That's just the way it is

Disclaimer—Don’t believe everything I say; much of this is my opinion folks. It’s like this—A guy was late for work and his boss got on him about it and asked him “how come you’re late”. Well, I got up like normal but I was about ready to leave when my wife said she needed the car today and said she would drive me to work. She said she would be ready in 10 minutes. Then we had 2 flat tires, not one but 2, then there was a funeral procession—the guy must have been popular as there was about 100 cars and we had to wait for them all and then there was construction and we had to follow this pilot car. The pilot car ran out of gas. Then there was an accident and we were sitting still so I got out and ran the last 2 miles in world record time to get here. His boss said—You expect me to believe you--Everyone knows that no woman can get ready in 10 minutes!

So there you go, that’s just the way it is! This “It’s Saturday” is in memory of a friend who died about a year ago. He would tell me stuff and then say—That’s just the way it is erv. He had the attitude of—I am not afraid of tomorrow, I have seen yesterday, and I love today. He was a peaceful man (i.e. had his head screwed on right it appeared). He loved the Lord but his fight with Parkinson’s disease wasn’t always easy. He always seemed to have this peace about himself. So there you go, that’s just the way it is! Joesixpack says---Peace depends less upon our circumstances than upon our thought…when we focus on negative aspects of life, we suffer needlessly and struggle with peace within. That’s just the way it is!

So are you peaceful within yourself? Where do you find your peace (i.e. this is multiple choice question)—1. liquor 2. drugs 3. golfing 4. movies 5. God 6. eating 7. money 8. stuff 9. working 10. all of the above? Stanley Ott suggests that all folks should be part of some type of a small group (i.e. a group of 3 to 14—generally on the smaller side the better but really no more than 8). It would be an hour and a half long with no food or very little (i.e. distraction). The first 45 minutes would be studying the Bible, the next half hour sharing and the last 15 minutes praying. That’s his opinion folks. I have been in many Bible studies/small groups. Some were very good, some okay and a few were not sooooo good (i.e. boring boring boring). Some times folks just argue about interpreting the Bible. Many years ago folks would go to the Synagogue and listen to the scripture being read by a Rabbi (i.e. the folks would sit and listen to the interpretation of the Rabbi—If they didn’t like this particular Rabbi’s interpretation, they would go and listen to a different one—like how far can you walk on Sunday). Folks would just believe what they were told. The early church manipulated this and used it for their financial gain in many different ways (i.e. forgiveness of sins and positions). Folks were told that they could not communicate directly to God—then uproar occurred with the Reformation. There were only a few Bibles during this time so they were owned and read by the elite so the majority of others couldn’t or didn’t have a Bible. Then the printing press came along (i.e. stopped the monopoly of interpretation by the hierarchy). Now everyone seems to be able to interpret the Bible (i.e. many different interpretations by individuals, churches, church denominations and folks in Bible studies). But one thing stays constant—Jesus Christ is Lord and reigns forever and forever. That is where my peace is! Yes, I read the Bible every day through my devotions while eating my oatmeal with some type of fruit on it. Do I always understand it—I don’t know. Some other person interprets it for me and I always don’t agree with their interpretation. It’s like I read in the current book I’m reading—Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsic (i.e. it’s not about Buddhism and not about motorcycle maintenance but about trying to understand life)—A person is sitting somewhere, minding his own business, and suddenly—flash! —He understands something he didn’t understand before. For me, thoughts, meanings and opportunities just fall into my lap. That’s just the way it is. MissPerfect says—God’s gift is never bought, hidden, wrapped, exchanged, but stored in your heart. If you have that, you will find peace. That’s just the way it is!

Albert Einstein had said—Man tries to make for himself in the fashion that suits him best a simplified and intelligible picture of the world. He then tries to some extent to substitute this cosmos of his for the world of experience, and thus to overcome it….He makes this cosmos and its construction the pivot of his emotional life in order to find in this way the peace and serenity which he cannot find in the narrow whirlpool of personal experience….The supreme task…is to arrive at those universal elementary laws from which the cosmos can be built up by pure deduction. There is no logical path to these laws; only intuition, resting on sympathetic understanding of experience, can reach them…. So there you go, that’s just the way it is folks according to Albert to find peace.

The more I think and ponder and mediate the more I get different feelings (i.e. sometimes even more confused). GeorgeTheCrook says—All these things gradually engender a feeling of wonder, humility, and gratitude to God. These in turn are followed by a more sure and abiding faith in God and His purpose (i.e. that stuff seems to stick with me like dried oatmeal sticks to my breakfast bowl). I just hope that I’m pursuing the right stuff. It’s like a guy climbing the ladder of success by one rung at a time. Its hard work, time consuming and sometimes ugly. Then he gets to the top and finds out he has his ladder against the wrong wall. Ouchy ouchy!

It’s never as bad as it looks and never as good as it looks folks. I hope not. What I read in the paper doesn’t give me much peace! Oh no! This is what I read—GEEZ—IT’S NOT THAT BAD. We know the Iowa men’s basketball program has struggled in recent years, but Reggie Hayes of the Fort Wayne (IN) News-Sentinel newspaper landed a big shot in a column last week. Under the label “Cheaper by the Dozen,” Hayes wrote…”Butler men’s basketball coach Brad Stevens signed a new 12-year deal to remain at the school. This provides Stevens some security from every coach’s biggest fear: Taking the Iowa job.” Ouchy ouchy!

