Why?

Dr. Ross,

This letter to you is written as a blog, online, going around the world. The letter is not the 1297 Magna Carta, but should be important to you. If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I still would not fear writing it.

The happiest days of my life were spent as a student at Chapel Hill. In my 81^st year, looking back, I remember Dr. Frank Graham at his Methodist church telling me, “you are what the university was built for.” Since I was Baptist, I normally sat with Dr. J.T. Dobbins at the Baptist church, on the corner of Franklin St.

Since the Korean War, I have been a totally blind, 100% disabled, service-connected, medical officer veteran. As a veteran, I have encountered every insult your country can offer. One of the finest physicians I have ever known, Dr. Charles Beauchampf at Durham VA, wept as he told me of the treatment of young warriors returning from (then present) wars. Some day, God will explain many things to me, such as why this university here in Wilmington has become totally communist. One young man working for me, along with his wife, both students, left town after attending a performance at Thalian Hall where they recognized women professors, two lesbians, dressed as men, making out and causing a scene.

Although born in poverty on an eastern NC tobacco farm, I have the paperwork which traces my family to the first farm survey of Morristown, New Jersey, made in 1766 by the surveyor Adjoniah Peacock, who manufactured weapons for the Revolution. My folks were just dirt farmers, my father farmed, built houses and cut hair on the weekends so that his four children could attend college. I graduated from a country school with 13 students, right near the school that Governor Charles B. Aycock had attended with my two grandfathers. The county superintendent made sure I went to Chapel Hill.

I took advantage of everything the university had to offer. I heard Eleanor Roosevelt at Memorial Hall, say, “the individual is all that matters.” You can check with my lawyers, I am still leaving a chunk of my wealth to the university, but I will never forgive, nor forget, my attempt to get one of my cousins into the university.

I knew Erskine Bowles' father, Skipper. He wanted me to go to Chapel Hill and walk around with him and let him try to explain to me. My cousin, like me, was from a dirt-poor family, his grandparents had named him for Kay Keyser of Chapel Hill. His name, Kay Eldridge Pittman. I wrote to Chancellor House, Guy Phillips, W.C. George, Walter Spearman, all professors and men who I felt knew me. Still, Chancellor House would not admit my cousin who, like me, needed financial help. Anyway, he distinguished himself in the military and college, retired as an esteemed government worker, and is of great pride to his community.

I missed much, because at Chapel Hill and later in professional school in Memphis, I worked at night, but you should know that during those 8 years I sold Bibles door-to-door each summer, covering every pig path in eastern North Carolina. One day, a black grandmother, looking towards her black grandchildren, said to me, “son, what future do my grandchildren have?” At least, my cousin and I, with genes from early colonial families, could go to college.

In spite of things which you “normal” people will never understand, I have enjoyed the success of investing and being philanthropic in several places, particularly Mount Olive College and ministries supporting the God to which I am totally committed. You may have never heard this song, but you should, because in these days, we all need an answer. My passport has been stamped in 157 countries, and I realize that no one cares, but I have sought the answer. Ed Ames, asked “Who Will Answer?” (Song attached below)

At my age, still working every day, living alone, taking care of myself completely (I have one son, a Ph.D professor at Southwestern Seminary, two grandsons; a lawyer and an engineer, all university graduates and SBC missionaries to South Korea) Forsaken by my country, putting cement blocks behind my doors at night, I often contemplated suicide while in this cocoon of blackness for over 50 years, but God does not test a men when everything goes well, but only when things go bad. He has been too good to me to disappoint Him now. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

I have every promise that He has given those who love Him. Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, He it is that doth go with thee; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. (Deuteronomy 31:6) I have the assurance of knowing that those who have forsaken me and others like me, even our lying, decadent government, will receive what is coming to them. Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him. (Isaiah 3:10-11)

The largest minority are the disabled, larger than any other minority, and you will note that I have left funds for disabled students. The great preacher John Wesley, one of 19 children, after he had traveled the world, after he had done all he was capable of doing, just before his death, said ”the best is yet to come.”

The Talking Dog

One of my friends recently died, he was everything that I am not. Firstly, he was sighted. He was married with a wonderful family and had enjoyed a most rewarding business life. Unlike me, who was born in poverty; he had been born to a family of wealth and position. I don't suppose he had ever lacked or wanted for anything. As a child, his parents sent him to a private school, went on wonderful vacations. He had his choice of prestigious colleges because not only was he financially able to pick out the one he wanted to attend, he had the grades and the intelligence to move through with flying colors, and yet at the same time enjoy all the social advantages that a prestigious university provides: beautiful car, fashionable clothes, eating out in fancy restaurants (he once told me that he had smoked salmon at least once a week) and enjoying all the merriment which fraternity and sorority houses provided. He was good looking, well-built, charismatic, one of those rare people who it is a pleasure to know. In college, he had the time and talent for intramural sports, and played golf every week. Unlike most of us who worked our way through school, money was his least concern, his parents replenished his bank account regularly. He partied at the best homes in the state, the best country clubs, even the governor's mansion.

