Three Missionaries, Two Emoticons, and One Congressman's Letter

[And that letter is ... item twelve here of the thirty-five posts, words, and stuff I liked online and around me this first half of May! It's a merry month. -- David]

1. Since you're not a Christian, you'll have more of a challenge in reaching them, because unfortunately some believe this is part of their faith. It's not, but some will dismiss you as an outsider attempting to influence their religious convictions if you go there. But none of that will stop them from going there.

If it helps, the Bible is very clear that we are to respect and honor other people (see, 1 Peter 2:17). You can also direct them to Romans 12:10 (Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.), Matthew 7:12 (So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.), and many, many more.

Christianity is about accepting and loving people *as they are*. As Jesus did and continues to do (see, John 13:34-35).

Importantly, no one ever became a Christian because someone told them what bad people they are. Rather, people come to Christianity--to the Jewish and Christian God--because of the love and acceptance and forgiveness found in Him. When I talk to other Christians about this issue, I ask them this: "How do these laws show God's love for His creations? How does criminalizing and ostracizing a group of people--whom the Bible says God formed in the womb exactly as they are--help those people see a kind and loving God? What part of those laws reflects any of Jesus' actions, statements, or commands to us?"

Again, these arguments won't work for you in the same way, because you're not "in the club," but they are things you can ask your students to critically consider. And you're welcome to say the verses and questions come from a Christian friend of yours. (smile emoticon) Hope it helps.

Good luck.




2. How wonderful are the thoughts you have of me...


3.

(•_•)
<). .)/ Fergalicious
/ \
(•_•)...
\(. .(> Definition
/ \

(•_•) Make them boys
<). .)> boys go loco
/ \






4. Well then, an accurate first shot! lol (smile emoticon)

Almost freaked me out to be honest, cause my kiddo turns 11 on the 4th and I momentarily questioned the time space continuum.

[And this regarding the admission that HAN SHOT FIRST was posted on the 3rd!]

5. You and I live imprisoned by our sins. We, too, are freed through the power of the risen Christ. We are free indeed!

[Nancy Kettering Frye, 050416, Christ In Our Home]

6. I've been doing this since childhood. I was an odd one - for my fifth birthday party, I wanted a strawberry cake because it was shaped like a horse and I "wanted it to look like blood when you cut into it." My parents were slightly disturbed by my love of realism.

7. Lol. All the stories about people whining because Trump is gong to be nominated - the majority is VOTING for him.

But, if it helps, some of us stood back watching in disbelief that you voted for Obama twice.

But seriously, what does it say about you if you'd rather have a felon, or the guy who's never had a job?

8. You are paying for the finished product...not your own idea of what the finished product should be. She isn't crazy she just thinks she has found a way to gain financial security by disapproving of a finished product...most people ask for a refund and then cease to shop with the company. If customers knew their choice of a darker paint color netted 20% less painting medium (so the tint will fit) they would try to sue for that false advert as well.

9. Bae: baby Do you speak Italian?
Me: of course I do.
Bae: ok talk to me in Italian please!!!
Me: francesco totti ancelotti del piero Maldini di natale.
Bae: awww what does that mean?
Me: you will always be in my heart.
Bae: awwww you too.
Me: balotelli
Bae: what's that?
Me: I love you

10. [HAN SHOT FIRST!]

There are two outcomes to this news:

1) Star Wars fans have know this for decades, but appreciate the news.

2) George Lucas is screaming in anger at his computer screen.

[A poster shared this from the Star Wars Obsession page.]

11. I've got cosplayers playing some of my characters now, which is really helping -- seeing what other people get out of my descriptions. I'm really enjoying that, along with bits of fan art from here and there. Really hoping to start expanding the cosplay circle too.

[ Not of my characters ... YET ;) ]

12. AN OPEN LETTER TO MAJORITY AMERICA

TO: Those who think both leading presidential candidates are dishonest and have little chance of leading America forward:

(…or, stated more simply)

TO: The majority of America:

Note: If you are one of those rare souls who genuinely believe Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are honorable people – if they are the role models you want for your kids – then this letter is not for you. Instead, this letter is for the majority of Americans who wonder why the nation that put a man on the moon can’t find a healthy leader who can take us forward together.