This blows my mind (i.e. no peace)—The Chicago-Cubs have the highest priced tickets for regular seats in the major leagues, overtaking the New Your Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Tickets at Wrigley Field for non-premium sections average $52.56 this season, edging the Red Sox (52.56) and the Yankees (55.83). The overall average in the big leagues was $26.74. It’s all about money folks. The newspaper says (i.e. so it must be right) that the price of taking a family of four to a game at Wrigley Field is $329.74. San Diego is the lowest at $120.60. Huh, interesting. It’s supply and demand folks. That’s just the way it is!

My friend Aaron (i.e. a fifth grader) and I went for an 11.6 mile bike ride on the Cedar Valley trails last Saturday. We averaged 11.4 mph (i.e. pretty good for him on his little bike). ANYWAY as we were going under a major road, there was a lot of graffiti on the bridge supports. I usually can’t read them very well but this one I could and it really stuck out to me. It was in large letters and done very nicely. It read--Religion is slavery! I kept thinking about that as I rode and it has come up in my mind several times since—Religion is slavery! Many world religions might be slavery (i.e. ya gotta earn your salvation by good works). It appears that many Christians think the same but the reality is you don’t—It’s a gift and you don’t have to do anything for it but just ask (i.e. the price has been already paid by Jesus). That’s hard for many folks to understand in our capitalistic culture. Christians should do things not because they have to but because they want to! There is a huge difference here folks (i.e. my opinion). Soooooooo can religion be slavery? It think it can and is for some (i.e. even in Christian churches). But, it shouldn’t be. That’s just the way it is.

Peace can be hard to find for some or at some times in our life. Our school district is A-P which stands for Aplington and Parkersburg. I live in Aplington but my Insurance and Real Estate office was (i.e. before I retired) in Parkersburg. We are basically one trade community. Watch this video ~ http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5082690&categoryid=3060647

That’s just the way it is folks! SusieQ says—To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others use your heart! That’s just the way it is.

Peace oh that peace. AverageJoe says--Life is not about what you have, it's about what you appreciate. So, what do you appreciate? Oh, when Aaron and I got done on our bike ride, we each wrote a little something on back of a picture we bought on a deck sale. It was sorta kinda in memory of the day. He wrote -- You can’t have a bike ride without pretty scenery! That’s a truism folks. He learned this from his language teacher Mrs. Koch. That’s a good observation folks. That’s just the way it is.

I heard Jim Furyk’s interview after the third round of last week’s PGA golf tournament, which he ended up winning. They asked him how it felt coming off a poor performance at the Masters the week before. He said—I first was mad, then I felt sorry for myself and then decided I had to figure out what I needed to do to get better (i.e. he and his dad got together and worked on his swing). I’m afraid many folks don’t get past the getting mad phase or feeling sorry for themselves phase. If we want to improve anything we have to change (i.e. physically and mentally). I practice my golf swing but if I do everything the same, I will get the same result. I must tell you that I can change on the practice range but when on the course, I regress back to my old way many times (i.e. it’s comfortable but not effective—much like a lot of traditions in churches {my opinion}). So there you go folks! ItchieBitchie says—You can find the world’s shortest sermon on a thousand traffic signs “KEEP RIGHT”. "You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong." --Warren Buffett-- That’s just the way it is!

This old man, he played one; He played knick-knack 'on my drum. With a knick-knack, paddy whack, Give a dog a bone; This old man came rolling home. My hiking and golfing buddy from the Valley (i.e. retired GM engineer who when young sang on the American Bandstand and who knows about a thousand songs) told me many years ago GM had a seminary for some of its folks using hypnosis. They offered post seminar sessions for any folks who wanted to pay $20 on “quitting smoking”, “improving your golf game” and I can’t remember the other one. He took the quitting smoking hypnosis session and immediately quit smoking. When we were playing golf one day, he said—I sure wish I would have spent another $20 and took the “how to improve you golf game” hypnosis session! That’s just the way it is! Bytheway—This is the guy who suggested the book I’m reading.

We went to the Shell Rock Swing Show. I sat next to Melba from Hampton (i.e. seemed to be a very nice lady). I said to her—that’s a different name—my dad said I was named after a opera singer—so you like music—ya I do; I have squared danced all over Iowa and really had a good time—are you computer savvy? —I spend a lot of time on the computer—how old are you—you sure ask a lot of questions! —I’m 79—my family helps me a lot with the computer; I have a daughter who has a blog where she puts a new recipe on each day. Can I share it with my readers? She checked with her daughter and she said yes. Sooooooo maybe some of you might be interested. Her blog can be found at http://www.goodeats365.wordpress.com That’s just the way it was.

As it says in the Book—Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be trouble, nor let it be fearful. That’s just the way it is folks!

Have a FUN day my friends unless you have other plans. (-:

erv

KR’s thought of the day—You don’t get harmony when everybody sings the same note.
TheProfessor’sPithySaying—The human mind has 3 keys opening all locks: knowledge, reflection and imagination—in these three, everything is obtainable ~ Victor Hugo