Where Has This Guy Been All My Life?

Where has this guy been all my life? Jonathan Edwards, preacher and writer, realizing he is unable to do anything without God's help, wrote these resolutions. What great copy for commencement speeches or next year's Lenten firsts.  I learned of it in Nothing To Fear by U.S. Senate Chaplain Barry Black

Resolved:  I will do whatever I think will be most to God’s glory. I will do all these things without any consideration of the time they take.  I will do whatever I understand to be my duty and will provide the most good and benefit to mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I encounter, and no matter how many I experience or how severe they may be.

 

If ever – really, whenever – I fail and fall and/or grow weary and dull; whenever I begin to neglect the keeping of any part of these resolutions; I will repent of everything I can remember that I have violated or neglected, …as soon as I come to my senses again.

 

Never to do anything, whether physically or spiritually, except what glorifies God.  In fact, I resolve not only to this commitment, but I resolve not to even grieve and gripe about these things, …if I can avoid it.

 

Never lose one moment of time; but seize the time to use it in the most profitable way I possibly can.

 

To live with all my might, …while I do live.

 

Never to do anything which I would be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life.

 

When I feel pain, to think of the pains of martyrdom – both of Jesus and of believers around the world; and remind myself of the reality of hell.

 

If I find myself taking delight in any gratification of pride or vanity, or on any other such empty virtue, I will immediately discard this gratification.

 

Never to do anything out of revenge.

 

Never to suffer the least emotions of anger about irrational beings.

 

Never to speak evil of anyone, except if it is necessary for some real good.

 

I will live in such a way, as I will wish I had done when I come to die.

 

To maintain the wisest and healthiest practices in my eating and drinking.

 

To endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness in the world to come as I possibly can.  To accomplish this I will use all the strength, power, vigor, and vehemence – even violence – I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of.

 

Frequently take some deliberate action – something out of the ordinary – and do it for the glory of God.

 

To study the scriptures so steadily, and so constantly, and so frequently, that it becomes evident – even obvious – to myself that my knowledge of them has grown.

 

To strive to my utmost every week to be brought to a higher spiritual place, and to a greater experience of grace, than I was the week before.

 

Never to say anything at all against anybody; except when to do so is perfectly consistent with the highest standards of Christian honor and love to mankind; and except when it is consistent with the sense of greatest humility and awareness of my own faults and failings. Then, whenever I have said anything against anyone, I will examine my words against the strictest test of the Golden Rule.

 

To be strictly and firmly faithful to whatever God entrusts to me.  My hope is that the saying in Proverbs 20:6,  “A faithful man who can find?” may not be found to be even partly true of me.

 

Always do whatever I can towards making, maintaining, establishing and preserving peace, whenever it can be, but without over-balancing the value peace to such a degree that it becomes a detriment in other respects.

 

When telling stories, never to speak anything but the pure and simple truth.

 

To inquire every night, as I am going to bed, where I may have been negligent, what sin I have committed, and how I have denied myself. I will also do this at the end of every week, month and year.

 

Never to speak anything that is ridiculous, trivial or otherwise inappropriate on the Lord’s Day or Sabbath evening.

 

To ask myself at the end of every day, week, month and year, where I could have possibly done better in any respect.

 

To frequently renew my dedication to God, which was first made at my baptism and which I solemnly renewed when I was received into the communion of the church.

 

Never, from this day until the day I die, act as if I were in any way my own, but entirely and altogether belong to God, and then live in a way agreeable to this reality.

 

That nothing other than the gospel shall have any influence at all on any of my actions; and that no action shall be, even in the very least circumstance, anything other than gospel declares, demands and implies.

 

Never to allow any pleasure or grief, joy or sorrow, nor any affection at all, nor any degree of affection, nor any circumstance, but what advances the gospel.

 

To endeavor to my utmost to deny whatever is not most agreeable to a good, and universally sweet and benevolent, quiet, peace able, contented, easy, compassionate, generous, humble, meek, modest, submissive, obliging, diligent and industrious, charitable, even, patient, moderate, forgiving, sincere temper; and to do at all times what such a temper would lead me to.

 

That neglect never shall be, if I can help it.

 

I will act in such a way as I think I will judge to have been best and most prudent, when I have come into the future world – Heaven.

 

I frequently hear persons in old age say how they would live, if they were to live their lives over again, so… Resolved: That I will live just as I can imagine I shall wish I had done, supposing I live to old age.

 

To improve every opportunity, when I am in the best and happiest frame of mind, to cast and venture my soul on the Lord Jesus Christ, to trust and confide in him, and consecrate myself wholly to him; that from this I may have assurance of my eternal safety, knowing that my confidence is in my Redeemer.

 

Whenever I hear anything spoken in a conversation of any person, if I think what is said of that person would be praiseworthy in me, I will endeavor to imitate it.

 

To endeavor to my utmost to act as I can imagine I would if I had already seen all the happiness of heaven, as well as the torments of hell.

 

Never to give up, nor even slacken up, in my fight with my own corruptions, no matter how successful or unsuccessful I may be.

 

When I fear misfortunes and adversities, to examine whether I have done all I am expected to do, and resolve to do everything I am able to do.  Once I have done all that God requires of me, I will accept whatever comes my way, and accept that it is just as God’s providence has ordered it.  I will, as far as I can, be concerned about nothing but my own duty and my own sin.

