the time Simon spent with her sister Beth, who has a developmental disability, and whose lifestyle revolves around riding buses in her home city of Reading, Pennsylvania. Andie MacDowell plays Rachel Simon, while Rosie O'Donnell plays Beth. It was directed by Anjelica Huston, with a screenplay by Joyce Eliason.

From Wikipedia--made for TV movie also on the Hallmark Channel: Brush with Fate is an American drama television film debuted on February 2, 2003, on CBS. It followed the life of an imaginary painting by Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer as it passes through the hands of various people. The film was based on Girl In Hyacinth Blue, the 1999 novel by author Susan Vreeland, and starred Glenn Close and Ellen Burstyn. The imaginary painting Girl in Hyacinth Blue, the principal object in this film, is painted exactly in Vermeer's painting technique by the American master painter Jonathan Janson, author and webmaster of the world-known website about the life and work of Johannes Vermeer "Essential Vermeer".

Beautiful settings and costumes.  Interesting stories. Rosie O'Donnell did an outstanding job.

https://https://youtu.be/cYu_G1ekfQg

Learning from podcasts

Not to repeat myself, but I will. I benefit from the All-in podcast. Even the parts I don't understand. It's definitely a peek into the future. As near as I can tell of these four brilliant, successful men (besties), three are immigrants. And yesterday's edition had as guests 2 brothers, Patrick and John Collison, who started Stripe and Arc and are from Ireland. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxP55dZjqZs They look like teenagers, but I think were born in 1988 and 1990. Each are worth over $3 billion.

Somewhere I read a news story about how the besties got together originally, it was some sort of friendship group before it was a podcast, but I can't remember where. One of the interesting discussions on the 21st is corporate structure--given the lay-offs going on right now in government bureaucracy, it's similar in corporate bloat.

https://youtu.be/Oo3tPAjrI1c?si=SylT2I1ryEnrjpRj

Video about the brothers Collison

Two of my favorite podcasts

Two of my go-to podcasts are Megyn Kelly and All-In. Megyn can be a bit of a potty mouth--and that's definitely a negative and I'm not sure why she does it; it doesn't add anything. All-in is all men, and although that can be confusing (I don't watch, only listen) it's 1000x better than trying to listen to a group of women discuss something!

 
All-in is Chamath Palihapitiya, David Friedberg, Jason Calacanis, and David Sacks (created PayPal). Sacks has recently joined Trump as an "unelected" adviser, but I'm not sure what he does, and now there is a guest filling in for him. These guys are venture capitalists, business men, scientists, etc., and talk way over my head, but that's why I listen. They were really divided on Trump, but now at least on policy, are "all-in."

 
Kelly, too, was originally not a fan of Trump or MAGA , and in the first primary back in 2016, she made no bones about it. This time around she's definitely a fan, although it came gradually. Because she is no longer "owned" by a network she can say anything she pleases--and does. She's also a lawyer, a former network host, and a mom of 3, so she has plenty of opinions and expertise to share.

The most recent All-in podcast (weekly, Feb. 14) was Naval Ravikant an Indian-born American entrepreneur and investor. He is the co-founder, chairman and former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AngelList. He has invested early-stage in Uber, FourSquare, Twitter, Postmates, SnapLogic, and Yammer.

 
The most recent Kelly podcast (daily) was her interviewing the guys from All-In about Trump, Musk, their appeal to independents and moderates, media, technology and family issues, parenting, and celebrities. I'm always surprised how much the All-in guys talk about family issues.

It was fun to hear my favorites together although they have a somewhat rocky road in their past.

Beatitudes in Luke 6

 

ESV Luke 6:20-24  And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.  “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.  “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!  Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.  

Lectio Divina, Magnificat, February 2025, p. 247 "Everyone desires to be happy," teaches Saint Thomas Aquinas.  Here, Jesus lays out his program for happiness, as indicated by the recurring word makarios, which is Greek for "blessed" or simply "happy." (Strong's Greek: 3107. μακάριος (makarios) -- Blessed, happy, fortunate)  Yet the picture Jesus paints appears rather grotesque at first glance.  He endorses everything our instincts tell us to avoid at all costs:  poverty, hunger, tears, rejection.  Why? 

