Books

World magazine has an article in this week's issue about books for children and young adults that includes favorites lists. Below is my list of some of my favorite books for youth. They are not in any particular order.

--Across Five Aprils
--Where The Red Fern Grows
--A Day No Pigs Would Die
--Boy Scout Fieldbook
--Hatchet and other "Brian" books
--Abraham Lincoln biographies
--Robinson Crusoe
--Swiss Family Robinson
--My Side of the Mountain
--Old Yeller
--Shane
--Cheaper by the Dozen
--Hardy Boys series
--Laura Ingalls Wilder series
--Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective

Most of these books I still enjoy rereading as an adult.

When you reread a classic you do not see more in the book than you did before; you see more in you than was there before. ~Clifton Fadiman

"Tell me what you read and I'll tell you who you are" is true enough, but I'd know you better if you told me what you reread. ~François Mauriac

To read a book for the first time is to make an acquaintance with a new friend; to read it for a second time is to meet an old one. ~Chinese Saying

Thanksgiving

At Thanksgiving I often like to review President Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving proclamation. I will post it to share this weekend.


Proclamation Establishing Thanksgiving Day
October 3, 1863
The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom.
No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.
It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.
A. Lincoln

The Hunt

4:4o AM, opening morning of deer season, the alarm goes off. It's a cool damp morning, but the old farmer gets up, eats some breakfast, dresses in the latest camo and blaze orange styles, and heads for the mountains. Well, the wooded hills of central Illinois. Because of the proximity of another hunter, we could not use one of our normal stands. I was offered the use of a bow hunter's small portable stand, so that's where I headed in the dark, Friday morning. I discovered that this stand is not as large, comfortable, or safe as the ones I usually use. I decided to strap myself in with a safety harness. By the time I got all my gear up the tree and was safe and set to hunt, it was already legal time and a small doe wandered under my tree. I watched it for awhile as it milled around under me( I'm 16 feet in the air) when 2 forkhorns following a doe start drifting in from my right. Then I hear noise from my left, and in moves a doe and a button buck and they walk behind me to check out the first small doe that is still hanging around just behind my tree. I decide that this new doe is large and would make excellent butterfly loin chops, so I start to set myself slowly for a shot. Suddenly, a big 10 point buck( Ronno) shows up from my left following my chosen doe. He moves behind my tree to check things out. The two forkhorns now move behind my tree to check things out. Confused yet? I was! Seven deer all milling around under my tree behind me! I make a command decision - I'm now after the big guy. I have to quietly and slowly stand up, decide which direction to turn, quietly and slowly turn around with this goofy safety harness on, raise my gun to my shoulder, all without spooking any of them! As it turned out, one of the forkhorns came face to face with old 10 point and junior spooked. This caused all of them to spook and start moving away. I finished my turn and sighted in as Ronno was on the move, waving his flag at me. One shot was sufficient. By 7:30 he was field dressed and I was dreaming of marinated venison roasts, brats, barbeque snack sticks, steaks, burger, and yes, butterfly loin chops.
Both sons also harvested deer this weekend.
Meat for the winter.

Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison;
And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat;

politics

Ninety percent of the politcians give the other ten percent a bad reputation.
~Henry Kissinger

Politics is the art of taking money from the rich and votes from the poor, and convincing each that they are being protected from the other. ~( unknown)

A sick society must think much about politics, as a sick man must think much about his digestion. ~C.S. Lewis

Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed, and are right. ~H.L. Mencken, 1956

Truth is not determined by majority vote. ~Doug Gwyn

Every two years the American politics industry fills the airwaves with the most virulent, scurrilous, wall-to-wall character assassination of nearly every political practitioner in the country - and then declares itself puzzled that America has lost trust in its politicians. ~Charles Krauthammer

Some men change their party for the sake of their principles; others their principles for the sake of their party. ~Winston Churchill

Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first. ~Ronald Reagan

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. ~Aesop

Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber. ~Plato

Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason. ~Author Unknown

All of us who are concerned for peace and triumph of reason and justice must be keenly aware how small an influence reason and honest good will exert upon events in the political field. ~Albert Einstein

Politics are not the task of a Christian. ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Beautiful Day

When I left the house at 6:15 this morning to start chores, it was light, but the sun was not yet visible. The sky was painted in pastel hues, the air was crisp and windstill, it was quiet, and there was a glittering layer of frost coating the ground. It was a beautiful start to a new Lord's Day.
The beauty carried into church with the blessings of Christian fellowship, singing hymns of praise, prayer, reading the Word of God, and spirit inspired encouragement and exhortations from the Word.
In warmth, comfort, and peace.
I am thankful.

One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. (Psalms 27:4)

Teachers

You may have seen this before, but a friend just sent it to me and I thought I would share it.

Teacher Applicant
After being interviewed by the school administration, the eager teaching prospect said: "Let me see if I've got this right. You want me to go into that room with all those kids, and fill their every waking moment with a love for learning, and I'm supposed to instill a sense of pride in their ethnicity, modify their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse and even censor their T-shirt messages and dress habits. You want me to wage a war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, check their backpacks for weapons of mass destruction, and raise their self-esteem. You want me to teach them patriotism, good citizenship, sportsmanship, fair play, how to register to vote, how to balance a checkbook, and how to apply for a job. I am to check their heads for lice, maintain a safe environment, recognize signs of anti-social behavior, make sure all students pass the state exams, even those who don't come to school regularly or complete any of their assignments. Plus, I am to make sure that all of the students with handicaps get an equal education regardless of the extent of their mental or physical handicap. I am to communicate regularly with the parents by letter, telephone, newsletter and report card. All of this I am to do with just a piece of chalk, a computer, a few books, a bulletin board, a big smile AND on a starting salary that qualifies my family for food stamps! You want me to do all of this and then you tell me...
I CAN'T PRAY?"

Materialism

Last year we had a foreign exchange student from East Berlin in our Sunday School class. I asked her what she thought the main difference between our culture and the East German culture was. She thought a minute and said that Americans are much more materialistic and consumptive than in her country . We shop a lot and buy whatever we want, whenever we want it. We upgrade whenever we can afford to. When something breaks, instead of fixing it, we throw it away and buy a new one.
Guilty on all charges.
I recently read an article about a young man who decided to do something about materialism in his life. He counted all his possessions and decided to limit himself to only 200 items! That includes all clothing, furniture, books, appliances, electronics, CD's, tools, etc. I admire his effort. I think it's a little too late for me to try something like this, but it should make us stop and think about how much we have as opposed to how much we really need. There are so many people in the world that don't even have their needs met. We should be very thankful for what we have, and very careful with what we want.


I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:
I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.
So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.
And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.
Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun. Ecclesiastes 2:7-11

More Farmer Jokes

A man is driving down a country road, when he spots a farmer standing in the middle of a huge field of grass. He pulls the car over to the side of the road and notices that the farmer is just standing there, doing nothing, looking at nothing.The man gets out of the car, walks all the way out to the farmer and asks him, "Ah excuse me mister, but what are you doing?"The farmer replies, "I'm trying to win a Nobel Prize.""How?" asks the man, puzzled."Well, I heard they give the Nobel Prize . . . to people who are out standing in their field."

A man's car stalled on a country road one morning. When the man got out to fix it, a cow came along and stopped beside him. "Your trouble is probably in the carburetor," said the cow.Startled, the man jumped back and ran down the road until he met a farmer. The amazed man told the farmer his story."Was it a large red cow with a brown spot over the right eye?" asked the farmer. "Yes, yes," the man replied."Oh! I wouldn't listen to Bessie," said the farmer. "She doesn't know a thing about cars."