He had captured the most eligible débutante, and because of his connections, his business flourished. He and his wife could walk into any place of power and prestige in the capitol city and everyone was immediately aware of their presence. Yet, as pretentious in commerce, politics, finance; he was just as pretentious with the church. Heaven had no attraction to him because he enjoyed everything the human mind could desire here on earth. I do not know the condition of his soul, but like so many in his status, he attended church only when it was convenient. Please God, is that all that is necessary in life, where the playing field is so uneven? Totally unexpected, he died, and none of his money, none of his power, none of his prestige could do one thing. A great charismatic, wealthy, magnificent man was just as dead as the most insignificant man who has ever lived.

It is all a matter of concept, like a bouncing red ball, is it the sponge of the ball, the redness of the ball, the curvature of the ball; which characteristic is most important in making the ball what it is?

The earliest, most primitive, most mentally deprived caveman would not be able to comprehend the events of this world at the present time. In the 21^st century, our lives are colored and controlled by advertising, several just infuriate me, for instance, “the talking dog”. The caveman would surely say that if it is natural for two men or two women to marry, why not a man with an animal? All the animal, such as the dog, would have to say is, “I love you.”

Having totally traveled the world, I can safely say that one of God's most beautiful spots are the fjords of Norway. Norway, a country that has forgotten God, where the churches are museums, the gargoyles on these ancient churches frown and laugh at earth's demons. These liberal, socialist, secular people thought they could laugh and frown at God, I wonder to whom they were praying at their memorial service in the great cathedral in Oslo (which I have attended) for the hundreds killed by one killer.

Anders Behring Breivik, a 32-year old supposed conservative, stated that he wanted to save Norway and Western Europe from dangerous people, Muslims, taking over. He admits to the killing, using explosive-type ammunition. Even if he is convicted of the killing of the hundreds of his fellow citizens, because of liberal God-less politics of Norway he can only receive a maximum of 21 years in prison.

America, its churches, seminaries, programs of ministries, in the main, are moving toward a Norway-type agnosticism, using a “seeker-friendly” approach to the gay agenda. Republicans, its Log Cabin group, like the mega Willow Creek church no longer assists Exodus in their Christian program involving homosexuals, rather, “the more the merrier”. Can we understand why, at one time when homosexuality was considered a psychological disease, every group, every government agency is so politically correct, afraid they might offend someone. The caveman would say, “are these people insane?”

There are mysteries we will never understand, Christ, Son of God, yet a real life human male living on this earth. The trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. A spiritual mystery, a dead person laying in a casket appearing as we knew the person, here on earth. Yet, the soul, without mass, weight, identification...the very thing that made the person in the casket who that person was: personality, ability, is no longer there, not dead like the body, but more alive than ever.

God, Creator of the universe, Creator of every person who has ever lived, distinct in every way, has well described all these things, yet the cave man would be amazed to learn that the average person, believer or not, has never spent one day attempting unravel these mysteries. He'd be amazed to know that there are actually those who profess to believe in the existence of almighty God, who know nothing about God. It has been determined that 99% of all those who sit on a pew in a house of worship cannot explain their faith, their reason for being there.

To the uninitiated, everything is obscure. The uninitiated caveman would ask why a blessed, powerful country such as America would visit warfare on many fronts against innocent fellow human beings. Why, in South America and Africa, 60% of all women are critically abused by men, leaving their children on the streets as orphans. How and why, $9.5 billion sent on planes to the middle East, taxes on hard-working, God-fearing, taxpaying people, just disappears. No trace. He would never understand how or why a man such as Obama would be living in the White House, the world's greatest military and economic power. A man who could not prove his citizenship who could not even take the oath of office as commander in chief of the military (those of us commissioned as military officer; me, a medical officer, produced hundreds of copies of transcripts, board certifications, etc. Obama has never produced anything except a forged birth certificate). When everything happening is considered, a talking dog is not a rare phenomenon.

Polystrate

Difficult for the evolutionist to comprehend: polystrate fossils, fossils from certain periods that are not aligned with time and space expectations, found in different geological strata. In other words, the oldest and the newest are backwards, such as is described in Orwell's 1984 when everything on earth was backwards, much as today, bad means good, black means white, and the clock is striking thirteen.

The human brain is the most complex structure in the universe...100 billion cells, millions of neurons, each neuron with the equivalent storage capacity of the the most expensive modern desktop computer. It would take over 3000 years to use your brain's entire capacity. We only use about 8% of our brain's potential, but we all know people who do not even begin to use that much!