I want to tell you about four unsolicited conversations from the Fremont Wal-Mart this morning:

**Retired union Democrat meat-packer:

“What the heck is wrong with that city where you work? Why can’t they give us a normal person? Is it really so hard?”

Me: “Actually, it is for them – because most people in DC buy the nonsense that DC is the center of the world. You and I, despite our party differences, both agree that Fremont is the center.”

Union Democrat (interrupting): “…Because this is where my grandkids are.”

**Young evangelical mom:

“I want to cry. I disagree with Hillary Clinton on almost every single thing – but I will vote for her before Trump. I could never tell my kids later that I voted for that man.”

**Middle-aged Republican male (more political than the other folks):

“It feels like the train-car to hell is accelerating. Why is DC more filled with weirdos and yet more powerful at the same time? How do we slow this down long enough to have a conversation about actually fixing our country?”

**Trump supporter (again, unsolicited):

“Please understand: I’m going to vote for him, but I don’t like him. And I don’t trust him – I mean, I’m not stupid. But how else can I send a signal to Washington?!”

________

I’ve ignored my phone most of today, but the voicemail is overflowing with party bosses and politicos telling me that “although Trump is terrible,” we “have to” support him, “because the only choice is Trump or Hillary.”

This open letter aims simply to ask “WHY is that the only choice?”

Melissa and I got the kids launched on homework, so I’ve been sitting out by the river, reflecting on the great gap between what folks in my town are talking about, and what folks in the DC bubble are talking about.

I trust the judgment of this farm town way more than I trust DC. And so I’d like to share a dozen-ish observations on these Wal-Mart and other conversations today:

1.

Washington isn’t fooling anyone -- Neither political party works. They bicker like children about tiny things, and yet they can’t even identify the biggest issues we face. They’re like a couple arguing about what color to paint the living room, and meanwhile, their house is on fire. They resort to character attacks as step one because they think voters are too dumb for a real debate. They very often prioritize the agendas of lobbyists (for whom many of them will eventually work) over the urgent needs of Main Street America. I signed up for the Party of Abraham Lincoln -- and I will work to reform and restore the GOP -- but let’s tell the plain truth that right now both parties lack vision.

2.

As a result, normal Americans don’t like either party. If you ask Americans if they identify as Democrat or Republican, almost half of the nation interrupts to say: “Neither.”

3.

Young people despise the two parties even more than the general electorate. And why shouldn’t they? The main thing that unites most Democrats is being anti-Republican; the main thing that unites most Republicans is being anti-Democrat. No one knows what either party is for -- but almost everyone knows neither party has any solutions for our problems. “Unproductive” doesn’t begin to summarize how messed up this is.

4.

Our problems are huge right now, but one of the most obvious is that we’ve not passed along the meaning of America to the next generation. If we don’t get them to re-engage -- thinking about how we defend a free society in the face of global jihadis, or how we balance our budgets after baby boomers have dishonestly over-promised for decades, or how we protect First Amendment values in the face of the safe-space movement – then all will indeed have been lost. One of the bright spots with the rising generation, though, is that they really would like to rethink the often knee-jerk partisanship of their parents and grandparents. We should encourage this rethinking.

5.

These two national political parties are enough of a mess that I believe they will come apart. It might not happen fully in 2016 – and I’ll continue fighting to revive the GOP with ideas -- but when people’s needs aren’t being met, they ultimately find other solutions.

6.

In the history of polling, we’ve basically never had a candidate viewed negatively by half of the electorate. This year, we have two. In fact, we now have the two most unpopular candidates ever – Hillary by a little, and Trump by miles (including now 3 out of 4 women – who vote more and influence more votes than men). There are dumpster fires in my town more popular than these two “leaders.”

7.

With Clinton and Trump, the fix is in. Heads, they win; tails, you lose. Why are we confined to these two terrible options? This is America. If both choices stink, we reject them and go bigger. That’s what we do.