 

Not only to refrain from an air of dislike, fretfulness and anger in conversations, but also to exhibit an air of love, cheerfulness and graciousness.

 

Whenever I am most conscious of feelings of ill nature, bad attitude, and/or anger, I will strive then the most to feel and act good naturedly.  At such times I know I may feel that to exhibit good nature might seem in some respects to be to my own immediate disadvantage, but I will nevertheless act in a way that is gracious, realizing that to do otherwise would be imprudent at other times (i.e., times when I am not feeling so irked).

 

Whenever my feelings begin to appear in the least out of sorts, when I am conscious of the least uneasiness within my own heart and/or soul, or the least irregularity in my behavior, I will immediately subject myself to the strictest examination. (i.e., Psalm 42.11)

 

I will not give way to that apathy and listlessness which I find artificially eases and relaxes my mind from being fully and fixedly set on God’s grace. Whatever excuses I may have for it, whatever my listlessness inclines me to do, or rather whatever it inclines me to neglect doing, I will realize that it would actually be best for me to do these things.

 

Never to do anything but what God, by the Law of Love, requires me to do. And then, according to Ephesians 6:6-8, I must do it willingly and cheerfully as to the Lord, and not for man.  I must remember that whatever good thing any man has or does he has first received from God; and that whenever a man is compelled by faith to act with love and charity toward others, especially those in need, that we do it as if to/for the Lord.

 

Whenever I experience those “groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26), of which the apostle speaks, and those “longings” that consume our souls, of which the psalmist speaks (Psalm 119:20), I will embrace them with everything I have within me. And I will not be weary of earnestly endeavoring to express my desires, nor of the repetitions so often necessary to express them and benefit from them.

 

To exercise myself in all my life long, with the greatest openness I am capable of, to declare my ways to God, and lay open my soul to him: all my sins, temptations, difficulties, sorrows, fears, hopes, desires; and everything in every circumstance.

 

I will endeavor always to keep a gracious demeanor, and air of acting and speaking in all places and in all companies, except if it should so happen that faithfulness requires otherwise.

 

After afflictions, to inquire in what ways I am now the better for having experienced them. What good have I received by them? What benefits and insights do I now have because of them?

 

Always to do that which I will wish I had done whenever I see others do it.

 

Let there be something of benevolence, in all that I speak.

 

My Lenten Firsts I DARE ME

As promised, here finally are my firsts I did for Lent. Starred ones were planned. 
I kept track on a Post-It note calendar so I could move them around as needed.

W 1 Write a veteran.* It was Raymond Odom at Arbor Rose Assisted Living in Farmerville who was in the newspaper. February is International Correspondence Writing Month (I should have searched for "incowrimo"), which means that I need to write 28 letters. Also wrote a letter to the nice Gateway manager who later called me to thank me. STAMPS.

T 2 Left someone random flowers.* $.

F 3 Got first real estate listing. FREE.

S 4 Went to Christian concert. It was loud and not what I expected at all. FREE.

S 5 Quilted.* FREE.

M 6 Made cake from scratch with fresh strawberries. FREE. HAD INGREDIENTS ANYWAY.

T 7 Played in the rain.* FREE.

W 8 Paid it forward at Starbucks. (Tenbucks). $10.

T 9 Listened to a different radio station.* Liberal one. They cussed a lot. FREE.

F 10 Escaped from my car window to practice after seeing it on the TODAY Show. FREE.

S 11 Decorated a cake.* I learned later that a ketchup squeeze bottle can be a free tool and told my friend who taught me. A little knowledge is dangerous. FREE. NEEDED CAKE ANYWAY.

S 12 Drank a Red Bull.* Got criticized for it being unhealthy. FREE. HUSBAND HAD ONE IN FRIDGE.

M 13 Put money in a meter, book I gave away and pocket of clothing donated.*  $. Someone who heard me speak said, "I should have found it."

T 14 Rode city bus.* $1.20. Have a Greyhound story.

W 15 Wrote POTUS.* STAMP.

T 16 Did Twitter detox.* FREE.

F 17 Sent money for cleft palate and dogs for the blind.* $.

SS 18 19 Self-defense class and babysat my godson. Same day, but counting as separate. FREE.

M 20 Looked at Craig's List. Someone was actually trying to sell her house on there. No one prequalified. FREE.

T 21 Why stop with POTUS? Sent the Pope an Easter card. The embassy wrote back! STAMP.

W 22 Practiced Mano Sinistra.* In the words of NC State great Charles Shackelford: "I can go to my left or right, I am amphibious." Someone posted that this can help prevent Alzheimer's. Also helps when you are scared of turbulence. President James Garfield could write Latin and Greek. He could write one with his left hand and the other with his right at the same time. FREE.

T 23 Made beauty scorecard of nature.* Noted beauty and inspiring things. Smiles. Sun. Laughter. FREE.

F 24 Got massage.* It hurt. $50.

S 25 Wore expensive necklace on a regular day and used the china.* FREE.

S 26 Walked with a cane for a day and used no mirror after I fixed my hair.* FREE.

