Dwell on these things

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist or a prophet to see that many things are thrown at us each day through the internet, television, our friends, or jobs, school and much more. We are being lambasted from every direction with words, ideas and actions that seem to be designed to conform us to an image that our basic common sense tells us is not good for us.

I was raised in a family that functioned somewhat like a spiritual seive to strain out the things that were not good for us. Certain words like the f--- word, words using God's name in vain, and words with sexual innuendo were not part of the conversations in our family meetings. 

 

Atheists Believe in Miracles

December 26, 2023

 

Most atheists are quick to point out that miracles are impossible. Let’s define “miracle” as anything that violates the known natural  laws of science. This would mean that the miracles reported in the Bible such as the virgin birth, healing of a diseases, raising the dead, walking on water, etc. are simply proof that the Bible is bogus. Miracles, so they say, are impossible because they violate natural law recognized by science.

I would point out, on the other hand, that atheists believe in several miracles and they are hesitant to admit this to the honest observer because it reveals the absurdity of their position.  So, here are some miracles that atheists believe.

The universe created itself out of nothing.

For many years atheists leaned on the claims of science about the beginning of the universe with all of its stars, galaxies, and other astronomical wonders. Science came to believe what they call the “Big Bang” occurred causing all matter, energy, space and time to be formed causing the universe to exist and continue to expand. Before the Big Bang, to follow this reasoning, nothing existed anywhere. There was no matter of any kind, no energy or even any space or time. There was simply nothing.

So atheists, who reject the existence of God, believe that out of this nothingness, without the aid of anything outside of the realm of accepted science, a massive explosion took place causing the creation of an ever expanding universe full of all of the elements of the periodic table and the billions upon billions of stars, planets, solar systems, moons and galaxies and all of the other amazing components of our universe. When asked “What came before the Big Bang?” scientists just shrug and say the answer to that is outside of the realm of science so science has no answer.

That, my friends, is a miracle beyond all miracles. This massive, ever expanding universe came into existence by a mysterious Big Bang that not even science can explain. Nothing existed. Not even space itself or time. Then incredibly it all just happened without any outside interference that science can identify. That’s a miracle!

The creation of life  

To top it all off, atheists believe the same thing about life itself. All living things are built from the basic elements carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, phosphorus, oxygen and sulfur. Of course this brings us back to our original conundrum--how did these elements come to exist out of the nothingness of a spaceless, timeless, purposeless emptiness where there is no God?

But even if the Big Bang did occur, which would be a miracle, all of these elements would have to align perfectly for life to have a start. British mathematician, astronomer, Sir Fred Hoyle concluded that the odds of life arising spontaneously were impossible:

     “The likelihood of the formation of life from inanimate matter is one to a number with 40,000 naughts after it ... It is big enough to bury Darwin and the whole theory of evolution. There was no primeval soup, neither on this planet nor any other, and if the beginnings of life were not random, they must therefore have been the product of purposeful intelligence.”

So there you have it--another miracle believed by atheists.

The creation of DNA and information

DNA is truly amazing. It is found in every cell of every organism and is shaped like a spiraling staircase. Each rung in the staircase is like a letter in our alphabet and taken together spell out words with meanings. There are about three billion letters in our DNA, containing an immense amount of information about building the heart, lungs, brain and other organs and even how to produce a baby from the fertilized egg.

The sequence of these “letters” is like a language as different combinations of them specify which amino acid is to be placed in which place along the long chain. This information determines every characteristic the body will need to grow and prosper.

How did this information come into being? Information is knowledge that can be transmitted and used to build organic machines. Knowledge must come from some kind of mind. The presence of a mind would be necessary because information is the product of rational thought.

But atheists believe this all happened by some process that science can’t explain over billions of years. For every effect there must be a cause. This cause would have to have be extremely intelligent to be able to create such intelligence for thousands of organic entities. How could mind and morality develop from inorganic material such as matter? In other words atheists clearly believe in another miracle.

The origin of diversity of life

Atheists have a problem explaining the origin of the amazing diversity in all living things. The development of one form of life is miracle enough but each time a new form developed a new miracle is realized. The genomes of modern  biological life show amazing diversity that could not possibly have been created by means of mutations in the supposed original microbe that evolutionists claim. The evolutionary development of one such microbe through mutations is miracle enough not to mention the continuation of that process through the millions of different forms of life. Atheists end up believing in an incomprehensible series of such miracles.

