It's Saturday: there are always exceptions

Wernher von Braum, he of rocket technology fame, said—The best computer is a man, and it’s the only one that can be mass produced by unskilled labor.

John Quincy Adams said--“Duty is Ours; Results are God’s” I read this while eating my oatmeal with half a banana on it--LouLouLou says--But still we are curious. Curiosity about what will happen to others is an idle distraction. This is God’s business, not ours. Here in the Gospel of John, Peter asks what will become of a fellow disciple: “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus says, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” How the Almighty intends to deal with others is above your pay grade. It is a curtain behind which you may not look. We may be genuinely concerned about the spiritual health and welfare of friends and loved ones. But in the final analysis, this is not our business. Your business, and mine, is simply this: “You follow me!” ItchieBitchie says—See, there are always exceptions; exceptions to what you think for sure.

MissPerfect says--The wild-eyed ideologues and the deranged can make me google eyed. What is the source of authority in your life; like what rules your life; like what directs you? I was thinking of a deceased man who has died maybe 15 years ago. He was more an acquaintance/client and maybe not a friend. He maybe was somewhat powerful in his church of his choice, maybe was involved in his political party of choice in his county, and for sure did accumulate quite a bit of wealth. He maybe was considered by some as a good man and by others maybe not and some really didn’t care. I really don’t know what his source of authority really was. He seemed to give me mixed messages. I would guess his kids were happy he accumulated his wealth when he died though; I would guess soooo anyway! But there are always exceptions.

I smell a little hierarchy here! A friend who manages maybe a team of 25 folks in the corporate world told me that there is one person in their team who creates many problems for all the members of the team (i.e. this guy might sit around all day thinking he is important). Everyone knows of his disruption and have expressed it to my friend their captain. He tells the team members that this guy will not be canned as he is the pet of his boss’ boss (i.e. corporate hierarchy world) soooo he tells his team to understand who he is and make the most of it; adjust and work around the problem; learn to make the most of it. I read this in the paper soooo it must be right—Forbes did an article once that said that there are employees who are completely unaware how they affect other people. Sometimes a tactful, non-confrontational discussion can help call attention to the matter. But sometimes people must just be aware that if they work with a – holes, they simply work with a – holes! Of course there are always exceptions. Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert cartoon, said, “The amount of energy spent laughing at a joke should be directly proportional to the hierarchical status of the joke teller.”

BigPictureJoe says--Some folks are just discriminatory; that’s maybe because of their environment or past environment. I watched a lot of NCAA men’s basketball (i.e. I enjoy basketball and also ‘cause it’s a good entertainment for my life style). ANYWAY, I think it discriminates! Not about race or age or money or power but by officiating. I do! The calls are not fair or the lack of calls. I think teams need to be really lucky to win (i.e. the proof is in the pudding). I think it’s unfair! Saturday question—Could life be that way; do you think some folks get more breaks than others? Hey, life isn’t fair, the only thing that’s fair is the Butler County Fair and that’s in June!

JoePharisee says--We all have discretion in life. We have to make a decision as to what we want to do. We all have that freedom. We all get to decide what we think is right or wrong. SusieQ asks—How do I know what is right or wrong? How do I get this good judgement? Coach B says—Move in the right direction; if we don’t, then we are automatically moving in the wrong direction. Doing nothing is an automatic movement in the wrong direction. Now think about that folks. WorldClassLarry says—It’s pretty easy to do nuttin. LuckieEddie says--It's not foresight or hindsight we need. We need to see what is right in front of us.

Breaking news! The Schaafsma family farm in Wichert, IL, will not raise gladiolas this year; it’s the first year in 85-90 years. Arlene’s brother, Craig, and sister-in-law, Julia, are retiring. They have been doing it for 41 years after their parents and grandparents raised gladiolas on the same farm. Probably gladiolas will never be raised on the farm again. Things change folks! Arlene claimed to be the best gladiola buncher there ever was in Wichert! She was also was on the Gladiola Queen Court for the Gladiola Festival (i.e. it was a big deal back then). Craig says--…at one time there were dozens of growers in the area with over 600 acres of gladiolus grown. At one point, it was recognized as the gladiolus capitol of the Midwest! He also told me that a lot of agriculture in the area has changed; very little flowers, vegetables, etc. are raised anymore. Probably some changes were forced by money and maybe some for other reasons. It seems that many changes seem not to happen unless forced. GeorgeTheCrook says—It appears that soooo many times change is done tooooo late; it’s not proactive but reactive.

JoeBlow says--At some point we don’t have to try to be soooo perfect. We can’t be perfect; we can try but we will never be; it just can’t happen; no matter how great you are or think you are. John Wesley believed and promoted this--Prevenient Grace--Wesley understood grace as God’s active presence in our lives. This presence is not dependent on human actions or human response. It is a gift — a gift that is always available, but that can be refused. I think this is accurate; I can relate to this. I understand that some of you are more legalistic; I don’t think I am but I could be but I hope not. SmuckieJoe says—There are always exceptions! BigBrainBob says—I loathe at improvisation; I want hard scientific facts!