M 27 Hygge. Hygge is a Danish term defined as a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being. It is pronounced hoo-guh and is associated with relaxation, indulgence and gratitude. These type of people lift their hats to each other and look at a stranger with an expression that indicates they wish they knew him well. The Year of Living Danishly means taking pleasure in the presence of gentle, soothing things, like coffee and cashmere socks.  It's candles, nubby woolens, shearling slippers, woven textiles, pastries, sheepskin rugs, lattes with foam hearts and a warm fireplace. It's a flannel blanket with tea, mulled wine. A songbook to affirm ideas of simplicity, cheerfulness, reciprocity, community and belonging. Kith and kin. FREE.

T 28 Made my own logo.* FREE.

W 29 Walked my dog backwards around the block.* Received some scolding that I could have gotten hurt. FREE.

T 30 Looked at the clouds from the ground.* FREE.

F 31 Escape Room!* $25.

S 32 Ate full meal with chopsticks, suggested from a man on the bus. "You are admired for your adventurous ways" was my fortune. Bus guy also suggested going to the library, playing bingo, doing karaoke, feeding the homeless. FREE.

S 33 Had a Backwards Day.* Stayed in PJs all day, then took shower at night and ate the corresponding meals backward. FREE.

M 34 Wrote Near Death Experience of my aunt. I never knew someone who had one personally. FREE.

T 35 Did creative photography rather than pictures of people.* FREE.

W 36 Wore white shoes before Easter. This got a lot of comments about hoping the fashion police were on a break. FREE.

T 37 I made note of sensory encounters. My friend Kay came home from months of rehab in NOLA. A miracle. I noted flags flying, the smell of bacon, catfish and roses, hearing something on the radio that made me howl and touching my bathed dog. Enjoyed feeling the breeze. This leaves taste. Just glad I have an appetite and food. Nothing special eaten today. Can I count Strawn's pie from last night? Also observed National Caramel Popcorn Day. FREE.

F 38 Went to George's for the first time since my father died in 2005. It was our place. FREE. HAD TO EAT ANYWAY.

S 39 Viewed our birdhouse that had a nest for the first time. FREE.

S 40 Made a cross out of my palm. FREE.

M 41 David had a good one. Don't do anything after work. Don't go anywhere. Etc. FREE.

T 42 Drift Away Float Center!* $50.

W 43 Counting oxygen bar today done yesterday. FREE.

T 44 Had a Purple Cow. FREE. HAD INGREDIENTS.

F 45 Lots of firsts not on purpose today. First Subway drive-through. First time without phone that didn't work for hours. FREE. HAD TO EAT ANYWAY.

S 46 Covered clock while sleeping. FREE.

EASTER

Did not get to do:

Yell timber. Husband wouldn't let me. But later did after a bad day at work.

Someone asked: Have you ever worn a hair covering in church as ladies did years ago?  If not, it could be a first. I have.

Escape from my trunk or binding as seen on TODAY Show. Convertible trunks are too small, even for me.

Have a game afternoon on a Sunday. "My childhood may be over, but that doesn't mean playtime is." Ron Olson

Make soap.

National Pillow Fight Day and other observances. Note: Use National Day Calendar site.

Watch TED Talk on chemistry or tai chi or philosophy. "We need to start work with the idea that we're going to learn every day. I learn, even at my position, every single day." Chanda Kochhcar

There is a hug drought.  Juan Mann did a free hug campaign. I will not play at tug o’ war.

I’d rather play at hug o’ war,

Where everyone hugs

Instead of tugs,

Where everyone giggles

And rolls on the rug,

Where everyone kisses,

And everyone grins,

And everyone cuddles,

And everyone wins.

Learn Four score and seven years ago, memorize phone numbers, etc. Use Gale at www.bossierlibrary.org under research tab for six-week classes or Launch Pad.

Go hunting.

Go on an AC call.

Smile all day.

Make button bracelet, crosses, other things on Pinterest.

Observe National POW Day.

Watch Housewives of NYC on Bravo. Or one of them. There would be a different emotional meltdown every show. Ugh.

Trampoline Park.

Embroider.

Gator Park.

Morse Code. Military Alphabet. Pi.

Don't whine. No negativity. No gossip. No complaining. No criticizing.

Geocache with LaBetha.

Leave a sticky note with an empowering message on a mirror in a restroom.

Shoot a stun gun.

Perfume swap.

Carry goldfish in Barkus parade.

Ideas I got at speech: feed a chicken, do Groupon daily, take pottery class at Noel, read a different book genre.

Second speech: Use a wheelchair. Have Bossier Council on Aging give me a senior proxy. Play the drums there.

Woodworking class.

Learn a good joke.

Meet a band member. Read  Pulitzer book.

Write a commencement speech. This is part of one by Justice John Roberts:

Sorry to say, but I hope you will be lonely from time to time so that you don’t take friends for granted. I wish you bad luck, again, from time to time so that you will be conscious of the role of chance in life and understand that your success is not completely deserved and that the failure of others is not completely deserved either. And when you lose, as you will from time to time, I hope every now and then, your opponent will gloat over your failure. It is a way for you to understand the importance of sportsmanship. I hope you’ll be ignored so you know the importance of listening to others, and I hope you will have just enough pain to learn compassion.

Others say you should be yourself. You should try to become something better.