Conclusion

The conclusion I reach is that atheists are willing to shrug their shoulders at the question “What was here before the Big Bang?” but can’t seem to imagine that the something that came before the creation of the universe must have been a being powerful and intelligent enough to create such a massive phenomenon. They claim the question is outside the realm of science so they can plead

 

Thanksgiving

 November 23, 2023

Up until the last few years Thanksgiving was seen as a day of hope and gratitude for God’s many blessings. Families came together and looked past racial, religious and cultural differences and celebrated our diversity as an immigrant nation. Our motto e pluribus unum, “out of many one,” expressed our pride as a nation of diverging ethnic groups from throughout the world.

Tragically, in recent years a segment of our populace has chosen to accentuate our differences for political benefit. It seems that there are those in our society who are opposed to our history as a nation and have done their best attempting to rewrite it in their racist image. The result is an avalanche of articles, books, speeches, university classes etc. that seek to downplay our national pride in our unity in the midst of diversity. For some reason they want to accentuate our differences and reinvent our history to make it look like a nation birthed in and built on racism.

The 1619 project, a journalism endeavor by writers of the New York Times essentially revises American history based on the notion that the United States had its real beginning with the arrival of slaves and that most developments in the country were motivated by a racist foundation that has permeated our history as a nation and persists to this day. An educational curriculum was developed and spread to schools from primary to university classes. The recent tearing down of historical monuments and statues was fueled by this growing hatred of our founders and the notion that our country was founded on the people seeking the fulfillment of the promise of freedom and equality of all citizens.

These revisers of history have attempted this with our national holiday Thanksgiving. The internet and other sources are flooded with articles that use click bait and innuendo without due journalistic diligence to build their false premise that we are a racist nation. They claim that we took advantage of the early Indians and continued to take advantage of anyone not having a white, European background. This propaganda has affected many of our young people who have not been taught how to evaluate and balance information.

The purpose of this article is not to thoroughly debunk that idea, which is easy for truth seekers to do, but to simply remind my readers that it is a devastating lie that can easily be exposed with a simple, open minded study of history. Rather, I want to remind our readers that the source of thanksgiving is God.

We are the only country that has set aside a day to give thanks to God. President Abraham Lincoln was moved by the recommendation of Sarah Hale, the author of the children’s poem, Mary had a Little Lamb, to announce an official Thanksgiving holiday. She felt it would help to heal the wounds of the Civil War. This sentiment was first expressed by George Washington who, following the American Revolution, called for a national day of public prayer and thanksgiving. And so in 1863 Thanksgiving was born. Today we celebrate with our founders and the people who went before us a day of thanksgiving to our God who has prospered us.

We declare that we are thankful for a nation that that began its journey with the words, “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness.” Let us continue this journey by appealing to our Creator for continued blessing and giving genuine thanksgiving to Him.

 

 

From Grandpa with love

Like all of us, I am getting older. I have decided to use the remaining time the Lord gives me to share on occasion some crucial things with my loved ones which you probably aren't hearing in everyday media. Let your hearts sense truth and your mind prove all things. Then, let's talk about it. God bless you all. 

Dealing with the passage of time

 

Well, I haven't written in a while because my computer was down and the website maker was out of commission as well. But I’m back in the saddle again and writing up a storm. I want to write on a subject that everyone avoids because it is like the gorilla in the room that no one wants to look at.

I‘m going to write about getting older. You young people probably never even think about it because you actually want to get older so you can do all the cool things that you think adults do. I always wished that my mother had talked with me about the challenges of growing older but her generation just didn’t talk about such personal things and my father died when I was thirteen, so he didn’t share much either.

The big fact that we ignore is this: we will all get older if we are blessed to live into old age. You might as well get used to it, you will grow older and your body will begin to slow down and get weaker as the years go by. I used to be able to jump high enough to slam a basketball through the hoop but now I look up at that rim and wonder how I did it.

So, here’s what I have to share with you: Realize that time waits for no person. It will move at its pace and you will have to adjust. That means you have only one day at a time to truly live. Live today, not in the past with all of its problems and failures and not in the future which is not yet yours to claim. Live out each day as if it is the only one you get.

That means listening to what Jesus had to say about time. He said, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matt 6:34).

Take it from someone who has lived it--what Jesus said is not easy to do without His help. I think he said impossible things like this so we would learn to lean on Him for help. He created us to need Him.  

He also said something else on this subject: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt 11:29, 30). You don’t have to be a horse to understand yoking. Horses are jointed together with a yoke so that the leader horse can set the pace. Jesus is the leader and He will set the pace only if you let Him.