This is one of the many reasons I will never understand and so despise those who kill the greatest of God's creation in the holocaust of abortion. I will never understand how any sane individual could support same-sex marriage when any sane person knows that the only method of reproduction, for homo sapiens or other fauna, is the uniting of the reproductive ability of male and female.

This is also the reason this writer will never comprehend, or even treat decently, those who belong to a political ideology and party such as the Democrats, who support such ignorance and insanity. The killing of the most innocent of life, the precious child, is unforgivable and our blessed Lord assures us that those who kill the unborn and abuse the young will get their just reward. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea (Matthew 18:6). I do not want anyone to tell me that they are Christian and a Democrat.

In Greek, the word “witness” means martyr. We do not sit in judgment, we are not the police of the world, but we do have the evidence supporting our faith and we do not mind being witnesses, martyrs of that faith.

For most of my life, I have been an antiquarian, rare book collector. Recently, I came across Dr. J. T. Dobbin's textbook on analytical chemistry. This was my text in analytical chemistry as a chemistry student. How well I remember Dr. J.T. Dobbins, always in his pew at the First Baptist Church, Chapel Hill. How well I remember the “unknowns” in analytical chemistry, the determination of elements by color. When God constructed His perfect earth, His perfect universe, every element we will ever need was put here. Among the absolutes of the earth, each element has its own atomic weight, used in molecular formulas for scientific calculation. Each element has its own specific color spectrum, when you put a log in the fire, you are observing God's greatest scientific evidence, for your spiritual/physical enjoyment. In analytical chemistry, I was given certain unknown elements, you determined the identity of the elements by weight and by color. 6000 years later, in spite of the doubts, fears, questions from the quislings of so-called scientists and the scientific method, the absolutes of nature remain the same.

All of acts of sin and betrayal begin with the imagination, whether in areas of science or behavior. Sexual sins start with imagination just as the attempt to “evolutionize” the universe starts with the imaginings from the minds of men. These phony, puny pests of intellectualism want so desperately to find some evidence, fossilized or new, to make God's work week a hoax.

Satan always pay off in counterfeit, physically or mentally. So many young women, who were living with a man, unmarried, have told me that this very man to whom they have given themselves had told her that she was not good enough to marry. Such mental gymnastics account for the destruction of our world. Prisons are full of people who could have become saints. The apostle Paul was the most outstanding bigot the world has ever known. We want to change the nature of God...all born with so much potential.

On the great plains of the Kalahari in Africa, at the time I had a small amount of vision, I watched a great mother eagle teach her young eaglets to fly. “Love is a many splendored thing” (Francis Thompson), and even the mother bird has enough love for her young that she knows when to empty the nest, as the young eaglet fell from the nest, the mother would swoop down, catch the young bird with her great wings, soar upwards and then drop the bird again. Slowly, the young eaglet began to use its own wings.

We now understand why the eagle is on our national emblem. Those 56 forefathers wrote our about our independence, but we are all very dependent on God. The problem is, we have too many “smart people” who think they have the greater wisdom...thinking God should follow them instead of them following and believing on the eternal truths of God.

There is value in every man, some good in the worst of us, some evil in the best of us. Christ recognized some good in one thief hanging on a cross. Pity that those who for a few days had honored Him, had chosen Barabbas, who was back robbing on the street.

The impervious identity of it all, then until now. Like Legion of the Gadarenes, crazy, naked, living in the tomb, broken chains; knowing Christ, sane, clothed, wanting to go with him. The people of the city, instead of rejoicing with what Christ can do with people, the miracles of our blessed Lord, through God, wanted Christ to just leave and leave them alone. They, like us, prefer insanity. (Mark 5)

On the streets of London, William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army wore a sandwich sign which read on one side: “I am a fool for Jesus”, the other side: “Who's fool are you?” A slave, Simon, from a place in Africa called Syrene, first carried our Lord's cross. Are we fools enough to carry His cross?

Black Hole

When speaking of black holes, the 21^st century person probably talks about the black hole of the universe, that region of space in the universe from which nothing, not even light, can escape. It is that vast area where there is neither time nor space, from this point of no return, the relativism, Darwinians/evolutionists believe that from a great explosion, the universe was formed. It is all conjecture, no one can prove anything, not even with the new, greater Hubble telescope.

From the frigid fantasy of such horrendous blackness, we understand the black hole of existence and its application to our lives. One of my great uncles, the brother of my grandfather, a land owning, hard-working, God-fearing, taxpaying Christian man of great reputation, had only one love in his life. In the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, with so few roads and few methods of transportation, most courtships and marriages were among young people of local families. Cassie was his love from another side of my family, both were from well-known early colonial homes, but a young, dashing charismatic man was moved by the state's Roads department into the area. He immediately swept Cassie off of her feet. I still remember him, a dandy dresser, with a white boater hat (the same type hat often used by male dancers in vaudeville shows). I can still see him taking off that hat, tilting it to every woman he met.