ItchieBitchie says--There always exceptions but…! I had a good conversation with a friend (i.e. sorta kinda a retired commercial scientist) recently. He said that many folks don’t believe in science; he doesn’t understand why they don’t. He indicated that many folks seem to believe in pseudoscience but not real science. I have no idea sometimes what is real science and what is pseudoscience is; I can’t tell the difference. Sooooo I asked a real smart person at breakfast if they could help me here; they said--Dad...that was like a 30min part of our conversation!! Yes it was! I will try to summarize the 30-minute conversation with this: Many folks hear what they want to hear; that is why many folks are soooo easy to fool. I read a novel recently that for the reporter to get information from different folks, he held out money; then those folks would squawk. Well, I didn’t have to hold out any money to get this information but just had to buy breakfast! ha ha Then this week it was announced that scientists have taken a picture of the “black hole”, a cosmic place of no return. It’s 55 million light years away from earth and is as big as our entire solar system. Ta-da! They claim that this is scientific fact and not from Star Wars (i.e. science fiction has become scientific fact). I asked Scientist Jim/engineer/amateur astronomer/ friend if this scientific fact will enable more scientists to believe in God (i.e. some scientists won’t believe in God as everything has to be scientific proven—they don’t believe in faith)? His response was--erv.....I don’t believe that it will have much effect either way. It is “merely” an amazing technical feat that reinforces an earlier theory. He later told me by phone that there are scientists that are believers of God and also scientists who are non-believers; each of different levels and thinking; pretty much like the general public. Saturday question—Is believing in God different than talking about science (i.e. like talking about apples and oranges)? Another smart person said--The subjects of Easter and the second coming of Christ have never been popular to any but the true believers. Oneneatperson said to me—erv, the folks who attend the church you do, none of them think of God exactly the same. Soooooo true, oneneatguy! I think there is a possibility that there might be a wide range.

I always pay a lot of attention to guys who have multiple pens and etc. in their pocket. That is why I listen to MyFriendJim who says--Your question, "is believing in God different than talking about science ?" certainly needs a comment. Belief in God is an absolute concept,...based on faith, and perhaps reinforced (or sometimes diminished) by observations....., but ultimately based on faith. Science,on the other hand, in its strictest sense, is never absolute,....and is always based on observations of nature, which support or refute whatever scientific premise is theorized. The more observational support that a theory receives,............the more credibility it earns by scientists. As an example, the theory of gravity, is commonly called "The Law of Gravity", since it has had so much observational support, whereas Einstein's "Theory of Relativity", while widely accepted (because of lots of observational support), is still called a theory. The same might be said about Darwin's "Theory of Evolution",.........which many Fundamental Christians, dispute. So.........bottom line: Belief in God is Faith based / Science is based on observations. At least, that is my opinion. ~ You can see why I always enjoy hanging around this guy!

A friend won the ticket lottery and got tickets to the Masters on Sunday. The odds are very long in having this happen. He gets all the breaks! Why is he such a lucky dog? I tried but I didn’t win. How come? The old saying is—The more I try, the luckier I get. Soooo I will keep trying. Arlene and I have really enjoyed watching the Masters through the years; by far my favorite golf tournament. We did go to a practice round in 2007; what a treat that was. It is soooo beautiful (i.e. unbelievable). Also, I’m a big fan of Bobby Jones who was a unique person/golfer and was very instrumental in the Masters. Like they advertise it—It’s a tradition like no other! I’m an exception alright—I know no other person who wears a Bobby Jones cap. Crazy! Heather, our daughter, sent me this text last weekend—Jimmer (i.e. age 7) and I are watching The Masters. He wanted to know why that guy who hit the tree doesn’t get another chance. I lol!

It is more than an exception, it’s reality. I met some new folks at a new pickleball venue. There were some folks that I questioned their ability when I saw some of them, but I ended up really enjoying them. Great folks. Again, I relearned the lesson. The reality is, there are nice folks wherever I play. Yes, they play hard and I play hard but winning isn’t everything; in fact, it’s really not that important to me in the big picture. Our son and I have a traditional saying that goes like this—It’s a lot more fun to win than to lose; that is if your goal is to win. Again, it was my bad in thinking that about some of those folks! I just can’t say any more than that! Can any of you folks relate to that? BUT I enjoy playing with folks of about my ability level! ha ha I have this Buzza Motto on the wall:

There are exceptions toooooo doing it the old way! A friend told me that they did all their tax work electronically this year. They scanned and emailed all their information to their tax preparer; he prepared their taxes, emailed them a copy for them for a Docu-Sign, and then they email it back. They sent their preparation cost by Venmo to their preparer (i.e. they told me that is what the younger folks are using) and bingo, it was done. Crazy! OldTimmerBill says—I still like to bring my shoebox of stuff in, visit with my preparer, and come back later to sign and pay with my check and of course pick up a new free ball point pen to put with the other 20 I have in the drawer; I’ve always done it that way; I want to get my money’s worth. Besides, I don’t trust that electronic stuff!