So, you young people I encourage you to learn this early in life, so you don’t waste valuable time trying to do it all on your own. Jesus said He’s here to help if we will simply yoke up with Him and walk along with Him at His pace. In that way we will use each day wisely and not get bogged down by the past or the future. He’ll take care of it all if we walk with Him.

 

 

Cool is Highly Overrated

September 9, 2023

 For some reason we humans are captivated by the notion that the world rotates around us. We place ourselves at the center of the universe and interpret everything based on how it affects us. As a young person years ago and as a teacher and parent more recently I discovered a name for this social malady. I call it “cool.”

The phenomenon of cool has been with us for many years. The term to describe it has changed through the years. When I was in high school the word was “cool” but it changed as young people sought to come up with their own popular term. Cool was replaced with such words as rad, gnarly, sick, fab, chill, dope, sweet, boss, hip, groovy and many more.

In my sixth period class at Atascadero High School we decided to invent our own word and spread it around school to see if it would catch on. The class came up with the word “poppin” and began to use the word. Sure enough it became a popular replacement for cool for a while and I still hear it to this day.

The weirdest one I remember was the word “bad.” A student came up to me one day and was describing something that he thought was “cool” and said “It was really bad.” I asked, “What was bad about it?” and he said “No Mr. G bad means good, you know like the word cool.” So now the word bad meant good, its exact opposite. It was then that I realized this was going too far.

I came up with the saying that “Cool is highly overrated.” Cool is that social malady I spoke of earlier that basically refers to that person who is popular and has it all together socially. It is usually connected to good looks, and an over aggressive ego.

So, when I would tell this story I made the point that cool is overrated in the sense that its user is judging you by external things such as good looks or that elusive notion of popularity. We tend to judge people by outward characteristics that will become increasingly less important as we grow older. If we mature in the right way we will eventually judge people by how they are in their hearts and how they express that in humility and kindness toward others. Some people never get there. Most do.

Often, the popular, cool people of our high school years lose their sparkle as they begin to lose their hair and their skin grows wrinkled with time. Gradually we begin to see people’s heart rather than their outward appearance.

So my encouragement to young people is to learn this lesson early in life. Learn to look past the overrated notion of cool and see people for who they are in their hearts.

Do that for yourselves as well. Don’t judge yourself based on how you think others see you but gain the ability to see yourself through the eyes of God. The Bible says that “God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart" (1 Sam 16:7). You may be beautiful or handsome and popular with people but God sees right into your heart and knows who you really are.

Cool is highly overrated. Live by a higher standard and you will be blessed. 

 

With Love,

Grandpa

The First Cause

August 27, 2023

 

From the time I  was very young I have always pondered two things: how far out the universe goes and how far in the past time goes. I would usually find a secluded place to sit on a rock somewhere and try to imagine how far out the universe reaches. Then when I had decided on an ending to it I would ask “What’s beyond the end?” I would do the same with time. How far in the past does time go, I would question, and what comes before time began?

Of course my mind was boggled by the exercise and I never received an answer that satisfied me. Later I read something that King Solomon wrote in the Bible:

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end (Eccl 3:11).

Solomon, a very wise man, knew that there was a sense of eternity in our hearts. That sense urged me toward my pondering questions. He also realized that even with a sense of eternity inside of us none of us can “fathom what God has done from the beginning end.” In othe words, we sense the reality of eternity but God has not given us the ability to understand the beginning to the end. All that we can know for sure is that we can observe eternity from afar without fathoming it.

Lately I have pondered the concept of the first cause. Our natural world has certain indisputable laws and one of them is called cause and effect. This law tells us that there cannot be an effect without a cause. The next conclusion, when thinking of the immensity of universe and time, is that there must be a first cause. Some cause must have begun all of the effects we observe in nature. If we conclude that there is no ultimate cause then it follows that the universe is eternal and that breaks the law of cause and effect because the universe would have no cause.

So, the next question that people ask is “Then who created God?” If God is the first cause He must be a being above and beyond the effects of time and space. In fact He would be the creator of both and that makes Him beyond time and space--an eternal being.

I know that’s hard for many  people to accept but we are not left with any better answer than that the First Cause is a supernatural being who had no cause. Maybe the prophet Isaiah had it right:

Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing (Isa 40:26).

 

With Love,

Grandpa

 

My new book

 

I have written a new book that was picked up by a publisher and is now available on Amazon and elsewhere.  My whole adult life I have been concerned with how the church has allowed itself to become so complicated and worldly that we have forgotten who we are in Christ. It is entitled The Coming Divine Reset of the Body of Christ.