Once a week, you should write a note to someone. Not an email. A note on a piece of paper. It will take you exactly 10 minutes. By the end of the school year, you will have sent notes to 40 people. Forty people will feel a little more special because you did, and they will think you are very special because of what you did.

Bob Dylan wrote these words for his son, Jesse.

May God bless you and keep you always

May your wishes all come true

May you always do for others

And let others do for you

May you build a ladder to the stars

And climb on every rung

And may you stay forever young

May you grow up to be righteous

May you grow up to be true

May you always know the truth

And see the lights surrounding you

May you always be courageous

Stand upright and be strong

And may you stay forever young

May your hands always be busy

May your feet always be swift

May you have a strong foundation

When the winds of changes shift

May your heart always be joyful

May your song always be sung

And may you stay forever young

   Take a nap.

Flip through the TV channels.

Don't use a straw. There is a growing number of restaurants and bars that have united around eradicating the billions of straws discarded every year into landfill. Plastics can’t biodegrade, they last indefinitely – breaking down into smaller pieces, littering our landscapes and oceans, feeding into the food chain and potentially ending up on our dinner plates. Straw Wars.
    
After reading I Dare Me where the author did something new every day for a year, I tried something new for 40 days for Lent (and longer) along with my regular Lenten sacrifice. I'll be able to say BEEN THERE DONE THAT, GOT THE T-SHIRT, WASHED THE CAR WITH IT. And instead of I NEVER…IT'S HAVE YOU EVER?

I don't normally give something up for Lent, well, my cell phone once a long time ago. I do something. I got this book for $2 on bookbub and it changed my life.

In another excellent book, On Fire, the author said our enthusiasm saps out sometimes and boredom seeps in. What people are really saying is they have too many things to choose from and they're lazy.

What have I not been awake for in my life, asked Jennifer Grey during a show I was watching.

I remember seeing monuments in Washington, D.C. for the first time and jumping out of the cab seat. I pointed at every landmark. I felt excited. Awake. Alive. Awesome. Firsts are always memorable. But we later go through the motions, barely noticing what is in front of us. We're sleepwalking and the great adventure of life can mellow. So, my idea is to no longer be an observer, but participate. My father always said you can march in the parade or watch it.

Angelina Jolie says, "If you don't get out of the box you've been raised in, you won't understand how much bigger the world is." I didn't know a poorer side of Shreveport existed until I had a college photojournalism assignment to shoot it. Firsts we remember are: bike ride, school, kiss, dance, driving, heartbreak, job and plane ride. We remember the first winner of Survivor or Celebrity Apprentice or the Bachelorette. Second place is first loser. A penny always loses its shine and the honeymoon always ends.

How many times have you tried to coax someone to go somewhere with you and they don't want to, do and have fun? You never know until you go.

The author went to a theater alone. I used to do this all the time until the Lafayette incident. And parades and an LSU game. Your own company IS good enough. You are enough. It's better to be alone than in the wrong company. Everybody is going to have critics.

"Relax and enjoy," the author said. "Small things can bring freshness.” I’ve eaten and traveled alone. To North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia, Oregon and Alaska to complete my goal of the 50 states. The world is too beautiful to stay in one place.

Do things you are not a maven of…she said she is now not an opera virgin anymore. People say: I can't, I'm too old, I will look stupid. So what? I have learned not to care what people think of me anymore to a certain extent.

As she met people since she was a reporter, she got story tips on recycling programs, on-campus drinking, a restaurant with a bad report.  Passing info on to people is cool. One friend said my list was gold.

Ben Franklin knew life was a classroom. He invented and created libraries, fire departments, insurance, books, musical instruments and newspapers.

Experiences are like bizarre exclamation points in your life. Those who put on lab coats become much more attentive and studious, the author said.

She survived a large intestine removal at 33, breast cancer at 35 and kidney cancer at 45. Her daughter thought of the first idea and it helped her get up every day.

I love books where people do something for a year--wear a nametag, be biblical, give up something, write a daily thank you, find a new friend, photograph a tree. I have such book ideas myself.

I am blessed to have such firsts as riding in a KC-10, spending the day riding around with a governor, learning how to suture, being a Macy’s parade balloon holder, reigning as Mardi Gras queen, being on the LSU football field during a game several times, finishing the bible, riding a sweet potato picker, speaking at a national conference, milking a cow and piglet, driving a train, completing the Polar Bear Dip, writing a book, ghost hunting, attending a national football championship with LSU in it, reading movie lines, clowning, meeting celebrities, driving a $120,000 car, making a mosaic, learning to make wreaths, painting the eye of the Tiger, being in an apple eating and crawfish eating contest, yoga, skiing both snow and water, running a 5K to prove to a boyfriend, cycling around Cypress Lake--same guy, staying up all night twice, watching a 1,000-year-old Indian canoe get excavated, standing on the stage of Ryman Auditorium, doing every job when I managed the Remington Suite Hotel--even housekeeping, and visiting another religious denomination.

I'm going to be a Yes Woman. "Say yes. And you'll figure it out afterwards," said Tina Fey. (Although I'm conflicted because learning to say no is important, too).

