"The Scriptures are sufficient to inform the ignorant, to confute the erroneous, to reform the vicious, and to guide and direct, support and comfort those that are gracious. 

Here a lamb may wade, and an elephant may swim; here is milk for babes, and meat for strong men; here is comfort for the afflicted and succor for the tempted, and ease for the troubled and light for the clouded, and enlargement for the deprived. Oh, how full of light, how full of life, how full of love, how full of sweetness, how full of goodness, how full of righteousness and holiness is every chapter, and every verse in every chapter, yea, and every line in every verse!"   Thomas Brooks. 1600s.    

 Visits with a Magician

"I was invited to see a whispering-gallery of a most curious and uncommon structure. To make the experiment of its powers, a young poet of a very modest appearance, desired to repeat a verse in it. He applied his lips to the wall, and whispered in a low voice, "Rura mihi et virguis placeant in vallibus amnes." The sound ran along the walls for some time in a kind of low whisper; but every minute it grew louder and louder, till at length it was echoed and reechoed from every part of the gallery, and seemed to be pronounced by a multitude of voices at once, in different languages, till the whole dome was filled with the sound. There was a strong smell of incense. The gallery was constructed by Fame.

I saw another who was making a charm for two friends, one of whom was going to the East Indies: they were lamenting that when they were parted at so great a distance from each other they could no longer communicate their thoughts, but must be cut off from each other's society. Presenting them with a talisman inscribed with four-and- twenty black marks, "Take this' she said; "I have breathed a voice upon it: by means of this talisman you shall still converse, and hear one another as distinctly when half the globe is between you, as if you were talking together in the same room." The two friends thanked her for such an invaluable present, and retired. Her name was Abracadabra.  

  

 

 "If you're not reading literature that requires a dictionary, you're wading in the shallows. 

The times demand both significant engagement and escape. 

If one is going to attempt to ascend intellectual heights or engage the ills of the day, one must prepare for the type of atmosphere that can kill a lower regions breather. Its thin air the higher you go and it takes time to move up in one's pursuit of truth, light and meaningful understanding. Scramble too fast or beyond your capacity to process the content and you can get some mind nuttiness. 

To me a personal library should reflect feet rooted in the realities of the moment and wings that leave the ground for perspective. 

I find that I need the seers, the bards and the magicians to maintain an intellectual equilibrium. If I get around people who are only microscope & scalpel for too long, I find myself eviscerated on the deep levels of my soul. 

I find myself desperately in need of the poets the older I get in the intellectual life. Thinking is supposed to be a process of meaningful mastication and the art of poetry helps me digest more properly. 

In order for me to bring out words worth saying, I inhale stories, lines, songs, images, echoes from the past and voices in the present. 

I find that my mind is a tidal like reality, I place myself in the great inflow of waves and waves of content. It's often loud and disorienting as I brace myself to receive. 

But I also need the sand sucking outflow of silence and letting the unattached excess be pulled back into the abyss of my incomprehension. The healthy undertow for me can be many things...movies, tv, games, food, walks, nature, anything that pulls me away from the serious shores." Eric Blauer.

   I joined a new gym, and at 75yrs. old, I try and go five days a week to keep the motor running. One of the employees there, about 22, has been very cordial to me. I return the sentiments and I wanted to engage her with spiritual things so I began by typing out this little quote and giving it to her. I put her name in the place of "Burke." 

"Tell me, Burke, do you not feel a spirit stirring within you that longs to know, to do, and to dare; to hold converse with the great world of thought, and hold before you some high and noble object to which the vigor of your mind and the strength of your arm may be given? Do you not have longings like these, which you may not breathe to anyone, and which you feel must be heeded, or you will pass through life unsatisfied and regretful? I am sure you have them, and they will forever cling round your heart till you obey their mandate. They are the voices of that nature which God has given you, and which, when obeyed, will bless you and your fellow-men" 

I've had success using this quote, and it may be you will choose a different approach, but as long as we do something, something will happen. If we do nothing we can be certain of the results.... 

 Here's my interpretation of 2 Cor. 7:11

Brethren, as we carry the blood stained banner, graced with godly sorrow, let us be in earnest in righting wrongs, fueled by God's holy standards of righteous indignation, fearing the contamination of sin, longing to see people set free. Let us be filled with godly zeal in standing up for the oppressed, downcast and lost!