After this man and Cassie married and moved on to Cassie's land, land that her family had left to her, they had one son, but I don't believe she ever had another happy day because her jaunting, flaunting husband was always chasing after other women. He was one of the first real womanizers I ever knew. Even when the two of them went to church, they would never go past the old family home where my uncle continued to live. My uncle in the black hole of despair/bitterness, was never interested in another woman, lived a long, lonely life. So resentful, so afraid that he would see her at the family church, the next time he was in the church was when he was rolled in, at his funeral.

I speak as a totally blind person in a cocoon of blackness. It is so easy for a disabled person, like a bitter person, to fall into the slough of despondency, the black hole of despair. One day, when I was in one of my buildings, a young man in a wheelchair called me into his office. He closed the door and said, “I want to talk to you for a while.” He said, “I always see you outside, with a white cane, getting around as a blind person. I know you are a veteran, I know you live alone. Do you think that most of these “normal” people with whom we come in contact everyday have a clue about what we encounter as disabled people?” He said, “I have a wife who drives me here to work everyday, but I know she has stayed with me all these years simply because I make a good living. She can barely tolerate my disability, the fact that we do not go out, socialize like other couples. I know for a fact that she is in her third adulterous relationship of our marriage, weeing a man whose wife is a mental cripple; the last one, until he tired of her, was a widower. What can I say? What can I do? I need her much more than she needs me, and besides, we have two teenage children” Most “normal” people have no understanding of the plight of the handicapped, in a wheelchair or blind, such a matter as going to the bathroom.

Martin Luther King said, “you must overcome oppression without become oppressive.” I lived at time when there was racial oppression. I well remember the oppressiveness, the despair of black people. It was not just a matter of black people. Believe it or not, we live in a country where many were oppressed, black and white, and not just in the south. One of my friends in New York City told me about how her niece would borrow her expensive fur coat to go shopping in Manhattan's better stores, she got very careful service if she had on an expensive fur coat! Can one even imagine the quandary of a young black mother, or the mother from a poor family, whose baby she had birthed, knowing full well that her baby would never have the opportunity which every human being should have in this country? The black hole of discrimination, separation has led to the faithlessness of many individuals.

One my best friends in the army, a black army medical officer, told me he would never forgive or forget his wonderful mother being referred to in the white community as a “black girl”. He could never forget how she was treated in the department stores...unable to try on apparel, even a hat which she loved to wear to church. He said, “my mother was a brilliant woman, cleaner and more ambitious than any of the white clerks who worked in the white stores.” We can well understand why the haze and cloud of distrust hangs over this once segregated country.

Think of the black hole of drug addiction. This week, Amy Winehouse supposedly killed herself with an overdose. This talented young woman was known for her addiction. Like John Belushi, Chris Farley, all about the age of 27, all having attained fame and fortune, just to fall into the black hole of addiction, and these are just the famous ones, there are many, many others...prisons full, rehabilitation centers full.

Think of the many who have fallen into the black hole, not of drug dependency, but welfare dependency. We now have several generations who are depending on the taxpaying public to support them. It has been estimated that a welfare family of four, taking advantage of every government social service subsidy, including food stamps, grants, section 8 housing, appropriations for learning problems, that the total would amount to around $75,000. The black hole of government largess, dependency for food, shelter, utilities, health and professional care.

Think of it, millions of your tax dollars spent on warfare, bringing misery to to people you do not know and who do not know you. Millions spent on homeland security, travel security (TSA), when there is a greater chance of your being struck by lightning than harmed by terrorists. The black hole of fears, government taunted and promoted, is gripping the American soul.

You cannot feel deeply unless you think deeply. Your deepest thoughts are those of your faith. You escape the black hole of fear, addictions, social problems via an all-comprehensive, all-compassionate faith. Martin Luther said that we should constantly be pushing the Gospel on ourselves.

Roach Motel

The most resilient life, able to adapt to any environment, the greatest distributor of microbiology, found throughout the world: the cockroach. Some species are several inches in length and can live for many days without food or water, their females continuously hatching offspring. From my study of parasitology, these pests are probably the most dangerous lifeforms in existence. One would think that with all the technological advances, with out chemical and biological expertise, such dangers to mankind would have been eliminated long ago.

