Saturday, May 18, 2019

Full Blue Moon Tonight




"Blue Moon of Kentucky keep on shining
Shine on the one that's gone and left me blue,
Blue Moon of Kentucky keep on shining
Shine on the one that's gone and left me blue..."



Full Flower Moon
May 2019


According to the Old Farmer's Almanac website, although a Blue Moon
is commonly defined as "the second full Moon to occur within a
single calendar month" this is actually not the traditional meaning
of the term.  Originally a Blue Moon was the third of four full
Moons to occur within one astronomical season.

May's Full Flower Moon fits the above description of a
traditional "Blue Moon".  According to the folks at the Almanac,
this is due to the timing of the full moon in March, which occurred
on the same day as the Spring Equinox, and the upcoming Strawberry Moon
in June which will occur only a few days prior to the Summer Solstice,
which makes May's full moon the third full moon of the Spring season.
By the way, Luna will be big and beautiful tonight as she rises in
the eastern sky, and I hope you will be able to see her.
Unfortunately she will not really be blue in color,
but this certainly will not detract from her pale, silvery brilliance!



Blue Moon of Kentucky
Patsy Cline


"Blue Moon of Kentucky"
(1946)
 Written by 
Bill Monroe
(1911-1996)
American bluegrass legend




On My Mind: The War Behind The Scenes





As the eyes of the world once again turn to the Middle East
and an impending war between Iran, the United States and Israel,
I think it is important to understand what is the real motivating
factor behind this impending conflict, especially when it
comes to the nation of Iran.

I am not sure many people are aware of the fact that Iran's government is
basing their foreign military strategy of world-wide Islamic domination 
and subjugation solely on the beliefs of Shia Islamic eschatology or prophecy.

  Since the regime in Iran, which has been the primary exporter of
 mayhem and murder around the world through acts of terrorism,
no longer has a friend in the White House as they did with Barack Obama,
it seems that the mullahs ruling that nation are more determine
than ever to set the stage for bringing about the long anticipated 
 return of the Islamic messiah known the Mahdi, or the 12th Imam.



Iran Fanning Messianic Hopes?
The 700 Club
(2011)


Meanwhile, Israel has been fighting against Iran since last year, caught
between Iranian-funded Hamas rocket attacks in the southern half of the
country, and the Iranian-backed terrorist group, Hezbollah,  whose members
have been trying to sneak into Israel from the north through
underground tunnels from neighboring Lebanon.


Israel Discovers Underground Tunnels
Launches Major Mission
CBN News
(2018)


President Donald Trump is the first US President in my lifetime who
not only recognized Jerusalem as Israel's eternal capitol, but has promised
the nation and people of Israel that America stands ready to defend them
against the continuing threats coming from Iran.  And although you rarely
hear or see anything in the western media, I am more than certain that
there are many Israelis thanking God that Donald Trump is
America's leader at this time in world history.

By honoring Israel in this way, our president is fulfilling what God Himself
told the patriarch, Abraham in Genesis 12:3,

"And I will bless those who bless you, confer prosperity and happiness
upon you...in you, Israel, will all the families and kindred of the earth
be blessed, and by you they will bless themselves."

God's Words were later confirmed again in the apostle Paul's 
letter to believers in Galatia:

"Know and understand that it is really the people who live by faith
who are the true sons of Abraham.  And the Scripture, foreseeing that
God would justify the righteous, the Gentiles, in consequences of faith,
proclaimed the Gospel, foretelling the glad tidings of the Savior long
beforehand to Abraham in the promise, saying, "In you shall all the
nations be blessed.  So then, those who are people of faith are
blessed and made happy and favored by God, as partners in
fellowship with the believing and trusting Abraham."
Galatians 3:7-9


Jehovah Nissi, the Lord Our Banner, shall defend His people
and heritage Israel, and all those who put their hope and trust in Him!

"Behold, He Who keeps Israel will neither slumber or sleep."
Psalm 121:4



Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives
Jerusalem, Israel




Armed Forces Day 2019: We Are Only Free Because Of The Brave



Afghanistan-Iraq War Memorial
Logan, Ohio



Hark! I hear the tramp of thousands,

And of armed men the hum;

Lo! a nation's hosts have gathered

Round the quick alarming drum,-

Saying, "Come, Freemen come!

Ere your heritage be wasted,"

said the quick alarming drum.



To Make Men Free
(1943)
Norman Rockwell
(1894-1978)
Prolific American artist


"Let me of my heart take counsel:

War is not of life the sum;

Who shall stay and reap the harvest

When the autumn days shall come?

But the drum

Echoed, "Come!

Death shall reap the harvest,"

said the solemn-sounding drum.