The NASB says it this way -- "For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong!

  I hesitated to post this picture, having lost family members to suicide, I know how triggering this could be for some. But I think it vividly illustrates the condition of too many Christians today. Christ  weeps over America, a land plagued with addiction, depression, wanton lusts, broken homes, streets lined with homeless and too many churches equipped with padded pews, basketball hoops and paid music leaders, while the lost lie outside the door. 

 The following quote says it in direct and potent terms. 

"The lazy, selfish man shrinks from the sight of Christ on His cross; for it rebukes his laziness and selfishness and he doesn't like suffering; he prefers comfort. 

Christ's Cross says to him -- Thou art ignoble and base, as long as thou art lazy and selfish. Rise up, do something, dare something, suffer something, if need be, for the sake of thy fellow creatures. 

Be of use. Take trouble. Face discomfort, contradiction, loss of worldly advantage, if it must be, for the sake of speaking truth and doing right." Rev. Kingsley.

 

 

 

  As a Christian we try to listen to what others aren't saying in conversation with them; it may serve as a portal to their soul.

  

 "Do not begin life fancying that such a fine young fellow as you are, one so spruce, so handsome, so well dressed, so accomplished in various ways, deserves a high place. Do not flatter yourself that life owes you more than it owes anybody else. It owes you, in common with all others, just as much fruit as, climbing, you can bring down. It owes you a 'chance to be something,' it will give you that and nothing more." Orison Swett Marden. 

 Cody Shugart wrote this about his son and former neighbor.

It’s just a simple story. That will make you smile. And we could all use a smile right now.

Here’s what Cody wrote:

Milton West was my childhood next door neighbor. I knew him as Mr. Chip. He retired from DOW chemical as an operator. He has always been there for me since I was two years old.

Growing up without a father was always difficult for me. But the good lord surrounded me with great men. Mr. Chip was one of them.

He constantly preached the value of an education, taught me how to take care of a yard, he taught me to see people for who they are not what they look like, he taught me how to treat my mother like a saint and many other life lessons. His contributions to me becoming a good son ,man and father were huge. I am forever grateful for God putting him in my life.

So this past May my wife and I had a little boy named Bob Wayne Shugart. When Mr. Chip and his wife Shirley saw him they fell in love with him. They babysit him sometimes and we go and visit when we can. The last time we were over there Mr. Chip said he wants to be called “POP”. He says that’s his grandson.

So we had to come up with a name for his wife. We decided on Lolli!!!! So we tell Bob Wayne we are going to see Lolli Pop!!! I’m grateful that Lolli and Pop will be apart of my sons life.

If he learns half the things from Mr . Chip as I did he will become a great son, man and father. Everyday I read something negative and how race relations are worse than ever. I disagree and I hope this is a positive loving message to many people.

This is just one story in little ol Victoria , Texas. I'm sure there are millions of similar stories across the United States.

—-Cody Shugart

  

Jesus spoke to me through a secular song and humbled me; He used that song to open my heart and that very night I picked up a Bible and began reading about Jesus. The Holy Spirit fell with such force I found Him irresistible, long before I knew what the Holy Spirit was! That experience taught me the truth of the following quote --

"In all churches individuals are better than their denomination, creed, or doctrines, and amidst gross error and indoctrination, which is often of a very narrow spirit, noble virtues spring up, and eminent Christians are formed. God always looks for a seeking spirit, and even in the midst of many errors, His truth will penetrate the heart. "

   

  I avoid Christians that are more about protest than purity; that lament the times and the season, but rather are out making love the reason; that have laid down the placards and ill manners and are carrying the blood stained banners! Folk that'll jump in the fray, till the battles won; or go down swinging after all's spent and done; for faith, friend and stranger duty bound; they don't give up till a solution's found. Charting a course away from sloth and apathies, agitating my heart with the highest sympathies. Folk with visions and goals, be they large or small; that'll work with ambition whether they rise or fall. I just want to be around folk that are doing things! For the good of man, whether paupers or kings. Veins filled with fire for the good and grand, to magnify Christ, in this sin laden land.