The theme of the book is taken from 2 Corinthians 11:3 where Paul says, "I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ." The church was never meant to be a religious, ritualistic, rules oriented, complicated hodgepodge of religious activity. The church is the family of God and was always meant to function as a family. The early church met together in one another's homes and had meals together and shared their lives with one another and encouraging one another in their new life with Christ. 

Luke says

They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. . .breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved" (Acts 2:42, 46, 47). 

It was family life--Thanksgiving every time they met. There were no church buildings, clergymen, programs, Sunday School, religious liturgy or anything else we connect with church today. They were enjoying their new life in Christ with one another and having meals together. It was informal. They wore their everyday clothes and didn't put on a show but simply acted like the spiritual family that they were in Christ (1 Tim 3:15). The church remained this way for centuries until men with agendas got their hands on it.

This is what my book is about--returning to the simplicity and purity in our devotion to Christ while abandoning all of the added baggage that has turned people off to a life with Christ. Christ came not to give us a religion but to provide abundant life in Him. I hope you are able to get a copy of the book and read it and let me know your thoughts. I need the input of you young people.

Written with love,

Grandpa  

 

What is the Origin of the Universe?

July 13, 2023

If you do a search of the internet on the subject “The Origin of the Universe” you will get an amazing array of theories as to how the universe got its start. The big bang is the most common theory which postulates that a primeval atom under infinite density and temperature exploded, releasing an ever expanding universe. There are other theories such as the collapse of a black hole spewed debris that created the universe. These, of course are only theories because it would appear that the answer of a Creator God is not an option for today’s scientists.

So, I thought I would answer the question using science itself. What is the origin of the universe? The originator of the universe would have to be some powerful force that could accomplish the following things.

This force would have to create something out of nothing. Now there’s a big assignment. Nothing is hard to imagine and something coming forth from nothing would take this amazing power. It would need to be able to create matter, with atoms and molecules out of nothing. Atoms are little worlds all to themselves with a nucleus and protons and electrons. They are like tiny molecular solar systems. The nucleus of one tiny atom is the same proportion to the atom as a marble would be to a football field. The nucleus is at the center of this little world taking up only a few meters of space. Trillions upon trillions of these little atom solar systems would have to be created out of nothing and each atom would have to function with the neutrons and electrons taking their places and moving in precise coordination.

This great power would have to create trillions + of stars out of this matter to fill this expanse of the universe. Scientist believe our tiny galaxy, the Milky Way, is composed of several hundred billion stars. Each star is a burning mass of matter. The biggest star we know of is a hypergiant one with a radius 1,700 times larger than our sun. The volume of about 5 billion suns could fit inside a star of that size. That’s a lot of matter with those tiny solar system-like atoms. The power to create billions of such stars is truly unimaginable.

The James Webb telescope has now identified at least 5000 galaxies each with billions of stars. Can you imagine how great this power is that created all of the stars and galaxies out of nothing? That is amazing!! That’s a lot of matter made up of atoms created out of nothing!

In the midst of this amazing conglomeration of accidental matter in the universe, this great power would have to now create one single planet in the universe perfectly suited for life. This planet would have to be the exact size, shape and location in our solar system to allow life to begin and flourish.

First, water would have to be available to provide the hydrogen, and oxygen in a state suitable for living things. Then this great power would have to provide some form of energy. The sun light from our sun would have to provide that energy but it would have to be placed at exactly the right distance from earth so this planet would be just the right temperature to provide nutrients made by photosynthesis which would be a food source for many other organisms.

Many other facts would have to be present. Our sun’s radiation output would have to be just right so we are not burned to a crisp, and the magnetic field would have to protect us from storms of charged particles from the sun. On and on it goes as we see how amazing this power is that created the universe and situated earth in such perfect position for life.

But this great creative power would have to create life in the first place. Life demands elements like carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and phosphorus. Just taking one of these essential components of life — carbon and we see how amazing this great creative power would have to be. Carbon has an incredible ability to bond with many other elements making it crucial to almost all forms of life. The amount of protons, neutrons and electrons determines its expression as carbon 12, carbon 13 or carbon 14. Imagine just one of these molecules created with this amazing molecular structure and your mind is overwhelmed trying to imagine a power capable of creating trillions of these which could result in life itself.

