Remember the greatness of God

"I invite you to remember each day the greatness of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and what They have done for you."

Dale G. Renlund

Consider the goodness of God;

remember His loving embrace

he gave to you e'er you had left

His beaming compassionate face.

Remember how great is the Christ,

unique in His power to save

his brothers and sisters for good

from all the demands of the grave.

Each day as you ready yourself

to struggle and stumble and strive,

recall in a gratified way

how Heaven means for you to thrive!

Photo Essay: Postcards to my President. Volume 22.5.

Photo Essay: Postcards from my Kids. "I'm just sitting here with the hiccups."

In today's installment of postcards Virginia is battling 'hiccups' as she writes to me. Sarah disclaims all knowledge of having a boyfriend, or even a male study buddy -- methinks she protests too much. And Madelaine is in over her head with some gal named Ginger with an internet MLM scheme. Which she offers to let me in on -- on the ground floor!  I distinctly remember politely turning down the so-called opportunity and advising her to extricate herself from it asap. I no longer recall what happened -- maybe I'll find another postcard from Madel with further details. 
Amy's family, at least the distaff side, always had trouble staying away from MLM and ponzi schemes. Amy's mother was a firm believer in Shaklee supplements, and Amy also gave in to the superstition. On our honeymoon in Provo she tried to get me to take nearly a dozen Shaklee pills each day, which I stoutly refused, calling them (in those far off days when we could kid with each other because we were sex-crazed maniacs) 'snake oil bunco.' Her concern for my health was sincere and very touching; she was convinced I would soon expire from malaria or dry beriberi if I did not ingest Shaklee's wonder pills on a daily basis. So, to humor her, I let her mix up half a dozen pills in the blender with milk and a banana for a Shaklee smoothie. I took one gulp and promptly spewed it back up. No more was said about it -- at least until things began to fall apart fourteen years later, when my resistance to Amy's extravagant spending on nutritional supplements and tea tree oil and god knows what else threatened to bankrupt us. I put my foot down, and was thus guilty of child abuse -- endangering the health of our children because of my miserliness.
If I seem a bit overwrought about the whole subject, it's because our son Irvin was a victim of this damnable mindset. He died soon after the divorce, in a diabetic coma, despite Amy's cursed Shaklee pills. 
You never really get over the death of your own young child, not in this life. Only in the next life, when I can clasp him in my arms again, will the rent in my heart, and in Amy's heart, truly be healed for good. 

Photo Essay: Postcards from my Kids. Volume Six. "I'll probably never see you again soon."

Children break our hearts without meaning to. In a postcard addressed simply to "Dad" my son Adam writes "I'll probably never see you again soon." I tried to think of that as a non sequitur, but it's a haunting phrase that brought my carefully constructed and rigidly maintained self image as a dad more sinned against than sinning crashing down around my ears once again.
Sarah writes to tell me they moved to Ray North Dakota. Amy bought a house there with her second husband Rick, which they  apparently still own. Last I heard Rick pays Amy rent for it. I've asked the kids what the house was like, and I get the feeling they are hiding the fact it was a hellhole and garbage dump because they want to spare my feelings. 
To end on a positive note, I'm making chicken teriyaki today for lunch. Enough to serve at least a dozen people. And I happen to like leftover chicken teriyaki, so I'm not worried about whether it all gets eaten today or not. 

The Central Message

"The central message of the Book of Mormon is to restore the true knowledge of the essential role of Jesus Christ in the salvation and exaltation of mankind."

Gerald Causse

Restore your faith in Jesus Christ

and his exalted role

by reading Book of Mormon verse --

it penetrates your soul.

A testimony you will gain,

if you sincere can be

in reading of the Nephite's faith

in ancient history.

The central role of Jesus Christ

is known and loved by throngs

who willingly so testify

with effervescent songs!

Ol' Doc Trump

Headline in today's WaPo:   "Trump comments prompt doctors, and Lysol, to warn against injecting disinfectants"

  

 Ol' Doc Trump is on the case/prescribing with a bland straight face/willow bark and sassafras/stump water and lemon grass/polliwogs in pickled brine/needle tea from spruce or pine/Just a drop of Clorox may/go down smooth with beaujolais/Ev'ry patient can be cured/unless, of course, they're uninsured. 

Tork

Photo Essay: Postcards from my Kids. Volume Five.

I never understood, and was never told, why our oldest daughter Madelaine was sent to Denver to live with Amy's younger sister Julie when Madelaine was still in her teens. Julie had a serious drinking problem and was not active in the Church anymore. She needed a full-time babysitter so she could work, and apparently that's all Amy needed to know. Family always trumped everything else with Amy. Or seemed to. It was all so long ago. I doubt even Madelaine herself really even remembers why she had to get on a bus in Williston ND to go to Denver when she would rather have stayed and finished high school. I'm glad to say that she later got her G.E.D. and is now a very valuable accounting manager for a large medical clinic in Virginia. Like all our kids, she turned out pretty darn good -- despite my neglect and poor example. Bravo, Madel!
In these cards she mentions she has bought an exercise machine from a TV ad -- a pretty dicey venture which apparently turned out okay. And she has set her cap for someone named Carl -- I don't remember ever hearing anything more about him.
I notice one of the postmarks is for Detroit Lakes Minnesota. I worked there as the news director for radio station KRCQ -- which I nicknamed, not affectionately, crock. I was fired for making up news stories. I've detailed that incident elsewhere, so won't repeat it here. Suffice it to say that the station manager didn't care when I  used sound effects, like duck calls and slide whistles, to punctuate my newscasts. 
And, in case you didn't notice, Madel has the smallest handwriting of anyone I've ever known!

To ensure a righteous judgment

"To ensure a righteous judgment, the Savior’s atoning sacrifice will clear away the underbrush of ignorance and the painful thorns of hurt caused by others."

James R. Rasband

The thorny path of life we trod

is mostly given us by God

to bring us back to him fulfilled

with hearts and tears and sighs all stilled.

The Savior's sacrifice divine

will help us with our God align,

until the happy day appears

when all His children lose their fears.

Photo Essay: Zen Stones. Vol. 12 How is a stone like a seed?

How is a stone

like a seed?

It's completely grounded.

What is the fruit

of a stone?

Hard work.

What is a

net of stones?

A waste of a net.

What does a stone

need at midnight?

Not a clock.

Photo Essay: Postcards from my Kids. Volume Four

Sarah asks me to come visit them in Utah for Christmas. Stephen is all wrapped up in high school basketball.

Amy took the kids to live with her sister Kathy, who encouraged her to file for a divorce. Then her sister rented a farm for Amy and the kids to live on -- but took it away from Amy a year later, and they wound up living in a trashy house in the middle of a weedy derelict field. A single mother, jobless, with eight kids. When she told me she was going to change their last name back to Anderson I made her sign a notarized document absolving me from paying any child support before I would sign the divorce papers. Turns out my document had no legal standing.
I find that after all these years I'm still looking for villains to blame for those terrible events and melancholy years of alternating despair and rage. The only person I have a right to villify is me.
Poor Stephen. He wanted a basketball scholarship, but in his senior year he injured his ankle and it was never attended to properly, so he lost his chance at professional basketball. I think he still mourns for that lost opportunity. I often pray that he will find a better substitute -- just as I did when I couldn't do physical comedy anymore because of my arthritis, but was blessed instead to be able to make people laugh with my light verse.