Quit Your Whining

I want to whine. Today reached the mid-90s - with a heat index over 100. Very hot. Stifling. Wearing shorts, sandals, and a t-shirt is almost unbearable. I normally go outside with a hat, but it is almost too hot to keep it on my head. I seem to almost always be drinking from the faucet - glass after glass. Yet, the sweat seems to pour out as fast as I drink it in.

I want to whine. I hate the heat. I drive my Jeep with the top on because the sun is too cruel to take the top off. I can't ride my scooter because the idea of helmet, gloves, long pants, boots, and jacket discourage me before I can enjoy the idea of the ride. I know I can ride without the gear, but I don't believe the lack of safety gear is worth the risk. So I don't ride. Besides, the wind that hits me provides no comfort - I feel I'm in an air oven. And red lights are excruciating.

I want to whine. But I can't. Why? Because the above two paragraphs hold options: I can stay inside with air conditioning. I can choose to ride the scooter or not. I can reach into the freezer and add ice to my glass of water if I so desire. And there are those who can't.

Across the ocean from me are men and women in full battle gear - boots, helmet, flack jacket, camouflage from head to toe. And they don't have the option to take off their gear - the lack of safety is not worth the risk. They carry water on them - no ice. Warm. All they can drink is on them. They can't step over to the sink like me.

Unlike the air conditioned roof over my head, they have no shade. The shade of a Humvee is nothing in comparison. Outside is dust and bitter wind. Inside is an Easy-Bake Oven on steroids.

And they don't whine.

They do what they do because it is the right thing to do - and they know it. They do it for you, and they do it for me.

So I can't whine. I can only pray. Not for MY comfort, but for THEIRS. Their safety. Their health. And a quick return home.

Join me.

© Emittravel 2012

Stuff My Brain Says #42

Some random stuff my brain says:

So, if you traveled faster than light, would you see yourself traveling?

I really have to quit trimming my beard over dark towels . . . I'm just sayin' . . .

Irony moment: did you ever consider that Simon & Garfunkle's "I Am a Rock" is sung as a duet?

I've come to believe that Neti Pots are not designed for people with mustaches . . .

If "mail" is the word that describes "letters or packages that are sent or delivered by means of the postal system" (thanks dictionary.com), then shouldn't bills be described as "fee-mail"?

Did you ever notice that little dogs think they are big dogs, and big dogs think they are lap dogs? Proof positive that God has a sense of humor!

© Emittravel 2012

Stuff My Brain Says #41

Today the Supreme Court stated that an integral part of ObamaCare is constitutional: forcing people to purchase something is being called a "tax"; which is Constitutional for the government to implement. Even though there is nothing in the Constitution that gives the Federal Government the authority to regulate health care (or banking, the auto industry, or education for that matter), those power-hungry morons in Washington, D.C. will provide us with their mastery of efficiency (think Post Office, DMV, the tax code, etc.) of the health care industry.

A note to all of you idiots who voted for this administration: Remember all of those stories that showed alternate histories of the United States (like the show "Sliders")? Well, welcome to "AmeriKa". You earned it.

© Emittravel 2012

Stuff My Brain Says #40

I think it a pretty sad state of affairs when a person is championed who looks at all things through "race-colored glasses". No matter what the issue, right or wrong, moral or immoral, legal or otherwise, there are some who take the viewpoint that dissension to their opinion HAS to be racist. Take it to heart: if this describes you, you are a very small-minded and cowardly individual.

Of course, that just means I MUST be racist . . .

© Emittravel 2012

Wisdom from the Porcelain Pulpit #1

It's been awhile since I wrote the intro to this format of my blog, so you may want to check out Wisdom from the Porcelain Pulpit before reading on.

It's J.P., with more "Wisdom from the Porcelain Pulpit".

While working my way through the devotional, "My Meditations on Saint Paul" by Rev. James E. Sullivan, M.S. (Confraternity of the Precious Blood, 5300 Fort Hamilton Pkwy., Brooklyn, NY 11219) I found myself "talking" to the book - actually disagreeing with it. Let me set the stage:

This devotional is set up with a reference to a Bible passage, a paraphrased (in the author's own words) telling of that passage, the author's own reflections on the passage, and a prayer. It has been a real pleasure so far. I like the perspective of the author, and he makes me think. This particular devotion covered Acts 9:31-43, the telling of the miracle of Tabitha being raised from the dead. It talks about Peter's acting in response to Jesus' "sacred trust" to feed His sheep by teaching in various towns. In the city of Joppa some of the people come to him begging him to do what he can for a girl named Tabitha who had died. She was a seamstress who made tunics and cloaks, and greatly helped the poor. The passage tells of Peter's praying over her and her rising from the dead.

Here is where I'm stepping in. The author used phrases like, "Peter had just performed a tremendous miracle", "he actually brought a dead person back to life", "didn't notice Peter or his awesome power", "could never do what Peter did, could never cure a wound instantaneously or bring the dead back to life". We have to remember that Peter did not have the power to do ANY miracle. Nor does any minister today. Miracles are strictly of the realm of God only. God will work THROUGH individuals, but the source is strictly His. And with the source, all glory is His as well.

If we do not give the glory back to God for the work HE has done, we take the impact of the miracle away. Miracles have one major purpose: to point people to God. Sure, the immediate impact of the miracle upon a life is important, but without giving glory back to God you take it all for yourself.

I work as an executive assistant, and I believe my job is to do the things my boss shouldn't do, so that he can do what no one else can. Now, if he is doing something and asks me to assist him with it, it would be wrong of me to take the accolades for it when it is completed. They belong to my boss - I was working for him. Same with miracles, or any other "work" we do for the Lord.

Jesus gives us a great example when He heals the ten lepers, and then tells them to go show themselves to the priests (fulfilling the requirements in the Old Testament). Only one stops and comes back to Jesus and gives Him the praise He so rightly deserves (being God). Jesus even asks him, "Where are the other nine?"

If you are willing to be a "tool" in the hands of God, He will use you - in large and small ways. But ALWAYS give Him the glory. He deserves it.

© Emittravel 2012

Stuff My Brain Says #39

I read an article that stated that the American Medical Association (AMA) has recommended that obesity education be funded by a tax on drinks containing sugar. That means that the AMA wants to fund a government program with the money coming from the very thing that the government program is setting out to eliminate. In an ideal world, the program would be effective, people would stop drinking drinks containing sugar, and then the program would go away - no longer needed. In the real world (or at least that of government folk), the program would run ad infinitum.

How can this be? Simple. The money received in taxes is placed in the general operating budget. The program pulls from that budget. When that source of revenue (a.k.a. "tax source") dries up, the program continues to pull from the budget. There is less money, so other means are needed to continue funding it (like tax increases on the "evil rich").

I believe it was Ronald Reagan who said, "No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!"

And now you know how.

© Emittravel 2012

Stuff My Brain Says #38

In my humble but accurate opinion, I think the Environmental Protection Agency should be pushing for a wind farm in Washington D.C. - there is enough hot air blowing around there to completely replace the city's fuel needs - and several states in the vicinity for that matter.

© Emittravel 2012