We have no problem affecting the RU486 abortion pill which eliminates God's chief creation, babies. We have no problem with the technology that has almost eradicated the genetics involved in all seed production. The earliest forms of tobacco, like other herbs which you can inhale, were good for the lungs. According to the World Health Organization, lung disease is the greatest killer in the world, yet over 500 chemicals were added to tobacco, including benzene and arsenic, and tobacco became a killer. The most successful area of mind control in the world: the smoking of tobacco products. Anyone who has ever seen the autopsy, the lungs, of a tobacco smoker, anyone with knowledge about the growing of tobacco, (constant dusting and spraying with poisons to kill insects, the sticky stomata on the leaves holding fast the poison, the leaves then dried) would know that tobacco with its poisons and toxicity could not be good for anyone. Primitive civilizations used it, along with other herbs, medicinally.

As a young student at the university, I had to work. My first job was working in the university cafeteria, I have never forgotten the warehouse where the food for the cafeteria was stored. There were rats everywhere, one cannot comprehend so many rats. Rats, like cockroaches, urinate and defecate everywhere they move. There is nothing more poisonous than the defecation of cockroaches and rats, yet, think of it, a prestigious university staffed with highly intelligent people, a nation spending millions of dollars on public health projects and clinics, and still to this day, rats and cockroaches in places of commerce, and more maddening/sickening of all, thriving in the homes of citizens.

On my many trips through Asia, particularly China, where 66% of the people smoke cigarettes, I was shocked at the many smokers, their variety of cigarettes. They do not poison their tobacco, but they do put out poison to eradicate rats and cockroaches.

The poet William Cowper said, “God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform.” God must blush and snicker to watch the unexpected actions of His chief creation...consistent inconsistencies. We know that radiation causes cancer and yet continue to cling to radiation treatment for cancer treatment. We know that God's most prized creation, His most prized possession are children, yet we spit in His face by killing children and even glorifying same-sex marriage (marriage of those who cannot have children), marginalizing and putrefying the education and development of children. Only insane people would expose young, sensitive minds to putrid television. Only insane people would buy putrid food for a child's ingestion. Only insane people, knowing the consequences of hideous, sinful activity, prisons full of people convicted of such, would allow their most precious possessions, their children, to be exposed to such depravity anywhere.

We pray that God will forgive this country, the citizens of this world, those who know better, for such insanity. The greatest example of forgiveness: Christ and Peter. Catholics should cling to this truth, Peter so close to Christ, yet at the trial, as His Savior was being flogged, sat down with the accusers and warmed his hands by their fire and denied knowing Him. God always warns us, He used a rooster to warn Peter, true repentance to such sin, leads to much weeping, but on Resurrection morning, Christ said, “go tell my disciples, and tell Peter.” Why did He specify Peter? Such marvelous forgiveness is available to us.

In our brilliance, the roach motel, they go in and don't come out. So should it be with our living, our giving, using the sanity of being able to determine right from wrong. You go to poor people to hear purpose in prayer, you go to needful people, those who want to understand God's message, to hear purpose in prayer.

Barrel of Snakes

In 1948, the year that this writer graduated from high school, George Orwell wrote his famous book Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the book, Orwell describes how a government (and people) can have a virus of insanity: “up” means “down”, “black” means “white”.

It was after the Korean conflict, I was in the nation's capital, having been honored by the Army. Since I had lost most of my vision, a Congressional assistant walked me into the Senate chamber, thinking he might introduce me to at least one of my Senators, from the Senate gallery he said, “on the floor right now is Senator Kerr Scott, your former Governor, that man could fall through a barrel of fish hooks and never get scratched. Washington knows him for being that crooked, that slimy.” Of course, I remembered from when he was governor, the famous paper bags of $20 bills that were taken into his office and left there, if you expected any attention from him. I remembered his son, later governor, Bob Scott, and the same tales. His daughter (Commissioner of Agriculture) did not get by with the “crookedness” of her father and grandfather, she went to jail.

It is so easy to get attached to the treasure/idols of this world. You can be sure that someone will try to rob you. This very day, the latest scam, men calling, trying to speak English, attempting to get information about your banking or securities account. In the background of the boiler room, you can hear many voices on phones attempting to get the information required to hack your account. Hacking has become the most popular and profitable activity in the world's economy and news gathering operations. Wikileaks led the way, now everyone is involved for profit and promotion. Billionaire Rupert Murdoch and his son James are testifying before the British parliament, so scarce was the security that Murdoch's Chinese wife Wendi Deng had to protect him. One whistle-blower found murdered in England, but it seems to be of no significance to the police. Another, a woman, was found hanging naked from a balcony with her hands tied behind her back, two days after her son's death. The clueless police thought that it was suicide. According to Orwell's book, the clock is striking thirteen. The halls of our nations capital are filled with stock brokers dealing with politicians.