Desert Storm War Memorial
Fort Stewart, Georgia


"But when won the coming battle,

What of profit springs therefrom?

What if conquest, subjugation,

Even greater ills become?"

But the drum

Answered, "Come!

You must do the sum to prove it,"

said the Yankee-answering drum.



Korean War Memorial
Washington DC


"What if, 'mid the cannons' thunder,

Whistling shot and bursting bomb,

When my brothers fall around me,

Should my heart grow cold and numb?"

But the drum

Answered, "Come!

Better there in death united than in 

life a recreant-Come!"


Vietnam War Memorial Wall
Washington DC


"No one has greater love than to lay down
their own life for their friends."
John 15:13

To the men and women of the United States Armed Forces,
past and present, who through their sacrifice and service to
this nation have given me my freedom, I dedicate this post.
 May God Bless You All.


"The Reveille"
Bret Harte
(1836-1902)
American poet and writer, best known for
his colorful tales of miners, gamblers, and other
romantic figures in the bold and bawdy days
of the California Gold Rush.




She Was A Phantom Of Delight





She was a phantom of delight

When first she gleamed upon my sight;

A lovely apparition, sent

To be a moment's ornament;

Her eyes as stars of twilight fair;

Like twilight's too her dusky hair;

But all things else about her drawn

From May-time and the cheerful dawn;

A dancing shape, an image gay,

To haunt, to startle and waylay.



Spring Scattering Stars
(1927)
Edwin Blashfield
(1848-1936)
American artist


I saw her upon nearer view,

A Spirit, yet a Woman too!

Her household motions light and free,

And steps of virgin liberty;

A countenance in which did meet

Sweet records, promises as sweet;

A creature not too bright or good

For human nature's daily food;

For transient sorrows, simple wiles,

Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears and smiles.


And now I see with eye serene

The very pulse of the machine;

A being breathing thoughtful breath,

A traveller betwixt life and death;

The reason firm, the temperate will,

Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill:

A perfect Woman, nobly planned,

To warn, to comfort and command;

And yet a Spirit still, and bright

With something of angelic light.


"She Was A Phantom Of Delight"
William Wordsworth
(1770-1850)
English Romantic poet



Tuesday, May 14, 2019

On My Mind: There Is Nothing Equal About The "Equality Act"



"Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways,
for in all these things the nations are defiled which
I am casting out before you. 
And the land is defiled; therefore I visit iniquity
of it upon it, and the land itself vomits out her inhabitants."
Leviticus 18:24-25







The bill known as HR-5, also called, the "Equality Act" is
an unprovoked attack sponsored by Speaker of the House Democrat
Nancy Pelosi and Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer to obliterate
America's Judeo-Christian heritage and to give the government free
license to relentlessly persecute Christians, especially those who believe in 
 the biblical tradition of Holy Matrimony as a sacred union between
one man and one woman in a covenant relationship with God, and who
advocate the traditional family of husband (male), wife (female);
and children, son (male); and daughter (female).

"So God created man in His own image, in the image and
likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them."
Genesis 1:27

According to a report from the Liberty Counsel, Chairman of the
House Judiciary Committee Congressman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) 
confirmed last month that  First Amendment religious liberties
 would be in serious jeopardy with the passage of this bill
 since there is no religious exemption in HR 5.

"Religion is no excuse for discrimination when it comes to
sexual orientation or gender identity," Nadler said.

Members of the LGBTQ community in America would be elevated
to a protected race class, much like the 1964 Civil Rights Act which
 gave equality to black Americans under the law.


"Blessings of Liberty?" 


I find this elevation of a perverse and chosen sexual lifestyle to 
a protected racial class under the law not only abhorrent, but
unfair to those who do not openly flaunt their sexual identity
for personal and political reasons.  And this includes many
gay people who are decent and law-abiding citizens who
not only value their right to privacy, but, tolerate the
religious and personal beliefs of other people without making 
 a federal case out of it.  Nor will they allow themselves
to be the poster children for political exploitation by
 self-centered and deceitful politicians-aspiring-to-be-tyrants, 
 like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and the rest of
the like-minded members of Congress who support this bill.

 I believe that the Democrats support for HR-5 is
  not so much because they are so enamored of those in our society
who seek to identify themselves under the LGBTQ label, but, they are
using the passage of this evil bill as a means to obliterate religious
freedom in America.  And while some religious liberty experts
have speculated that this legislation would ultimately effect
the religious rights of Jews and Muslims too, I am seriously
inclined to think that Pelosi and Schumer are determine to
use the passage of this bill to persecute and to silence
only the true followers of Jesus Christ in this nation.