Is it because money, wealth, merriment, and esteem are bad in themselves? No: on the contrary, these are good things.  At the same time, there is a danger that we might become so distracted by the gifts that we forget the Giver.  Saint Gregory the Great warns that if the prosperous are not careful, they may "love their pilgrimage more than their homeland and . . . transform the supplies for their journey into an impediment for their arrival." Sufferings borne well, on the other hand, can increase our desire for heaven and help prepare us to receive the joy that is to come.

Saint John Paul II points out that the Beatitudes "are a sort of self-portrait of Christ and for this very reason are invitations to discipleship and to communion of life with Christ." In other words, Jesus practices what he preaches--or better, he preaches what he practices.  . . 

As Christians, we say that we want to follow Jesus and to be like him, but are we ready to embrace the difficult truth that imitating Christ means being acquainted with suffering?

If you are a Christian (or even a non-Christian) who wants to poke the hornet's nest of differences between the Luke version and Matthew's, there are many sermons and writings on that, although not the topic of Lectio Divina for this Sunday, The Beatitudes in Luke and Matthew | Psephizo

Catholic answers suggests two possibilities: Why Are There Eight Beatitudes in Matthew and Only Four in Luke? - Catholic Answers, Inc

St. Augustine provides two possible explanations for these differences. My preference is the second. 

Jesus gave 2 sermons.  My favorite verse is Psalm 37:3, and it essentially says the same thing in 7 words.

"One possibility is that although only one sermon was delivered, its location was described under different aspects by Matthew and St. Luke. For it is possible that the place was a level spot along the slope of the mountain, which at once was part of the mountain and might also be described as a plain in relation to the peak of the same mountain. According to this account, the sermon as related by Matthew included a number of our Lord’s words that Luke omitted and omitted some of the words that Luke included.

A second solution is that Jesus actually gave two sermons that were closely related: for his purpose was to promulgate the New Law, yet not all were prepared to receive that law in its most perfect form. Therefore, since the first promulgation was given only to his close disciples on the mountaintop, it was lengthier and more proportioned to the spiritual-minded; and since the second was given to the multitudes on the plain, it was shorter and more proportioned to the carnal-minded."

This is handy: a recent reading history (actually a skimming history)

My recent reading history--but mostly skimming

Way Out of the Tunnel? Three Hundred Years of Research on the Apocrypha: A Preliminary Approach, - Peter Toth

The Scope of the Old Testament Canon - Christopher Heard

The Question of Canon: Challenging the Status Quo in the New Testament Debate. By Michael J. Kruger. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2013. Pp. 252. Paper, $24.00 - Michael W. Holmes

Book Review: Canon Formation: Tracing the Role of Sub-collections in the Biblical Canon - Clark R Bates

Septuagint, Sages, and Scripture Studies in Honour of Johann Cook Edited by - Markus Witte

The Canons of the New Testament - Leslie Baynes

The Canon and the Testaments - S. A. Wassen

Tradition, Scripture, and Interpretation: A Sourcebook of the Ancient Church  - Drake Williams

Deuterocanonical Books in Latin Tradition, in Houghton, ed., Oxford Handbook of the Latin Bible (2023)

Christian agencies and the USAID

Many small and large Christian organizations that have accepted contracts with USAID are going to be hurting. 

1) They've taken tainted money, 

2) the bulk of their supporters, the $10-$100 donors, will lose their trust, 

3) some good programs will come to a halt as the spigot turns to off. 

This means the organizations will have to do some soul searching and rely only on donors and not on tax dollars. Trust me, this is not just about trans dance festivals in Venezuela or other strange, vulgar events. USAID was set up in the 1960s by JFK to bring USA influence to other cultures, nations and people. It was never an aid organization. It became one if that benefited our own government's vision. This corrupted, ugly mess has now become our "values" and it ain't pretty. Much of it has turned against us using our own tax dollars which for the most part stay right here, particularly in the beltway. For now, some humanitarian relief agencies have waivers to continue until the wheat can be separated from the chaff.

Samaritan’s Purse Dodges Trump’s Foreign Aid Freeze – MinistryWatch

World Vision, a Christian organization I supported for many years, received $491 million from US Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2022. Senator Grassley of Iowa reported on agency in 2020. Many were reporting on the shady, strange agency with more money than God with only a small percentage going for "aid." Why did it take Elon Musk showing us line by line the budget for the pieces to fall together? It was Trump. And now hundreds of news agencies are trying to cover it up, but they too have received the tainted money,

Senator Demands to Know if World Vision Is Funding Terrorism - Christianity Today

Do we need the White House in our faith journey?