Democrats have had a gain of 750% in their stock portfolios, Republicans a gain of 168%. President Obama's net worth was $300,000 in 2004, $9 million in 2009. Tom Harkin, Senator from Iowa, was worth $2 million in 2004, $16 million in 2009. Nancy Pelosi's net worth has increased from $13 million to $124 million, she is now ranked 6^th in the House by net worth. Go to http://governmentgonewild.org/thelist and http://www.opensecrets.org/ to read more of our Congressional leaders' financial gains. Senators and congress people who make a salary of $174,000 a year, cannot wear $3,000 suits...their constituents wear suits bought from thrift stores. Politicians, like their fellow heathen idol worshipers, adhere to things that are sticky and shiny. As worthless as it is, fiat money really sticks to the hands of wrongdoers. It is so much easier to polish the apple, shine your charisma, than put in the hard work which God has always required of His disciples. 59% of the American people depend on incentives, retirement checks, subsidies of some sort.

The chief of police in West Point, New York retired and moved to this town into a house next to mine. Of course, I learned long ago that no one cares that I lost my eyesight serving in the military for this country. He said to me, and I will never forget the words, “you are such a fool, spending all that time in school, going to war for a country which despises you and will never do anything for you. I started out as a rookie policeman, writing tickets, kissing ass, and retired as chief. I get over $200,000 a year in retirement, you have already told me that you get practically nothing, still work everyday, and I see you stumbling around all the time. Every police officer, every civil service worker is retired at the height of their pay, taking into consideration sick leave, vacations, and bonuses. I am retired with better healthcare, better everything than you fools who thought you were serving your country.”

America has produced a defective crop of citizens, something for nothing. One woman was working for me, who had many problems at home, bills to pay, a child to raise. She said, “I need $500. I want this money from you, and if you do not give me the money I am going to accuse you of molesting me.” This has happened twice. When I laughed and told the two women to get out my house, one of them, Sandy Scott, picked up a book, threw it at me, hit me on the head and ran out. I called the police, and right after that call, one of my friends called me (Joe Pascal), evidently he had a premonition of something and he called the police also. In this town, even with murder, the police do nothing. In cases such as this, in cases of thievery (and I have many of those), in case of break-ins, the police do nothing except draw their nice paychecks and ride back and forth to their homes in cars for which our taxes pay.

Most of us work continuously/contagiously, like slaves in order to pay exorbitant taxes. At one Army hospital where I was on the staff, about once a year, the pharmacy cleansed its stock. As the pharmacy officer told me, “we throw away millions of dollars in drugs and other pharmacy products which could certainly be used.” He said, “one day the world will know what our blessed Lord was talking about when he called the deceiving Pharisees, who thought they were so religious and patriotic, snakes and vipers.” Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? (Matthew 23:33)

Dynia

In medical etymology, the earliest descriptive words pertaining to healthcare and disease have Greek origins. Your practitioner will use these superlatives in describing your condition, a word with -ology means “study of” (for instance, bacteriology, cardiology, etc.), a word with -itis means “inflammation” (for instance, conjunctivitis, bursitis, etc.), a word with -osis means “condition of” (for instance, osteoporosis, psychosis, etc.). A word with -dynia means “pain” (for instance, cephalodynia).

What is the need of going to school and learning to read, what is the need of having technology if you do not use such knowledge in your life? Your health, in spite of the stock market, real estate, silver and gold, is your greatest wealth. Your body has a tremendous ability to heal itself, your body has a tremendous ability to help you diagnose your problem, and no matter what has happened so far, you will have problems. Pain is the first warning of a problem.

The most accurate diagnostician must depend on subjective findings, what you tell him or her. In my lifetime, because of the progress of radiology, nanotechology etc., objective diagnosis is much improved. Have you noticed that when you go to your doctor now, he spends most of his time with his fingers on his computer, you are fortunate if he touches you at all. Unlike the old-fashioned doctor who felt that “laying on of hands” was not only an accurate diagnostic measure, but who had sense enough to know that it gave much assurance and healing to the patient. Any patient in my presence was touched, just a squeeze to their hand assured them that things were under control. These silly frilly young practitioners, running from one exam room to the other depending just on laboratory results, data from the technician, their minds more on a golf game than on your body, just wants results from an MRI or a scan. As Dr. Margaret Swanton, professor at UNC Chapel Hill Medical School said to me one time, “the body does not function the way it is written in books, each body has its own homeostasis.” In spite of progress, politics, professional and social parasites, we are not cookie-cutter products.

I experienced warfare pain, not just my own, but heard the screams of others. In my sleep I still hear the screams of burn victims. It is absolutely beyond my comprehension that those who enjoy the benefits of this democratic republic can so casually enjoy fireworks...can be so thrilled with pop music, can be so unconcerned as they rest comfortably on church pews. In several medical museums I have seen the medical equipment of yesteryear: the saws used in limb amputation, the forceps used in child birth. Every time I have blood work done I remind the technician of how we, at one time, sharpened needles, today's needles are so finite you barely feel them. Like the slide rule which we used as students, the stethoscope is almost a thing of the past.