All of that seems impossible but add to that the miraculous creation of Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and you will be about to explode considering the impossibility of the creation of such a phenomenon. DNA is the way life continues itself. Each cell of every living thing contains DNA which actually contains information that enables an organism to reproduce itself. Information is actually stored in the DNA determining the shape, size, sex, color of eyes and hair and every other organic characteristic of a living organism. Where did this information come from and how in the universe did it get implanted in every cell of every living thing on earth? That is a power to be reckoned with.

So, what is the origin of the universe? The answer is the entity or power source that could have accomplished the above amazing feats. Scientists will keep trying but they will not be able to answer this question in the realm of science. The truth exists in the realm of the divine which is only accessed by faith which scientists refuse to recognize. The answer, of course, is God. Eternity is in the heart of the scientists as well. They, and many others, simply reject it because it denies the teachings of their god — science.

The writer of Hebrews put it this way: “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible” (Heb 11:3).

King Solomon wrote, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end” (Eccl 3:11; ESV). Notice that Solomon is speaking about us, the human race and he explains that we have a sense of eternity in our hearts but God has made it so that we humans “cannot find out, what God has done.”

Sometimes life’s answers come when we give up on a material answer and turn to someone higher than the things we see. God is waiting.

 

 

If I were the devil, by Paul Harvey

July 4, 2023

Paul Harvey was a radio announcer the year Mary and I were married in 1965. These words from his program tell us a lot about the troubles we face as a nation. Paul Harvey predicted these things in 1965. I thought this would be something to read and ponder as we celebrate the birthday of our country. Here are the words of his program that day:

“If I were the devil … If I were the Prince of Darkness, I’d want to engulf the whole world in darkness. And I’d have a third of its real estate, and four-fifths of its population, but I wouldn’t be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree — Thee. So I’d set about however necessary to take over the United States. I’d subvert the churches first — I’d begin with a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve: ‘Do as you please.

To the young, I would whisper that ‘The Bible is a myth.’ I would convince them that man created God instead of the other way around. I would confide that what’s bad is good, and what’s good is ‘square.’ And the old, I would teach to pray, after me, ‘Our Father, which art in Washington…

And then I’d get organized. I’d educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting, so that anything else would appear dull and uninteresting. I’d threaten TV with dirtier movies and vice versa. I’d pedal narcotics to whom I could. I’d sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction. I’d tranquilize the rest with pills.

If I were the devil I’d soon have families at war with themselves, churches at war with themselves, and nations at war with themselves; until each in its turn was consumed. And with promises of higher ratings I’d have mesmerizing media fanning the flames. If I were the devil I would encourage schools to refine young intellects, but neglect to discipline emotions — just let those run wild, until before you knew it, you’d have to have drug sniffing dogs and metal detectors at every schoolhouse door.

Within a decade I’d have prisons overflowing, I’d have judges promoting pornography — soon I could evict God from the courthouse, then from the schoolhouse, and then from the houses of Congress. And in His own churches I would substitute psychology for religion, and deify science. I would lure priests and pastors into misusing boys and girls, and church money. If I were the devil I’d make the symbols of Easter an egg and the symbol of Christmas a bottle.

If I were the devil I’d take from those who have, and give to those who want until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious.

And what do you bet I could get whole states to promote gambling as the way to get rich? I would caution against extremes and hard work in Patriotism, in moral conduct. I would convince the young that marriage is old-fashioned, that swinging is more fun, that what you see on the TV is the way to be. And thus, I could undress you in public, and I could lure you into bed with diseases for which there is no cure. In other words, if I were the devil I’d just keep right on doing what he’s doing.”

Paul Harvey, good day.

 

People who don't believe in God or His enemy the devil, no doubt will have trouble with this message but I think it is clear that we are under spiritual attack from a nefarious force.

With Love,

Grandpa

Love Never Ends

June 29, 2023

There is a verse in the Bible that gives us special hope. The apostle Paul says, “Love never ends” (1 Cor 13:8). It is exciting to this old grandpa to realize that there are some things of this life that never end. Sometimes we think that when we die we lose everything and must start all over. We continue living in spirit and take love and everything that came from love with us.

I remember the time when Emma realized that we would not be going back to the house in the mountains on Black Mountain Rd. Emma cried when we told her we had sold the place and would not be going back. As we were talking I remembered the verse I quoted above: “Love  never ends.” So I explained that this means that anything in our earthly lives that was the result of love would never end and never be forgotten. Those memories of hers, and the rest of us as well, are stored in the heart of God and will return to us in eternity. God is love and nothing of love is lost in Him (1 John 14:6).