"Trump said on Thursday he would create a White House faith office and direct Attorney General Pam Bondi to lead a task force on eradicating what he called anti-Christian bias within the federal government." (Glenn Beck website)

 
I'm not a fan of this idea. There was a fairly prominent faith office in the Bush Administration which as I recall Obama continued, but with much watering down. "President Bush created the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives and Centers for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in eleven Federal agencies to lead a determined attack on need by strengthening and expanding the role of FBCOs in providing social services." (old White House document). In my opinion, this led to many truly service centered ministries accepting government money. I don't know if it was continued.

 
Let the First Amendment handle it--try enforcing it. When government interferes in religion in the name of help or protecting, especially Christianity, bad things happen. I don't mean wars or jail time, but general all around bad feelings. We have over 35,000 Protestant and non-denominational church organizations and most can't agree on the basic points of theology, they don't like each others worship services or social services, and most of them don't like Catholics, and probably haven't heard of all the varieties of Orthodox, or the African and Middle-eastern groups. They all "stand on the Bible," but not which translation of which canon. And the politics! Oh my.

The little people within the grant system

I woke up this morning thinking about the "little people" at the bottom rung of these government (USAID for instance) grants who have no idea what's behind the paycheck or where the program has gone. Government work is considered "secure" even if you are part time and temporary as I always was in the 80s. I think about the agricultural credit grant that paid me for 3 years, everyone above me, and a few below. I still see my publications pop up on the internet. 40 years. Later, I helped with grant writing workshops. We probably brought in coffee and bagels for the class. For years I know I worked on grants or attended meetings supported by grants--and there was always good food at our events.

 
Even when I was hired to work in a program (STEPS) to retool senior citizens who'd lost their jobs in the 1980s, we subcontracted out to building owners who supplied the spaces and the computers, and the food services, and probably the local senior organizations who supplied the clients. We travelled around the state--the money coming in was going out and helping the local economy. I'm not saying we didn't do any good or people didn't benefit, but it was mainly me who benefitted--the skills I learned, the publications that moved me ahead in my career path, the friends I made, the information I learned--I even wrote speeches on labor for a politician to give on the road (she was later killed in a plane crash). Mainly I'm talking about funding that had already had about 60% taken off the top by whatever state or local agency/organization had gotten from the federal agency. You can imagine all the people who are paid along the way. From file clerk to janitor to van driver to the lowly researcher who wrote and assembled the learning materials and arranged for it to happen.

It's difficult to track what became of USAID money--I went into the WayBack (?) archive and read the 2016 annual report. The photos are wonderful--lovely black faces beaming over experimental agricultural plots, or happy children in bright clothing raising their hands in class. You can see the model programs, and many did benefit. The report was so vague about actual costs, my eyes glazed over. Having worked in the system, I knew how to write like that. A few words about DEI goals, but minimal. Not like you would read today where each chapter seems to need a paragraph. USAID was established as an independent agency to infiltrate and influence the local culture, but probably not with drag queen shows and sex change operations. Its purpose is to maintain our interests over Russia and China's. Instead, we're creating chaos in the local culture which benefits our enemies.

And I also thought (at 6 a.m.) what $9 million to the Leftist media during the Biden years could have done for the people in North Carolina. Yesterday it was reported that "Politico received at least $8.2 million from the U.S. government in recent years, with $44,000 of that coming from USAID, according to USAspending.gov." The Department of Energy has given Politico $1.29 million, the Department of Agriculture has given $552,024 and the Department of Commerce has given $485,572.
Sigh. No wonder the Democrats are screaming and rioting. Someone is draining the gravy train.

Interesting Congressional hearing report on USAID reporting for 2011. USAID: Following The Money : Committee on Oversight and Government Reform : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive  from Internet Archive.  Obviously, Congress has known for many years what was going on with wasted tax money funneled through USAID.

I worked on a grant from USAID!

