Cluster of wheat image Grapes and vines image Cluster of wheat image
February 28th, 2010

OLD FOLKS, COLD FOLKS

Long ago, when someone wrote The Night Before Christmas, they understood that for seniors going to bed with a head covering in the winter can be a  good idea. “And Ma in her kerchief and I in my cap, had just settled down for a long winter’s nap.” I’ve asked around. Brother Ernie actually wears a cap at night which is understandable since he doesn’t have a full complement of hair anymore.    I, with plenty of hair, often cover my head for a while when I go to bed on a cold night with the blanket until the rest of me has warmed up. Then I come out because I like to breathe fresh air.

My internist, who is more than ten years younger than me, turns up the heat in his office, saying he is always cold. If he’s cold, how about his patients who sit on the table half-naked while he is completely clothed with a white doctor coat over all? Poor baby! I ask him if he wears socks to bed like I do. No, but he wears long johns under his pajama bottoms! I like him because he tends to tell it like it is.

For some years now I’ve gone to bed during the winter with socks on, having read that you sleep better if you have warm feet. After a while, once the feet were warm, off came the socks because they annoyed me. Now I’ve moved to a new phase in which my feet are happy to keep the socks on all night. Brother Bob wears slippers (!) to bed. To each his own.

Old, cold folks abound. They want to wear sweaters in the nursing homes despite the fact that they are usually  kept warmer than most homes just because old folks are always cold. I read in the Professional Guide to Signs & Symptoms: Usually developing gradually, this increased sensitivity to cold temperatures reflects damage to the body’s temperature-regulating mechanism, based on interactions between the hypothalamus and the thyroid gland. Typically, the symptom results from a tumor or a hormonal deficiency. In elderly patients, cold intolerance reflects normal age-related physiologic changes.

One of my very best Christmas gifts this year was a set of Sonoma long johns, apparently no longer available a Kohl’s. Made of a nylon/cotton blend I absolutely love them – they are like a second skin. They wash like a dream and I’ve worn them almost constantly since Christmas. Both indoors and outdoors they are a blessing. I note at Amazon there are similar Cuddl Duds long johns in black or white, on sale for 19.95.

Omigosh, look what I’ve done. I wanted to share the wonderfulness of these undies and I seem to have done it. It’s not the easiest thing in the world and the little picture seems to come and go without apparent reason. Lord, help me.

February 27th, 2010

MORMONS IN THE CROSSHAIRS

Long ago, when I was 18, a friend at work asked me to go to a Mormon meeting with her. The meetings were held in a house near her home and she was curious. We went, and continued to attend those meetings for over a year. Why? We were welcomed, it was all new to us, the meetings were followed by family games which we enjoyed, we made new friends, refreshments did not include caffeine or liquor, and no one hit on us — right away. (Mormon missionaries were supposed to only  date Mormons.) All in all, it was innocent pleasure and even educational.

In all truth, I should add that the first man ever to hold my hand was a Mormon named Glen, whom I really, really liked. At that very point his employer transferred him to Oak Ridge TN (leaving me in Connecticut) and he eventually married a Mormon.

I have always held Mormons in high esteem for their devotion to family life, clean living, tithing, and the way they provided for those in need. During those meetings they asked me to give a talk about why I was still a Catholic. The gist of my talk was that Catholics had produced the Bible, which I likened to the golden egg. Mormonism, to me, was just another sect that had run off with the golden egg — and ignored the goose that laid it!

Today Mormonism is receiving unusual attention in that Mitt Romney and Glenn Beck both profess to be Latter Day Saints.  Romney’s Mormonism is described as his “biggest political hurdle.”  Romney, in reply, says, “Most people in South Carolina want a person of faith as their leader” … “But they don’t care what brand of faith that is … I believe Jesus Christ is my savior. I believe in God. I’m a person of faith and I believe that’s the type of person Americans want.”

Then there’s Glenn Beck, known as a Mormon, who has recently rocketed into political prominence. In this clip Beck says he became a Mormon because his Mormon girlfriend wouldn’t have married him otherwise, but that he later embraced that religion. Mark Dice calls Beck evil and manipulative, sold out to the establishment.


In my humble opinion the following video is the most devastating thing that has ever been aimed at the Latter Day Saints. Toward the end Simon Southerton, Ph.D., a former LDS bishop and plant molecular biologist, considers the DNA evidence that Joseph Smith was a “false prophet” and that the Indians in North America could not possibly have had a Hebrew origin (as stated in the Book of Mormon) but rather originated from Northeast Asia or Siberia. He describes his difficulty in having to abandon Mormonism in the face the scientific DNA evidence which he was fully equipped to understand, not to mention the archeological and linguistic evidence.