8.

Remember: our Founders didn’t want entrenched political parties. So why should we accept this terrible choice?

9.

So...let’s have a thought experiment for a few weeks: Why shouldn’t America draft an honest leader who will focus on 70% solutions for the next four years? You know...an adult?

(Two notes for reporters:

**Such a leader should be able to campaign 24/7 for the next six months. Therefore he/she likely can’t be an engaged parent with little kids.

**Although I’m one of the most conservative members of the Senate, I'm not interested in an ideological purity test, because even a genuine consensus candidate would almost certainly be more conservative than either of the two dishonest liberals now leading the two national parties.)

10.

Imagine if we had a candidate:

...who hadn’t spent his/her life in politics either buying politicians or being bought

…who didn’t want to stitch together a coalition based on anger but wanted to take a whole nation forward

…who pledged to serve for only one term, as a care-taker problem-solver for this messy moment

…who knew that Washington isn’t competent to micromanage the lives of free people, but instead wanted to SERVE by focusing on 3 or 4 big national problems,

such as:

A. A national security strategy for the age of cyber and jihad;

B. Honest budgeting/entitlement reform so that we stop stealing from future generations;

C. Empowering states and local governments to improve K-12 education, and letting Washington figure out how to update federal programs to adjust to now needing lifelong learners in an age where folks are obviously not going to work at a single job for a lifetime anymore; and

D. Retiring career politicians by ending all the incumbency protections, special rules, and revolving door opportunities for folks who should be public “servants,” not masters.

This really shouldn’t be that hard.

The oath I took is to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. In brief, that means I’m for limited government.

And there is no reason to believe that either of these two national frontrunners believe in limiting anything about DC’s power.

I believe that most Americans can still be for limited government again -- if they were given a winsome candidate who wanted Washington to focus on a small number of really important, urgent things -- in a way that tried to bring people together instead of driving us apart.

I think there is room – an appetite – for such a candidate.

What am I missing?

More importantly, what are the people at the Fremont Wal-Mart missing?

Because I don’t think they are wrong. They deserve better. They deserve a Congress that tackles the biggest policy problems facing the nation. And they deserve a president who knows that his or her job is not to “reign,” but to serve as commander-in-chief and to “faithfully execute” the laws – not to claim imperial powers to rewrite them with his pen and phone.

The sun is mostly set on the Platte River -- and the kids need baths. So g’night.

Ben

[Ben Sasse, R-NE, posted 050516, c. 2309 hrs]

13. When you think about it the story of Star Wars is basically just Emperor Palpatine's constant failure to find himself a decent apprentice.

14. Cool concept, but the likelyhood of the people of 2115 caring, being interested in our filmmaking/storytelling, having the format to play DVD or whatever, existing at all is pretty slim.

[The poster wrote this one regarding 2115: The Film You Will Never See starring John Malkovich which was presented -- but not seen -- at the Cannes Film Festival.]

15. my latest pastime... i've been watching old episodes of the mary tyler moore show.... and after each episode i guess if the guest stars are dead or alive and then look them up on imdb.... have to say i'm pretty good at this game.... i'm probably sitting somewhere around 80% correct.

16. DAVID: You'll have to deal with death the way other people do!

EMMA: How do other people deal with death?

DAVID: They grieve.

["Last Rites", Once Upon A Time]

17. Today in our construction viewing area we are featuring the grader... A large machine used to make surfaces flat, not to be mistaken for a professor with a red pen.

[A local business owner posted this because you can see the street ripped up from its window!]

18. Naruto, burritos, and working on our wedding script for our ceremony. Finally did weighted ab workouts. Let's see how much I hurt tomorrow

[Posted by a friend getting married later this year!]

19. In the Victorian era, ANY light fiction was supposed to be harmful, especially to young women. In the 20C, romances were said to encourage promiscuity. SF comics were viewed as 'un-American'. And now it's fantasy.