Please offer suggestions for next time. The author ate a scorpion (I'm counting someone else in the family for something similar). I won’t do that or bungee jump, ride in a hot air balloon, or scuba or anything in water, so don’t get too excited. I know Peter tried something new when he walked on water, but... Lili Price, who had a leaking brain aneurysm got scolded from her doctor when he heard she went sky diving. But she said, "Aren't we all ticking time bombs with programmed destination points?" Instead of going with the flow, I am the flow, she said. She taps her deepest longings. If your dreams don't scare you, they are not big enough. The Illness can become WEllness with others.

Quote that captured my attention. Sebastian from NCIS NOLA  on his first day on the job, he got a little excited, couldn't sleep, so came in at 5 a.m. to get a head start on things and unpack his stuff. I'm so nervous, you know? Like, “first day at school and you don't know anyone” kind of nervous, but that's strange, right? 'Cause I, I know everyone here. Never easy taking a new job. Especially on an experienced team. He was told he was there for a reason, would do great and got his service weapon. Then the phone goes off. Four dead bodies... Including a sailor. "Yes! All right. Man, that's insensitive. I 'm sorry. Just first case as an agent, you know?"

More quotes stand out to me: Because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. Edward Hale. When life hands you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make orange juice because being different is good. Andrea Finical
Do you really want to look back on your life and see how wonderful it could have been had you not been afraid to live? Caroline Myss

I believe every human has a finite number of heartbeats. I don't intend to waste any of mine. -Neil Armstrong

Only 3% of the population writes down their goals. The rest of society works for these people. – Brian Tracy

How do you become interesting? According to Jonathan Goldsmith, take chances, don't give up, make courageous choices, say thirsty for adventure.

During my Lenten days, I read a story of kids of a deceased man finding his pouch with rings and trinkets and three pieces of folded notebook paper: "Things I Would Like To Do in My Lifetime!" written at 29, the year his daughter was born, covering both sides of the page. Be interviewed on the radio. Make money in the stock market. Set up a charitable fund. Drive a Corvette. Teach a class about wine. Make a rubber band ball. Pan for gold.  The kids realized they already did some of what he wanted to. Get my picture in a national magazine. The writer daughter did. There were 13 they did, but he only did five. Give my children the most love, the best education and best example I can give. Wasn't checked, but should have been. 

Some of the author's examples can be found at www.Luanncahn.com:

Don’t swear for a day.

Eat vegetarian. Or a foreign food.

Cartwheel.

Mechanical bull.

Spoke to a stranger.

Smoked a cigar.

Shoveled horse manure.

Ate dessert first.

No coffee, no gum.

I came, I saw, I drummed.

Secret Santa.

Hike up Runyon Canyon in the hills of L.A. Go up to the top to see a prayer box created by designer Jeannie Mai. The idea is you put a prayer or a thought into the box, then you take a prayer out of the box.

She said she would sing if someone bid enough on something.

Joined Damsels in Success group. (Tell Ann Marie).

He had me at hello, she said, on one she really wanted to do.

May the firsts be with you is how she ends the book.

The speech was meant to be. Driving back from Waco I heard Darius Rucker's song that said When was the last time you did something for the first time? Let yourself go. Follow that feeling. Let your hair down. Feel alive. Followed by Brad Paisley's Last Time for Everything, mentioning no longer getting woken up at 5 a.m. for Santa.

Who wants to do unimportant and uninteresting things? Upon hearing this talk, one of my Facebook friends sent this: I pray God quickens creative ideas in you to help you prosper, live wisely and share his love.

Holly and Paul in Breakfast at Tiffany's agree to spend the day doing things that each has never done before. They go the library and steal something.

Still is a book where she took a photograph a day of found nature. Love everyday doings. Crabs, wildflowers, sumac leaves, pine cones.

The Bossier Council on Aging listeners said they wanted to be a pilot, travel, stop cussing and ride her bike. I could have some purposely not doing items, too.

St. Faustina gave up sleeping with a pillow.

Panel of Authors Meets at Third Conference To Try To Exonerate Oswald

 

A mosaic of information was presented at the Oswald Conference held in October in Kenner just months before the 100th birthday of President John Kennedy to pique interest in the lone shooter theory being incorrect.

 

Featured over two and a half days were authors and researchers with a collective knowledge of hundreds of years, one going as far to say that we were all shot that day. Attendees came from the United Kingdom, Scotland, Washington and Florida.

 

George Noory, two-time Emmy winner and radio host, said we lost America that day. "It was taken away from us."

 

Barr McClellan, author of Blood, Money, & Power: How LBJ Killed JFK, says not a day goes by when he doesn't research. The assassination is still an open case in Dallas because it never went to trial, he said.

 

Gary Fannin, author of The Innocence of Oswald–50+ Years of Lies, Deception & Deceit in the Murders of President John F. Kennedy & Officer J.D. Tippit, said whoever ascends to power is what historians should study. And who had something to lose if Kennedy lived?

 

David Denton, a social science instructor at a college in Illinois, said while teaching the assassination, in about 20 minutes, "You're going to figure out something's wrong" with the Warren Commission outcome.

 

Edgar Tatro, professor and author, said the media lied, spun or hid truth, obliterating the understanding of history. "The bamboozle captures you," he said. He said the assassination is the huge dam behind which all other lies lie.