Sometime soon Romney and Beck will have to respond to the DNA data. How staunch is their faith? How reasonable is their faith? What will be the outcome? Stay tuned.

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But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that person be condemned! — Galatians 1:8

February 23rd, 2010

LET US HOPE (AND PRAY)

THE REAL SARAH PALIN

by Skip Coryell

02/23/2010

I got a letter in the mail last week. It was from Sarah Palin. I wasn’t expecting it. After all, I don’t even know her. But, nonetheless, there it was, lying in my mailbox, a letter from Wasilla, Alaska, the office of Sarah Palin. I’ve gotten mail from lots of famous politicians in my time: George W. Bush, John McCain, George H.W. Bush, and even from Ronald Reagan himself. But all of them had two things in common: 1) They had no idea who I was, and, 2) They were asking me for money.

So I opened this letter expecting a plea for much-needed funds to advance the TEA Party agenda or to help stop the Obama socialist juggernaut from sweeping across the land like a swarm of locusts, consuming everything moral and good in its path. But Sarah from Wasilla surprised me. It was a personal letter. It said:

“Dear Skip, Thank you so much for the copies of your books and for your generosity. Todd and I were happy to receive your encouraging message and we appreciate your thoughtfulness for taking the time to write. God bless you. Thank you again and all the best to you and your family.

Sincerely, Sarah Palin”

The signature was in blue ink and very impressive. I could tell she was an “A” student in school. My wife is like that too.

But there it was, a personal letter from the most popular/notorious woman in America. It was short, but still, it was personal.

As you know, I’m the Founder of the Second Amendment March, and I had written Sarah asking her to speak at our event on April 19th, 2010 in Washington D.C. The letter was hand-delivered to her house by our Alaska State Coordinator along with signed copies of all my books. (That’s right. I was sucking up to her. I figured it couldn’t hurt.)

I’m a die-hard conservative, and when I think of Sarah Palin, I shiver with both excitement and dread. You see, I read Sarah’s book Going Rogue and was very impressed. Here was a real person, a real American, with real God-fearing American values and she was in politics to boot. It excites me because I want to believe she is the real thing. It terrifies me because few people ever go to DC without being corrupted. And America just can’t afford to have another hero go bad.

I think about Sarah Palin and I wonder. Who is she? Who is the real Sarah Palin? Is she the airheaded ditz depicted by Tina Fey and the rest of the mainstream media, or is she real? I want to think the latter. I want to think she’s the strong mother who holds Trig in her arms and kisses his forehead. I want to think she reads bedtime stories to her daughter, Willow. I like to think she’s still madly in love with Todd and her marriage is healthy and strong. The hopeful part of me wants to think all those things.

But…She’s a politician… isn’t she?

I’ve always subscribed to that old adage:
Question: “How do you know when a politician is lying?
Answer: “His lips are moving.”
But is Sarah different?

Every two weeks I meet with my Second Amendment March State Coordinators via teleconference and we plan and talk about the April 19th event. A few weeks ago we were talking about the possibility of Sarah speaking at our march and I asked Len Betts, our Alaska Coordinator, if he’d seen her. The conversation went something like this:

Skip: “Len, have you seen Sarah Palin lately?”
Len: “Sure, saw her at the grocery store just yesterday.”
Skip: “What! You’re kidding me! Sarah Palin buys her own groceries!”
Len: “Of course. Sarah hasn’t changed. She’s still just like the rest of us. She’s not all snooty and she still talks to people just like she always did.”

I breathed an inward sigh of relief and that conversation brought me hope. But for how long? Everyone knows that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
But still…there’s that hopeful part of me that wants to believe that Sarah Palin is different. I want to believe she’s smart. I want to believe she loves her family. I want to believe that she is real. And, most importantly, I want to believe that once the people put their trust in her that she won’t change. I want to believe she’s a servant.

A few weeks ago I watched and listened as Glenn Beck interviewed her. Glenn shared the same healthy skepticism and hope that I did. I think a lot of people are like that. We want to believe, but we’ve been burned so many times before. Power does something to people. It either makes them better, or it makes them worse.

But I’m not responsible for what the rest of the country believes. I just have to figure this out for myself. What does Skip Coryell believe?

I believe that Sarah Palin is real. But the million-dollar question is: can she stay that way? For now, I’m filled with faith and hope. But then, I also believe in duty and honor and the strong serving the weak. I believe in Camelot.