If you think about it, the people who were against those genres had good reason to be worried within their own paradigm! Romance novels DID provide a sexual outlet (and possibly an education, although recalling my own teenage reading, not a very accurate one!) for women who weren't supposed to have or express those kind of feelings. SF DID let people speculate about what was wrong with our society, and how a different kind of world could exist, in ways they couldn't have voiced otherwise in their culture. And fantasy - well, as Tolkien once said, nobody's more opposed to escape than a jailer. Fantasy hinges on magic, which is about having the power to make things happen by non-ordinary means. Ordinary power is in the hands of adults in our culture (and only relatively few adults have much of it) - of course worlds in which young, poor or otherwise disadvantaged people can win through by magic are attractive, and not just to kids.

While I'm not sure from his website if it's the case with this particular headmaster, the objectors to fantasy are often coming from a religious place: the magic in fantasy is power that's not within their accepted hierarchy of 'good', and there's only one other thing it can be. If 'rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft' (and vice versa), fantasy is inherently subversive. Long may it continue.

20. I usually catch most people's spelling errors as they're speaking.

21. Well I am with my wife and I have a sword made of diamond! Looking good so far!!!


[This poster, in response to the last person he texted and the last weapon he used in a video game.]

 

22. Can I just say that some people in this group seem to spend a bit to much time worrying if your accidentally being racist or sexist and not enough time writing? This group seems to be comprised of morally literate, left leaning, intelligent individuals. You guys will most likely pick up on that stuff before anyone else does. Worse case an editor or beta reader finds something suspect and points out the problem. Oh and that reader/editor maybe be temporarily mildly offended.

NOW LETS GET WRITING!

23. More personal talk here.

A lot of you have probably seen some of the posts I've made recently about my boyfriend. I got dumped last night. Completely out of nowhere. The reason? "I deserve better." Stupidest excuse ever given, but I'm so upset and my heart is aching. This came after two years, plans of marriage, me literally moving to a different part of the country for him, and I have never been so vulnerable or shared so much with one person before, who has now ripped my heart out.

I need virtual hugs right now.

24. same thing I always do with all of this power- quietly dismantle the establishment

25. To clarify - I do not own these books and am not selling books. This post is to share the books that were on sale 30 years ago. We share and discuss all the good books here.

26. fascinating how you weave your daughter's allergies into a comic euphoria that leaves your trivial knowledge exposed to all who read your blog.

yes a good hurt

[This was a friend and fellow reader's response to my May 11 blog post "Rom A Bad Hair Day", the "good hurt" is from this poster's laughter!]

27. I had a terrible accident yesterday, but I am doing better now. I decided yesterday to go horseback riding which I haven't done in years. Well, I got on the horse and started out slow, and then we went a little faster and then we were going as fast as the horse could go. All of a sudden, I fell off and caught my foot in the stirrup and the horse was dragging me around in a circle. If it was not for the quick thinking of the man I owe my life to, I probably would not have made it out alive .... Thank goodness for the store manager at Walmart who came out and unplugged the machine.

28. I have this in my gear bag. It can recharge cell phones, and jump start a car. It isn't any bigger than a make-up case. This also has the Good Housekeeping seal of approval.

[It's called a Halo Bolt. I loved this poster's description!]




29. Now the right wing needs to decalare a war on asparagus ;)



[I texted this to myself -- the last sentence I remembered from a dream I'd had that morning -- when I woke up!]



me, 051316, 0644 hrs

30. The first of many goodbye appointments to the 'ol uterus! Even if it is the first 3D printer! Lol

[It took a minute for me to make sense of this ... ]

31. Grace is but glory begun, and glory is but grace perfected.



(Jonathan Edwards)

32. GRITO

(se o cheiro for de lavanda...)

Scream
(if the smell of lavender...)



[I love the translation!]




33. trophic -- of or relating to nutrition



[Definition of the day on Dictionary.com, 051316]



34. Did A Time Traveler Go To 1995 To Film A Random Mike Tyson Fight?



[title of an Uproxx article, Bill DiFilippo, 051416]



35. And I thought DC was the author of confusion ...


[My own thoughts yesterday about five pages into Secret Wars: The Official Guide to the Marvel Multiverse, but I'm working on it.]