I do recognize the USAID because it helped me build my career and move to the next step, which was from agriculture credit, to OhioNet, to veterinary medicine by working part time with hours that were convenient for my primary job--being a mom--when I was in my 30s. Never thought I'd see protests about it--but then I never imagined it would be sending my tax money to foreign LGBT groups, either.

https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5122676-usaid-shutdown-elon-musk-doge/

USAID Controversy Explained: Why Musk, Trump Is Attacking Foreign Aid Agency

Mike Benz: There Is No "Aid" In USAID, It's Not A Charity | Video | RealClearPolitics

Because I subscribe to Academia.com (on certain Bible canon topics like Ben Sira) I also receive notices about my own publications on agricultural credit. These I did for Dale Adams in the 1980s the professor who had the USAID grant. I think I had written at least 4 or 5 annotated bibliographies, and one has been completely scanned so I can actually read it without getting on my knees and dragging out dusty boxes and collapsing from exhaustion. The publications were assembled on the living room floor in our previous house, on lime green shag carpet, because everything was written on note cards which were then alphabetized and organized on the floor. No computers, no Chatgpt, no reference organizer and I don't recall I even had a fact checker or proof reader.

Bless my Mt. Morris high school typing class, because I also typed all the entries.

Trump's keeping his promises

I'm exhausted. Trump has been in office just shy of 2 weeks and I can't keep track of the wins, of the promises kept and the things we didn't know. And now he's going after ISIS again.

"These killers, who we found hiding in caves, threatened the United States and our Allies. The strikes destroyed the caves they live in, and killed many terrorists without, in any way, harming civilians."

I think he's sending a strong message, and it's very different than Biden's which was "Y'all come."

The confirmation hearings

 I watched some of Kash Patel's Senate questioning this morning and was surprised to hear that at least one Senator, a Democrat of course, still believes that several police were killed in what the Senator still calls an insurrection by Trump supporters, yet he demanded that Patel use the words, "Biden won." No police died during that riot on January 6, 2021. One unarmed woman, Ashli Babbitt, a demonstrator and veteran, was shot by a capitol policeman. Policeman Brian Sicknick died of natural causes after the riot. But Pelosi put on a big funeral for him and held off releasing the name of the man who killed Ashli for months. Thousands of police were injured during the riots of 2020 and untold billions in property damage (including here in Columbus, OH) resulted in mostly blue cities and who knows how many citizens died from "defund police." Democrat Senators probably don't remember.

What's with DeepSeek?

The “Hard Fork” podcast released a bonus episode titled “Your Guide to the DeepSeek Freakout: an Emergency Pod” on Tuesday, January 28, 2025. In this episode, Kevin Roose and Casey Newton discuss the impact of a new AI model from a Chinese firm called DeepSeek. This model has caused significant disruption, including affecting global markets and pushing Nvidia’s stock down while simultaneously rising to the top of the iPhone app store. The hosts explore the implications of this development for the U.S. artificial intelligence industry and consider what it means for the broader AI landscape. (AI generated) 

You'll need to set up an account to hear the podcast,

What do you think of the tech guys kissing the ring?

I don't like seeing the tech giants standing behind Trump at the inauguration, however, I suppose that's better than standing on his neck holding him down as they did for the Biden administration. They are after all, capitalists and that's what they do--go where the money trees grow. They are changing our media system, and what they are doing with their own technology is changing them. Millions now get their news from podcasts. I think conservatives are doing better than liberals, plus they talk about and expose the tech giants (oligarchs as Biden calls them). I have about 20 on my phone. I heard about "Girls Gone Bible" today--gave a prayer or blessing at the inauguration--Arielle Reitsma and Angela Halili. I've never heard of them, but they are number one in Religion and Spirituality podcast on Spotify according to them. Christians are very active on social media, especially podcasts. https://youtu.be/uievEEC88Ek?si=7ft9z2uDjHfP6Y7e

Home Warranty scam alert

We received a post card yesterday from Home Warranty Division County Deed Records. Lots of numbers and looking very official, ID # and pin # except no information on who/what it is from or what it is protecting. So I looked up warranty scams and it seems to fit the model. Looked up the phone number (888) and it is identified as associated with a scam. I'd never come across this one before. Have you?

This notice is from a Texas on-line media site: Live! Daily

"ABILENE, TX — Abilene Better Business Bureau President John Riggins is urging everyone to not be fooled by scammers. A postcard mailed by a fake company called the Home Warranty Division is claiming homeowner’s warranties are expiring.

The company is hoping people will blindly renew a home warranty they don’t have. “Be aware of the fact that just because you get something in the mail that says you owe some money because of a home warranty doesn’t mean that you do,” Riggins said.