 

While the Mafia, CIA, Russians, Cubans and any number of groups could have killed Kennedy, Tatro said, they could not have gotten Kennedy's car to drive only 11 m.p.h. without a bubbletop through Dealey Plaza. That came from Lyndon Johnson's inner circle, he said.

 

It was brought up that it seemed mysterious that Tom Shipman, Kennedy's regular driver, died at age 51 at Camp David six weeks before the assassination. Replacement William Greer did not accelerate once Kennedy was shot and brake lights were shown in a photo. In Killing Kennedy, he turns around.

Panelists said 28 suspicious deaths have an alleged connection to the Kennedy assassination.

Also mentioned was the diary of Roscoe White, a former Marine and Dallas police officer, found by his son 11 years after the assassination, which indicates his involvement. Roscoe's wife was employed by Jack Ruby for several weeks and she apparently overheard her husband and Ruby discussing plans for the assassination.

Judyth Baker, who worked in a coffee shop with Lee Harvey Oswald in New Orleans in 1963 and claimed to be his mistress, was a prodigy in cancer research who shortly thereafter worked with Dr. Mary Sherman who was murdered (still unsolved), and a cast of assassination characters with such familiar names as David Ferrie, a central figure in District Attorney Jim Garrison's investigation of the assassination that brought Clay Shaw to trial. Baker had a key to Sherman's home.

 

When Baker worked with Oswald, he had conversations with her about operations being conducted against Fidel Castro possibly involving biological weapons. They visited Ferrie's home where he apparently kept mice.

 

Panelist Victoria Hawes said she was neighbors to Sherman and Juan Valdes and heard constant toilet flushing, which she later believed to be mice cancer carcasses. She knew Oswald from junior high school and he knocked on her door once, mistaking it for the apartment of Valdes.

 

Baker has a medical anthropology degree. She said Oswald was not dumb, saying he used the word vestibule instead of atrium as an example. Baker said Let It Be Me by the Everly Brothers was "their song."

 

She spoke of the famous photo of the Oswald shooting by Ruby with the law enforcement escort wearing what she called a "don't shoot at me suit," a light color. She said Oswald was not given oxygen in the ambulance.

 

She said she met Rafael Cruz at the Trade Mart. Ted Cruz's father was brought up when Donald Trump implied he was linked to the assassination.

 

In fear of what might happen to her, Baker lives overseas and did not go to her sister's wedding or grandparents' funerals.

 

Gary Severson spoke of a conservation tour that Kennedy was on from Sept. 24 through Oct. 3, weeks before the assassination. He attended one in Grand Forks, N.D., at age 16 and got through five sets of doors in the arena, breaching security. Yet there were snipers on the roof. Later in life, he researched how he could have had such access and was told the head of security, Dr. John Penn, professor, gave the keys to the building to the Secret Service.

 

H.L. Hunt spent time in North Dakota and money in an anti-Kennedy campaign because Kennedy was interested in revoking the oil depletion allowance, a decision that would have meant steep losses for Texas oilmen, Severson said.

 

In his research, Severson heard ranting about killing Kennedy and people sending letters to LBJ claiming they saw Oswald in North Dakota in the late 1950s  "to leave a paper trail."

 

Roger Stone, author of The Man Who Killed Kennedy: The Case Against LBJ, worked for nine Presidents (Nixon and Reagan). He said LBJ had motive, means and opportunity. Who controlled the Dallas Police Department and the D.A.?, he asked. Murder of a President was not a federal crime at the time Kennedy was assassinated. The police chief never left LBJ's sight, even on the plane, Stone said. Protocols used in Miami and Chicago Kennedy visits were not observed in Dallas. The number of motorcycle police patrolmen was not as high and plainclothesmen were not in the crowd, Stone said.

 

In a forensics panel that included Dennis David, a corpsman at Bethesda Naval Hospital, he said there were two caskets brought there. He said his mentor William Pitzer's alleged possession of autopsy-related film and photographs appeared to contradict the official findings of the autopsy. Pitzer was found with a single gunshot wound to the head the same day the Kennedy family agreed to release to the National Archives several items related to the autopsy. The Naval investigation into Pitzer's death reported no evidence of foul play, but David disagrees.

 

James Jenkins, one of two Navy corpsmen who served as an autopsy technician, said he believes the President's brain was removed and replaced, possibly substituted, between Dallas and Bethesda.

 

Other testimony of various speakers included mention of Ike Altgens of the Associated Press having a photo of LBJ already ducking before the bullets were fired and the Dallas funeral home saying Kennedy had glass fragments in him from a bullet through the windshield, defying the shot from behind theory.

 

Russ Baker, author of Family of Secrets, said George H.W. Bush oddly doesn't remember where he was when Kennedy was assassinated. He covers five chapters on the assassination in the book. He believes in a penumbra of covert CIA operations. Baker founded www.whowhatwhy.org.

 

Books and movies mentioned during the conference for more information:

Six Seconds in Dallas by Josiah Thompson

The Man Who Knew Too Much by Dick Russell

Harvey and Lee by John Armstrong

Survivor's Guilt: The Secret Service and the Failure to Protect President Kennedy by Vincent Palamara

Betrayal by Hugh Clark and William Law

In the Eye of History: Disclosures in the JFK Assassination Medical Evidence by William Law

A Secret Order: Investigating the High Strangeness and Synchronicity in the JFK Assassination:

by H. P. Albarelli Jr.