Their ultimate goal is to purge the influence of  
 Christianity from America forever.  

Although I know in my heart that the Lord will never leave
 or forsake His precious children here,  my brothers and sisters in the Lord,
  we are in for the battle of our lives if this bill should pass into law.

Here are some of the highlights of HR-5, which President Trump
has declared as having many "poison pills" within it.  He has vowed to
veto this legislation if it should pass within the Senate.


The Liberty Counsel's list of some of the "poison pills" included in  HR-5:

Churches would be forced to host same-sex ceremonies.

Churches would lose tax exempt status for noncompliance.

Colleges would lose accreditation for noncompliance.
Non-compliant colleges will be ineligible to receive student loans,
causing most religious schools to compromise their core mission or close.

If churches or religious organizations take overnight trips, including
sports or mission trips, they cannot segregate rooms by biological gender.
Biological men will have access to bathrooms, showers, nursing-mother
rooms at any time, and stay as long as they please.

Churches would be forced to hire staff involved in LGBT conduct,
even positions of authority in affiliated daycare classes and give them
complete access to all children in the restrooms.
Cross-dressers could demand that they be greeters, ushers, Sunday
School teachers, and more.

Even the smallest slight would give someone the legal right to sue the church.
For example, if a person assumed they were turned down to a staff position
because of a LGBT lifestyle, they could sue the church for damages, even
if that was not the reason they were denied the job!

The fact that the Democrats are so determine to pass this bill into
law really does not surprise me.  They have already deemed the
unborn as "non human" and that a fully formed baby can be
murdered in the womb right up until birth and afterward too.
  
They want to sever forever our national heritage in and dependence on Almighty God,
 by turning America into a secular, free-for-all, Sodom and Gomorrah,
where the spirits of perversion and death rule over the land.
We all know what happened to those wicked cities.

Although He is a respecter of no person or nation of people,
I pray that God will continue to hear the prayers of deliverance from
 His children here and that His justice will ultimately prevail over
and expose the stronghold of satanic darkness within our government.

I pray that His grace and mercy will remain on the United States of America.



Monday, May 13, 2019

Remembering America's Sweetheart Doris Day 1922-2019



"Farewell, dear voyageur-the river winds and turns;

The cadence of your song wafts near to me,

And now you know the thing that all men learn:

There is no death-there's immortality."

-Unknown



Doris Day
"Midnight Lace"
(1960)


"I just about fell apart"
-Doris Day

That was Doris' reaction upon hearing what I think of as
her signature song, "Secret Love" for the first time.

In August, 1953 after she did her very first recording 
 of the song for the movie, "Calamity Jane"
 Warner Bros. musical director, Ray Heindorf,
told Doris: "That's it. You're never going to do it better."

My mother often sang this song to me when I was a little girl.
In addition to "On Moonlight Bay" and "By The Light Of The Silvery Moon"
"Secret Love" remains one of my all-time  favorite Doris Day songs. 
 And "Calamity Jane" is one of my favorite movies!



"Once I had a secret love

That lived within the heart of me

All too soon my secret love

Became impatient to be free..."



"Secret Love"
From the movie, "Calamity Jane"
(1953)


Remembering
"America's Sweetheart"
Doris Day
 Born Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff
(April 3 1922-May 13, 2019)


A beautiful lady with a beautiful voice.
May she rest in peace.



"Secret Love"
(1953)
Composed by Sammy Fain
Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster




Sunday, May 12, 2019

Happy Mother's Day 2019






"Her children rise up and call her blessed."
Proverbs 31:28



A Mother And Child By A River With Wild Roses
(1900)
Mildred Anne Butler
(1858-1941)
Irish artist



HER HANDS

My mother's hands are cool and fair,
They can do anything.
Delicate memories hide them there
Like flowers in the spring.

When I was small and could not sleep,
She used to come to me,
And with my cheek upon her hand
How sure my rest would be.

For everything she ever touched
Of beautiful or fine,
Their memories living in her hands
Would warm that sleep of mine.

Her hands remembered how they played
One time in meadow streams,-
And all the flickering song and shade
Of water took my dreams.

Swift through her haunted fingers pass
Memories of garden things;-
I dipped my face in flowers and grass
And sounds of hidden wings.

One time she touched the cloud that kissed
Brown pastures bleak and far;-
I leaned my cheek into a mist
And thought I was a star.

All this was very long ago
And I am grown; but yet
The hand that lured my slumber so
I never can forget.

For still when drowsiness comes on
It seems so soft and cool,
Shaped happily beneath my cheek,
Hollow and beautiful.



"Her Hands"
Anna Hempstead Branch
(1875-1937)
American poetess 
 Called "The Browning of American Poetry"