We all have special memories from our spring get-togethers when the grass was green, the flowers were in bloom, the pond was full and the creek was flowing with life. We don’t lose any of this. In our old age we have begun to lose some memory of things but God never forgets and this God, who is love and has an eternal memory, will bring back to us those special memories that bless us so.

Ironically, the things in our memories that were negative will be erased from our past because they did not originate in love. The Bible says “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Ps 103:12). A transgression is when we stepped out of God’s pathway for our lives and did something stupid. These things may bug us but God removes them from our lives as far as the east is from the west and that is a long, long ways. All that is left in the end is God’s love and those things that come from it.

So live your lives with love as your highest motive, realizing that true love must flow from the God who is love itself. That means that love is not a feeling or emotion that can come or go but is the divine implanting of God Himself into our hearts that can never be erased.

May God’s love inspire you. We hope to see you soon.

With Love,

Grandpa

 

 

The Wall of Fame and the Wall of Shame

June 14, 2023

 

Some years when I was a high school teacher I had a bulletin board divided into two sections: the wall of fame and the wall of shame. It was meant to show my classes what is really important in their lives. Most young people that age imagine that the important thing in life is to make as much money as possible and buy as many luxurious things as possible.

On the wall of shame, I had the pictures and life summaries of some people who believed that lie. Here are some of the people I had on my wall of shame: Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, and Janis Joplin. There are literally hundreds of others but these few make my point.

Elvis Presley was dubbed the King of Rock and Roll and his face was the most recognized face in the world. He could have had anything he wanted and did have most of it.  He is said to have owned over 200 Cadillacs and gave away many more. But Elvis was not a happy man. He died at his Graceland mansion in Memphis at the age of 42 with at least 14 drugs in his system.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame described Jimi Hendrix as “the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music. He died of barbiturate-related asphyxia at the age of 27.

Famous singer Whitney Houston was one the world’s most recognized singers before she died at the age of 48 of cocaine, heart disease and drowning.

Janis Joplin was a wild and bluesy singer of the Woodstock generation known for her raucous approach to folk music. She is said to have liked to say “You got to get it while you can.” I’m not sure she was able to fulfill that saying. She died of a Heroin overdose at age 27.

I could go on with these tragic stories but it hurts to do so. My point is not to denigrate these celebrities but to point out that you can “get it while you can” but still end up taking your life out of grief. Money and possessions do not guarantee happiness. That gift comes from relationships with people you love and give your life to.

On the other hand, I had the wall of fame where I posted the celebrities who learned this important lesson in life. There was, Pat Boone, Tom Selleck, Tim Tebow, Chris Pratt, Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Carrie Underwood and many others. They have had successful marriages and put family and love ahead of their careers and generally see relationships with spouses, children and friends as taking precedence over earning money and hoarding it. These are celebrities so they make a lot of money but they seem to have their priorities in the right place.

So, some people are blessed early enough in life to learn this important lesson—people are more important than things and priority number one is the relationships we are in. Love the ones you’re with and seek to connect with them in relationship and sharing.   

 

 

Love is the answer

June 3, 2023

When I was a teacher I took opportunities to tell stories with a life lesson because I wanted my students to realize that there are lessons more valuable than academic knowledge. One of my stories was titled “Love is the Answer.” I would define love for them as that quality of the human soul that moves you to put others before yourself. To the extent that you make it only about yourself, you will fail the love test.

Sometimes a student would ask “If love is the answer, what is the question, Mr. Gardner.” My answer always stumped them. I would say, “Love is the answer to all the questions that will come up in our lives.”

What will you do for a living?” Look for something that allows love to be fully expressed in what you do. Don’t make it about money or possessions or fame but about how you can bless others.

Who will you marry? Find that special person that you would lay down your life for. Love goes deeper than sex, or money, or fame or feelings. It moves you to offer your greatest gift to someone you love—your life.

Where will you go to college if college is in your future? College is to prepare you for what you will do for a living. Look for training that increases your desire to serve others and help them prosper.

How should I choose my friends? Choose people who also have a heart for others and are learning to put others first in their lives. That’s love.

What should I believe about God and spiritual things? Look for love and how to express it and that attitude will lead you to the One who is love. Maybe love is not a thing but the expression of a Person.

On and on the questions come into their lives. Occasionally I would give them my special look and say quietly say, “Love is the answer” and they would give me that look that says, “I get it Mr. G.”

Love,

Grandpa