The JFK Conspiracy by David Miller

Executive Action--movie

 

 

On Fire Book Review

After seeing the author on the 700 Club, I had to have his book, On Fire. Surprisingly, it wasn't at Lifeway. I started on Wednesday night and finished Saturday, not reading Thursday or Friday night. It's in my top ten favorites and I read a lot. I made highlights on 111 of 272 pages.
Trust me, you don't want to be in a fire. Or do you? Fire is a source of heat, cooks our food, warms our homes, strengthens steel, forms glass, powers engines and clears deadwood. It removes old vegetation, fertilizes the land with life-giving nutrients, breaks open seeds and triggers new growth. Some seeds require fire to soften their outer shell after the seed falls to the earth, so it can take root and grow.
At 9, author John O'Leary lit a piece of cardboard on fire, walked over to a five-gallon can of gasoline and tilted it. He was burned on 100 percent of his body; 87 percent were third degree. Burned skin will never grow back without donor skin; donor skin must come from the recipient's body. The mortality rate for burn patients is calculated by taking the percentage of the body burned and adding the age of the patient.
Yet O'Leary has no regrets. He said it would destroy all the gifts galvanized because of what happened to him. He would have denied the world the chance to hear of his miracle of survival, the wonder of his life and the magnificent potential of theirs. His experiences shaped him, character drove him and faith guided him.
What if he had stayed in a fearful, self-focused mindset? Thankfully, he decided no more sleepwalking; no more accidental living.
His mother's face was an inflection point, a moment in time that changes everything that follows. In the hospital, she said, "Own your life. Fight for it yourself. Choose not to die. Take the hand of God." She forced him to pick up his fork to feed himself. His doctor told the janitor he was keeping him alive. By keeping the room clean to stop infection.
He tells of a story between two Roger Staubach employees fighting over commission. They could not work it out and Staubach donated the commission to charity. They should be responsible for succeeding together or for failing together. Their choice.
He says to erase it's not my fault from your vocabulary. Say, "It's my life and I'm responsible for it."
The O'Leary family lost their house and his siblings lost time with their parents during his five-month hospitalization. They were ages 18 months to 17. Neighbors opened their homes. His sisters were prescribed sleeping pills because of witnessing the event. One sister likely saved his scalp and face by running in and out to pour cups of water on him. Another spoke assurances to him. His older brother swung the flames and urged, "Wake up. Stay awake. Don't go to sleep." The community raised money, donated blood and offered prayers. It was all a gift. Staff, siblings, parents, celebrities, family, friends and strangers. A little boy fought. God had orchestrated it. Love had fueled it.
O'Leary lost his fingers, the ability to walk initially and was scarred from his neck to toes. He was sedated, mummified and strapped down. We pluck, smear foundation, wax, curl eyelashes and whiten teeth. Ads make us wonder if we keep up. We are not afraid of who we think we are, but who we think we're not. He tells the story of Phra Phuttha Maha Suwana Patimakon. Chip away the plaster, pull down the mask, peel off the bandages and allow the miracle of your life to shine brightly.
Know your story, what you've been through and what matters most to you. One person told him, "John, if you really knew me, you'd know that when I was seven, my father was murdered and my mother and I were both grateful."
O'Leary's dad now has Parkinson's and he had never missed day of school, college, law school or work. O'Leary spoke with his dad who said he was grateful it was not a more serious disease; he had time to reflect; on days he can't speak or walk he is grateful for the ones he can; and is thankful for handicapped parking spots. Instead of looking for what he is lacking, he looks for what he is blessed with. We know people who have everything and are grateful for nothing and those who have nothing and are grateful for everything.
What is a victim's favorite question? Why me? Victors see the past as a powerful teacher and view the future as bright, O'Leary said. They consider challenges a gift. They look at what they have, not what they lack. They escape from chains that bind and walls that trap them into a life that is on fire and a party that is raging. They unlock vitality, optimism and longevity.
In the famous nun study, 34 percent of those who were least cheerful in journaling were alive at 85. Ninety percent who were most cheerful were still alive at 85. A decade later, 54 percent of the most cheerful were alive at 94, compared to 11 percent of the least cheerful.
O'Leary says you can't have joy without gratitude. A man in jail listed 31 things he was thankful for--heat, air, library, warm bed, laundry service, chance for redemption, new friends, leaving behind old circumstances, three square meals daily, pillow, blanket and life.
O'Leary's doctor said perhaps he couldn't be a court reporter, but could be a lawyer or judge. He may not play baseball again, but he could manage a team. He may not be a carpenter, but could be a general contractor.
Glenn Cunningham, silver medalist in the 1936 Olympics, came to see him. Cunningham had been in a fire in which his brother died. He knew he wasn't going to live his life sitting down, so he got up. He died two weeks after visiting O'Leary at 78. Cunningham and Roy, his nurse, showed him the power of looking up. Whether we are too injured, scarred, filled with excuses because we have been trained to keep our eyes down making sure we don't trip, know that looking down is practical. But you must look ahead or you will miss the beauty of what is possible. Cunningham over four decades served, raised, fostered and encouraged more than 9,000 children at his ranch. The world celebrates status, the medal, the house, the beautiful face, but the medals deteriorate. The house ages. The face sags. The victories we clamor for often end up feeling hollow. But what Cunningham did after the fire burns long after he is gone. It's a ripple effect.