There is no surgery as painful as eye surgery. In an attempt to save at least some small smidgen of vision, I underwent 10 eye surgeries including cryosurgery (eyes frozen). Trying to lessen the effects of wounds, much cosmetic surgery. I know of nothing any worse than needle injections all around the facial areas.

I believe my grandmother was my first experience as a child observing objective excruciating pain. My grandmother was from a family with money, and she could afford the best. At that time, 80 years ago, the best was not much. In eastern North Carolina, there were few public hospitals, some private surgeons owned their own hospital with a few beds. She was in one of these hospitals, Wilson NC, and we know now that she was dying with breast cancer (all such problems of that sort, at that time, called “carbuncles”). Like so many in ancient history, diabetics or toxemia interfered with any type healing. Pain management, or even control, was unknown. Professionals, families, people did what they could, the best they knew, but with such severe pain, nausea, they did not last very long. More and more we learn of patients who were put out of their pain. To this day, assisted suicide is not rare.

For one month, I have been afflicted with severe pain, back pain. The same old song and dance that everyone should be well-educated, referrals from one specialty to another. When we get down to the truth of the matter, in spite of our research, technology, Big Pharma, we are not much better off than we were 70 years ago. The drugs are more potent, much more time is spent on your ability to pay than their ability to help you, but it is still the same old song and dance. It is rare to get an answer, just experimentation.

Political, western medicine/treatment considers alternative methods as cults...osteopathic , naturopathic, chiropractic, homeopathic physicians, even methods that have worked well in other cultures for thousands of years. With Obamacare, with increasing scrutiny, funds more and more limited, most insurance companies have given up on healthcare, everyone should get prepared for pain. Having gotten the run-around from four different practitioners, having spent thousands of dollars for nothing, like many of you, I am about back to zero. Can you even imagine the billions of tax dollars paid everyday to practitioners of every discipline, just experimenting. In this town, one large medical complex, 65 physicians in this one practice, takes in $100 million each week, most of the work divided between physician's assistants (PA).

Exaggeration has become the byword in most interests. Most preachers cannot preach without exaggerating, most politicians exaggerate with their promises and pleading. Your healthcare practitioner always exaggerates...a scared patient will always spend more money. It is inconceivable that television advertising pronouncements try to wring more money out of you by advertising drugs and treatments. Every day, every way, pulling at the strings of your charity, giving to such supposed non-profits as American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, Americans for Medical Progress, Brain Tumor Foundation, and about 50 others. Don't we have sense enough to know that with all the money (millions of dollars every day) that has been spent on cancer research, more progress should have been made? However, with all the money made from the treatment of cancer, a cure would result in a real economic calamity. We all wear badges, badges of Christian commitment, badges of healthcare, badges of patriotism. I do not mean to tarnish any badge, but the shine has been taken off the badge of many groups...churches, professions, nationalistic integrity.

The fastest growing religion is witchcraft, 99% of those in churches cannot tell you why they are there. The judicial, law enforcement, education, military professions, no longer have the honor which was accorded them in my youth. The key which unlocks the door of our heart in all these life-giving agencies is our desire to prevent and relieve pain.

Cire Perdue

Cire Perdue is the French word used to describe the process involved whereby a wax cast is constructed from the artist's original bronze or brass sculpture. Often the same process is used in statuary repair, heated wax can be dripped into a crack or flaw and through this cire perdue method a perfect replica is produced. As with all artwork, only the most trained/educated eye can detect the difference.

Such is the importance of outward beauty, beauty which any eye can see. It is inward beauty that is more difficult to detect. Looking at the great works of Michaelangelo such as David, alone at a great museum in Florence, the marble seems so real. It has been said that after Michaelangelo finished his famous statue of Moses, so real, so perfect, he hit statue with his hammer and said, “speak to me.” The great artist said that each large block of marble contains someone just waiting to come out. The artist does not produce ugliness, whether with the chisel and hammer or the artist's brush, he wants reality, but the reality of beauty, the customer does not pay his money for ugliness, in craftsmanship or reality. In art, as in life, one desires balance, style, class.

Religious history shows us that believers desired the best. Until this day, the greatest building ever built, Solomon's Temple, just to read of its dedication, the music involved, the sacrifices involved (22,000 oxen slain, sheep without number), or even St. Paul's in London, (one that you can still see to this day), we can understand why, as children, we wore our best clothing to church on Sunday. Even in the poorest eastern North Carolina town, the church house, with stained glass windows, carved woodwork, was pointed to with pride. Many of the attendees might have come from barren homes but they did not approach God's house in a casual way... modest dress, careful behavior, appropriate music. Everything showing honor to the Creator of the universe.