Sarah from Wasilla — don’t let me down.

Editors Note: Please visit secondamendmentmarch.com to get information for the national march and your local march. The national march is April 19th

*****SPECIAL*****

Special treat for all who read this far: The gum-chewing beauty that was Sarah Palin in 1995!!

 

February 22nd, 2010

DELAYED GRATIFICATION: SO HARD!

We can all relate to this adorable video! The choice between enjoying now, or enjoying MORE later is something we’ve all grappled with — it can be a truly wrenching battle between “I will” and “I won’t.”

Viewing The Marshmallow Test could be a learning experience for any little kiddie — and will awaken memories  for the rest of us.

This, in essence, is the Lenten challenge.

 

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For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. –Romans 7:18, 19

February 21st, 2010

A PAEAN FOR PIPA

It’s time I made a public profession:    I delight in Kelly Ripa. When I came across this little clip of Impromptu Kelly Ripa I thought it was half a minute which epitomizes her unscripted spontaneity and pure joie de vivre — not to mention amazing eye-hand coordination!    It captured her fun-loving spirit so perfectly that I felt impelled to post a paean of praise for Pipa Ripa.

For the past eight years or so I’ve seen more of Kelly each day than I see of any of my children.  She seems to be an ordinary young woman with a trueness, a freeness, and a lovingness that delights me — and many others.  Of course, she is also beautiful and talented.   You get the feeling that on Regis and Kelly Live she is in her element, that she was born to be where she is now.   As she says, she only works an hour a day (though she does have other irons in the fire) which allows time for  motherly things  like baking cookies and PTA meetings.   And also provides money for a house in the Hamptons, vacations in Hawaii, and expensive niceties I can only imagine.   Somehow she still seems to have her feet on the ground.

Regis is now 78 years old and as a senior myself I have been happy to  see how he came back from his open heart surgery and then his hip replacement a couple of  months ago.  He has obviously been serious about physical therapy and exercising as he did not hesitate to get down on the floor and do push-ups when Valerie Bertinelli was demonstrating how she “lost it” and “found it.” (Her  book last year was  called Losing It and the new one  this year is Finding It — about how she lost weight and got her life back.)

Kelly shows  a tenderness and protectiveness toward Regis that is almost mother-like, as she covers for his senior lapses.    When he had trouble with name-finding, she said, “Tell me his job description and I’ll tell you his name.”   She is helpful without seeming condescending or smarter,  a very fine line to walk!

I am also delighted with the relationships on the show – between Ripa and Regis,  between Regis and Gelman – that have borne the test of time because they are rooted in genuine caring.    Today is the fourth  day of my Lenten fasting from television, and I have to admit I’m having serious Regis and Kelly withdrawal!

All is wonderful on Regis and Kelly Live — for now.  Know Kelly Ripa, that there is an 86-year-old grandma out in Connecticut  who has delighted in you five hours a week for a number of  years – who bears you in her heart — who prays for your family —  who thanks you for daring to be you —  for being a real mother and wife — who wishes you well  — and prays for you light for the path  and  strength for the journey.   By some miracle of grace may you stay grounded.

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From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. — Luke 12:48

February 18th, 2010

BARRY’S BIZARRE BACKGROUND

This little video, calling itself Barack  Obama’s Dossier, is making the rounds via e-mail and raises many questions about our president’s strange documentation or, rather, the  lack thereof. If his current Social Security number is truly one issued in Connecticut to someone born in 1890, you have to wonder: What the hell is going on?

John C. Drew, former committed Marxist, talks about his friendship with Obama during his years at Occidental College. He tells about Obama’s relationship with a “wealthy patron,” Hassan Chandu, while he was at Occidental. Drew at the time thought that Chandu and Obama were both gay and both wealthy. He has an interesting take on why no one remembers Obama from his days at Columbia.

And just to further muddy the waters, here is a link to a  two-hour “documentary”  produced by Alex Jones titled The Obama Deception. If only half of what he says is true, it would be disturbing.

Please, won’t someone point me to the good guys!   Who are they and where are they hiding?

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Folks should not hurt other people and should not steal their stuff. — Tom Palmer, Cato Institute

February 17th, 2010

DOMINICAN SISTERS ON OPRAH

Oprah says she prays and meditates every morning. Yet for Oprah as well as for most of her viewers a recent look into the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, was an eye-opener. This teaching order of sisters in Ann Arbor MI was founded in 1997 with four sisters by Sister Mary Samuel Handwerker and has grown to 98 sisters with an average age of 26. Sister Mary Samuel admitted she hadn’t seen the Oprah show before producers asked if they might visit the order. “We don’t watch television, unless it’s something special,” she said. “We accepted this invitation in the hope that the sisters would have an opportunity to educate the world on religious life.”