“What we’re telling consumers is to be aware of the fact that this isn’t a company you’ve already signed a contract with. This is a solicitation. You’d never know it looking at the mailer.”

According to the Abilene Better Business Bureau’s president, there are things everyone can do to avoid being scammed. “Go look up the company name and see what other people are saying about it,” Riggins said. “Using a tool called the BBB Scam Tracker is also helpful.”

The BBB Scam Tracker tracks scams across the country, and some have even been reported locally. “There are a couple dozen reports in the scam tracker,” Riggins said.

Riggins cautions the Home Warranty Division scam is just one of many scams in circulation. The Abilene BBB president says if you’ve never heard of a company before most likely it’s a scam."

This scam alert is from Iowa--sounds almost word for word as the postcard I received.

FRAUDULENT POSTCARD FROM “COUNTY DEED RECORDS

” CIRCULATES AGAIN IN IOWA [Forest City, Iowa] On Wednesday, February 28, 2024 the Winnebago County Recorder’s Office assisted a resident with questions regarding a confusing postcard they received, which was quickly identified as fraudulent and reported to local law enforcement. The postcard claimed to be from “County Deed Records/ Home Warranty Division” with false information about the recipient’s home warranty replacement notice and advising them to call for uninterrupted protection. The postcard claims, “This is your Warranty Replacement notice advising you to contact our offices so you do not have a lapse in coverage…” They further request immediate action to contact them immediately or be “left vulnerable to expensive repairs and/or product replacement.” The Iowa County Recorders Association in partnership with Iowa Land Records confirmed that this information is not legitimate. Similar letters and postcards have been found across the country. Fortunately, in this case, the resident came into the Winnebago County Recorder’s office with questions before taking any action. If you or someone you know has received a postcard and/or letter claiming to be from the County Deed Records/Home Warranty Division, please DO NOT RESPOND to the request in any way. 

• Do not pay 

• Do not call 

• Do not go to the website 

• Do not return any mail request

The Bishop and the President

 About a year ago I signed up for a database of abstracts/pdf of articles on Ben Sira/Sirach of the deuterocanonical books of the Bible. It's called Academia.com. My own publications are also in there, but usually the only ones I see for which they notify me are on agricultural credit from the 1970s, and not the ones on library topics from the 1990s. And occasionally, the database is really fishing, like "The name "N. Bruce" is mentioned in "Enzyme-Based Electrochemical Biosensors for Microfluidic Platforms to Detect Pharmaceutical Residues in Wastewater" uploaded to Academia. Not only I didn't write it, can't even read it!

But with the Bible search on Ben Sira, if I see something that looks interesting and click on that title, then my own search gets expanded. So today, I receive a notice that "138,701 papers on Academia discuss "History Of The Bible/Biblical Canon." I also noticed a chart that showed the topic of Bible textual studies had soared in the last 5 years. Must have been the Covid effect--lots of grad students sitting at home with nothing to do but read, research and write. The title that arrived in my mailbox was from The Textual History of the Bible, vol.1B and discusses disagreements among Christians about the deuterocanonical books (7 books in the O.T. not in the Protestant canon but in the other canons).

Volume 1B provides detailed entries on the different primary translations (Greek, Aramaic, Syriac, Latin) and uniquely the secondary translations as well (Latin, Coptic, Ethiopic, Syriac, Armenian, Georgian, Christian Palestinian Aramaic, Old Slavonic, and Arabic) most of which were sourced from the Greek. No wonder we have over 35,000 different Protestant denominations--they all say their version of the Bible is right, and thus we get the dust up between the Bishop and the President about her sermon. She has a pulpit, and he has Truth Social.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-blasts-bishop-who-gave-sermon-at-inaugural-prayer-service/ar-AA1xDA7D?

Amazing immigrants

What an amazing rise and list of achievements for Indian Americans. Kamala Harris, daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants; Usha Chilukuri Vance, daughter of Indian immigrants; Kash Patel, son of Indian immigrant parents; Jay Bhattacharya, naturalized citizen born in India, Vivek Ramaswamy, son of Indian immigrants and Sundar Pichai (Google) born in India. And maybe more I don't know about. The USA definitely needs its immigrants. It doesn't need invasions. Trump, son of an immigrant and married to an immigrant, will take care of that.