Therapists took O'Leary to the broom closet for his painful treatments out of respect for him and other patients. He had hernias, broken bones, burns, bandage changes, infected abscesses and cellulitis. His joints were stretched, blood was drawn from his toes and skin grafted from his head. He now says to intentionally stretch every area of your life.
When a couple stop pursuing one another, stop choosing to really love, stop choosing to grow together, stop forgiving, they begin to die. They donn't fall out of love. They stop growing in love. Death seldom occurs overnight. It's a slow fade. The changes can be subtle, but make no mistake; in choosing not to grow, we choose to die, O'Leary says.
O'Leary now gives presentations that educate, inspire, engage, motivate and transform audiences. Owning your own story can be hard, but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it is an appropriate Brene Brown quote. O'Leary threw up before speaking to four Girl Scouts on his first attempt to tell his story. Now he speaks at 120 events annually held by organizations in healthcare, sales, marketing, financial services, education, spirituality and safety. Southwest Airlines, LEGO and Enterprise Rent-A-Car are clients.
At one presentation 24 years after the incident, nurse Roy appeared as a surprise. He said, "John, I did my job. I mattered." Roy realized it that day. Roy was always saying, "You are going to walk!"
Jack Buck, voice of the St. Louis Cardinals and Hall of Fame announcer, was someone O'Leary idolized. He, too, visited, saying, "Kid, wake up, you are going to live." He promised John O'Leary Day at the ballpark. He scrubbed up, gowned up, walked into O'Leary's room and into his life as a stranger. Buck sent other athletes. A hockey player said he would score a goal for him. The team and the mascot brought pizza after one game.
A next door neighbor told a friend who told a friend who shared the initial burn news with her neighbor whose dad sat next to Buck one night. The impact of a single spark is profound. Buck sent a baseball from All-Star shortstop Ozzie Smith. "Kid, if you want a second baseball, you have to write a thank you note to the man who signed it first," wrote Buck. This made fingerless O'Leary write again. By the time the Cardinals played in the World Series that October, a little boy in St. Louis had received 60 baseballs and sent 60 notes.
Years later, O'Leary spoke three different times in different cities in a matter of days. People lined up to share their stories about someone who impacted them. Three times it was about Mr. Buck. In New York, Buck bought someone's lunch. In Missouri, it was a starving artist who was painting Buck's house. Buck invited him to create a painting of Cardinals Hall of Famers. They sold 250 for charity. It raised $500,000 and launched the guy's career. In Illinois, a man was to open a sales meeting and could not speak due to nerves. A man walked up and put his arm around him, read the first line on his notes and said, "OK, kid, I think you can take it from here." Buck again. Buck sought significance over success. Significance attracts success.
Buck gave O'Leary his Baseball Hall of Fame crystal baseball from 1987, the year of the burn, for graduation. One person can make a difference. O'Leary named his oldest son Jack after Buck.
O'Leary once was a hospital chaplain. He discovered that saying nothing during times of great emotion is often the best form of communication. Strolling in the park, sitting with a child on the beach and rocking on a porch are OK. We just want someone to be fully present.
O'Leary marries. The principal told O'Leary his boys were the only ones who pushed kids' wheelchairs and sat at lunch with those with special needs.
While fear suffocates, love liberates, O'Leary said. When he was discharged, his dad had a wheelbarrow with champagne and Life Savers. O'Leary thought his dad would kill him for what he had done. He was once in trouble for having grass stains covering his church clothes when he was told to change.
Pedro Arrupe said what you are in love with will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed, how you spend your weekends, what you read, what breaks your heart and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, it will decide everything. Or replace love with the word fear. When you let go of fear, your hands can finally grasp the love and joy that have been waiting all along.
Nothing worthy is easy. Get the kids tucked in, prayed up and in bed. Instead of I do, we say I have to. Say I want to. Love is not just reserved for our inner circle. It is intended to be the currency of our world.
What if you could walk into every interaction expecting a smile, new friend and true connection? What if every moment was a miracle? What if every interaction was seen not from the perspective of what might go wrong next time, but from one certain that the best is yet to come? Perhaps Mark Twain said it best: I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.
O'Leary also quotes Og Mandino, my father's favorite: I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars.
O'Leary stresses don't confuse getting out of bed with being fully awake. Every great spiritual teacher discusses the importance of staying awake, learning to live in the present moment and not being fixated on when things might get better in the future. The name Buddha means awakened or I am awake. Jesus often told his followers to wake up, to keep watch, to be alert, to be on the ready. My favorite verse is Mark 31:13. Take heed, be vigilant and pray. For you do not know when the time may be.
O'Leary adds don't be mired in regret or defeat.
Unbelievably, O'Leary's parents' house caught fire a second time. It was something in the toaster that lodged while they were outside. Being a contractor, which O'Leary had become, he could rebuild the same house burned two decades earlier. There is always a chance for redemption, to rebuild, to await a miracle, O'Leary said.
He said the most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.
This book is an invitation to start living your life again. You can lead a radically inspired life.
Remember, “The tongue is like a fire, comprising all iniquity.” (James 3:6)