According to their website, “Our community was founded in the Dominican tradition, as a response to Pope John Paul II’s call for new religious foundations to embody the graces of the New Evangelization of the third millennium Church.”

Oprah’s film crew, headed by Lisa Ling, spent two days at the convent and Lisa was allowed to spend the night in one of their cells. They also flew Sister Mary Samuel and three other sisters to their Chicago studio to be interviewed by Oprah. When Lisa arrived at the monastery at 5:30 PM instead of finding the sisters at prayer she was surprised to find them playing cards and Scrabble! She soon learned, however, that their meals are eaten in silence and after 10 PM there is “absolutely no talking and everyone should be in her cell” according to Sister Joseph Andrew.

The entire Oprah program is available on YouTube in four segments:

Most of the many comments following this Oprah show were positive and this one is typical: “You allowed for the joy and simplicity of these remarkable women to shine through without any mockery or bias. Thank you sincerely for a beautiful piece on some amazing women.” I have to agree. In my opinion the faces of these women were the best possible advertisement for a life turned to God. It will be interesting to find out what the “oprah effect” has been on the convent after all this publicity
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These past couple of days I have re-read the Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux – The Story of a Soul. The contrast between then and now is striking but the purpose is the same.    St. Therese, the Little Flower, the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, and Christians everywhere, especially at Lent, turn away from the world in varying degrees in order to know God better and serve him more wholeheartedly.

Today is Ash Wednesday. As I do each year, I will turn off the television for six weeks. This is a very small sacrifice as I will miss nothing of importance with my computer still up and online. I will miss only the repeated showings and endless rehashings of every news bit, and, most of all, the constant noise. I actually look forward to it. If we quiet the incoming traffic, let the fields lie fallow for awhile, who knows what seed may be planted that will sprout, grow, and bear fruit in the sunshine of God.

If you saw the program, what was your impression?

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Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. — Isaiah 45:22

February 12th, 2010

TEBOWS FRONT AND CENTER

It’s hard to believe that the pro-aborts got all bent out of shape at the prospect of this ad with the mother of quarterback and Heisman trophy winner, Tim Tebow, being shown during the Super Bowl.   We all know a real pro-life ad would never had been allowed during the commercials. This is so gently pro-life you barely know it, and even the pro-abortion crowd are now wondering why they made all the fuss they did.

Tim Tebow is not bashful about his Christianity and just last summer made the news when he was asked if he was saving himself for marriage and he said he was. (See my August post.)

Bob and Pam  Tebow tell the story of their family  life in the mission field in the Philippines and how they prayed through their  pregnancy with Tim.

 

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And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. — Romans 8:28

February 6th, 2010

HANDS UP! TOO GRAPHIC?

After trying to conceive for years,  Alex and Julie Armas of Villa Rica, Georgia, learned that their unborn child at 21 weeks  had hydrocephalus and spina bifida.  Both were Christians and abortion was not an option for them.  This was the baby God had chosen for them and they opted for reparative surgery on the baby in the womb.  Such surgery at such an early fetal age was new and free-lance photographer, Michael Clancy,  was chosen by USA Today to photograph the surgery as a way to increase awareness of the procedure.

According to Clancy, during the procedure the baby’s hand reached out of the surgical opening in the uterus and the resulting amazing photograph of the juxtaposition of baby’s hand and surgeon’s  hand went viral around the world.   See photos and story here.

“Immediately after surgery,” Alex recalls, “the hydrocephalus stopped progressing and started to slowly decrease.” By the time Samuel was born, 15 weeks later, his brain malformation had reversed and the hydrocephalus had mostly disappeared.  Samuel is now four years old, walking with braces, and cognitively normal.

What a difference between the hand in the above story and the hand in the video below!  The following pro-life video was produced by Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life.

The video has been banned in Canada as being too graphic.  It brings home a reality that we all need to understand – the unborn child is a human being! Do you think it should be broadcast on TV?



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King Solomon said, “Bring me a sword!” So they brought a sword before the King. The King said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to one and half to the other”

The first woman  turned to the King, because her compassion was aroused for her son, and said: “Please my Lord, give her the living child and do not kill it!”

But the other woman  said: “Neither mine nor yours shall he be. Cut!”

The King spoke up and said: “Give the first woman  the living child, and do not kill it, for she is his mother!”

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