"Indians in the US, with an average household earning of USD 123,700 and 79 per cent of college graduates, have surpassed the overall American population in terms of wealth and college education, according to a media report which cited the latest census data. The number of people who identify as Asian in the United States nearly tripled in the past three decades, and Asians are now the fastest-growing of the nation's four largest racial and ethnic groups, according to a New York Times analysis of .. "

Read more at:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/migrate/indians-in-us-wealthier-with-average-household-earning-of-123700-report/articleshow/85623601.cms?

What a week! January 20, 2025

What an incredible week. Hostages were released to the arms of their family and country. Donald J. Trump is inaugurated for a 2nd term with hundreds of orders ready to go. Martin Luther King, Jr. is honored with a national holiday. Common sense makes an historic return to our capital.

The hymn I read this morning from Magnificat, January 2025, does not seem to have a title except Church--Worship--Morning (1958 Red Service Book and Hymnal, p 202)

"All praise to thee, who safe has kept
And hast refreshed me while I slept:
Grant, Lord, when I from death shall wake
I may of endless light partake.

Lord, I my vows to thee renew;
Disperse my sins as morning dew;
Guard my first springs of thought and will,
And with thyself my spirit fill." (Verses 3 & 4)

Good thoughts for anyone, but especially those taking on this heavy burden of wars, border invasion, inflation, devastation by fire in California and floods in North Carolina, dysfunctional government bureaucracy, party loyalties, divided families.

Verse 6 of this hymnal version (poem) is the "Doxology," so familiar to many Christians, and sung every Sunday by millions. If you ever need to sing a group hymn and don't know all the words, use this one--everyone knows the final verse. It was written by an Anglican Bishop, Thomas Ken. Bishop Ken had a great singing voice and used it to speak out against corruption in the British monarchy. He even spent some time in the Tower of London for treason. He wrote many volumes of poetry. This hymn is most often sung to the tune of "Old Hundredth" (for Ps. 100).

Weather for Inauguration Day 2025

The weather warnings were accurate. I think it's about 4 degrees in Columbus, and probably worse east of us. I'm glad they moved the festivities inside--you never know how many more Bidenights would need to be pardoned. Now why do you suppose Fauci needed a pardon? Not charged with anything. Finally, some transparency about all those lockdowns and lies.

That's a rhetorical question, of course. We know the Bidenights held Americans hostage for 4 years and they assume Republicans are as evil as they are. After all, Liz Cheney was their example.

Take the tree down day

 Actually, that was yesterday. We decorated it the last week in November when Martti and Riitta were here.  Today was take a box up to the closets day.  It worked out well.  The cleaners have changed to Friday, so they were able to vacuum all the needles.  Even artificial trees make a mess. I've changed the "dressing" on the dining room table, and all the Christmas decor is gone, A friend is cleaning out her home in preparation for a move since her two sisters have moved to the a near-by retirement/nursing home. Her tales have inspired me, so while I was putting away the Christmas boxes, I started taking out some things that need to go to the VOA or the Discovery shop.  If I recall, it was 3 pair of jeans I didn't take the last time I did this, some faded but loved table clothes--one of my mom's and one of mine, and some holey ones left from dad's Marine service days. Also, a lovely smokey blue knitting skein with needles I'd started to work on many years ago while we lived at Lakeside.  I just never got the hang of it no matter how often I tried. Four couch throw pillows made the cut--last time I looked at them I wasn't ready to pitch.  And bunches of artificial flowers and ivy, I think they've been in this house at least 20 year--at least the color theme seems to be late 90s or early 2000s. I can see why decluttering is a good thing--everyone says it's good, but my goodness, saying good-bye is difficult.  I just tossed in the trash about a ream of paper I'll never use.  It's from those fat political screeds printed on one side only.  It makes me think of my Grandmother (Mary) who did all her correspondence on used paper--a habit she kept after the Great Depression.  I also went through a batch of pencils to see how many worked. 

It's been a week since my pacemaker (dual chamber) was implanted and I think I'm taking fewer naps and staying awake in the evening later.  That's good. I'm tracking my blood pressure and it seems to be behaving.

My Saturday Bible class is starting a new session tomorrow, but I plan to skip it.  It's a Blackaby series, and I remember doing it in the 1990s.  Boring. In fact, our whole church also did it while the classes did it also.  Double boring.

Here's my 2017 efforts to declutter: Collecting My Thoughts: Monday Memories--moving the books out