Can you even imagine going for a job interview, going to a wedding, a funeral, wearing casual clothes? God deserves, and expects our best. Everything we do, our dress, our behavior, our worship, is all for His glory. (1 Corinthians 10:31) I am told that some churches allow attendees to wear shorts, flip-flops, even let them bring drinks. I was told that in one black church in town, signs were on the vestibule door leading to the sanctuary that said, “no eating or drinking beyond this door”. One man told me of a church where a young man, wearing shorts and flip-flops was holding a dip cup in which he spat from tobacco. What is wrong with the men of this church, do they have a shoestring for a backbone?

One woman came to my house for a job, her husband was an assistant at a local megachurch. it was his job as one of 31 assistant pastors just to the lighting system in rhythm with the drums and brass of the church music. I said to her, “do you have an organ or piano, as do most old-fashioned churches?” She said, “no, we do not want a conventional church, we want music that will attract the younger set, music that they can move and dance by during the service.”

At the University Cathedral in Los Angeles where Dr. Gene Scott was pastor for so many years, if he saw one person whisper to another, or any unnecessary movement, he asked an usher to immediately escort the person out of the building. Children attended services in the main sanctuary only when they reached the age of twelve, from the age of twelve until marriage, they were required to sit with their parents. Those under the age of twelve had their own special service. God's Word was real and important to this preacher, church service was not a time of entertainment, a social gathering, it was a time for study, learning, harmony instead of cacophony.

Traveling the world, I attended many church services, many denominations. On Easter Island, Pacific Ocean five hundred miles off the coast of Chile, in the Catholic church on Sunday Morning, all the women were well-dressed, they all had flowers in their hair and over their outerwear, everything about the service was glorious.

Scripture talks much about longsuffering above everything else, our habits, our sins of omission and commission, our ungratefulness, our faithlessness. God is longsuffering in our attitude of worship to Him. A person as ugly as a fencepost can go to church clean, dressed in his best with a humble attitude of worshipfulness in living and in giving. The most important measure of our worship is our giving, returning to God a portion of that which has been given to us. The tithe is the Lord's whether we give it or not. 1/7 of our time is the Lord's whether we give it or not. Our longsuffering Lord expects us to remember Him as often as possible at His table. We can use cire perdue patchwork put on paint or other makeup, we can pretend and disguise but the inner man will always expose the outer man.

All Things Considered

The greatest yearning of the human experience is to be happy. The first time I was in communist Russia, other than the dreariness of the country, the thing that impressed me most was the unhappiness of the people. The people, like the buildings, the streets, and even the nature that surrounded them, was dull, dingy, dreary.

Sharing the trip with me was a news commentator from Radio WRO in New York City. He said, “I never see a smile.” We also noticed that so many of the people on the trollies, on the streets, were drunk. I remember saying to him, “if I had to live in this dreadful place, alcohol would probably be my escape.”

In my lifetime, I have seen the American spirit of optimism and opportunity, turn into a morass of drug addiction. News accounts are full of such, even involving police officers.

Because I lost my eyesight in a war and have been totally blind for over 50 years, I must depend on other people to help me with many things. No one would believe how many young men and women have been employed by me, carrying along with their many other problems, the baggage of addiction. I had hired a 32 year-old young man, a father of two daughters, married to a public school teacher, to do some repair work on a rental house which I own. This very day, he told me that he had spent this weekend in the hospital as a drunk, is now beginning 45 days of rehabilitation, all at your, the taxpayer's, expense. You can consider me foolish, but I had given him money to buy material, which he evidently spent the money on alcohol. This is just one example of such problems which I have encountered year after year. The jails and hospitals are full, tax-supported facilities are filled with such human debris. As long as we have permissive parents, a permissive society, quackery in schools, masquerading churches, a politically correct society where it is improper to criticize, where the taxpayers will subsidize character flaws, things will not improve things.

Character determines destiny. The building of character starts in the home shortly after cutting the umbilical cord. Children are lovely and are to be loved, but the greatest and most important love is tough love. Yielding to a child's whims by attempting to assure a child's happiness with things just leads to the child thinking that satisfaction and happiness comes through things, when things stop satisfying, one tries to find happiness in the bottom of a liquor bottle, snorting exotic chemicals. It even becomes fashionable to dig into designer drugs, to have a police record. The time is long past when parents are shamed by a police blotter, a grandchild born to an unwed mother. I had rather to have died than to have shamed my parents by having them bail me out of a jail. God-fearing, hard-working, frugal living parents who had denied themselves in order to give their children opportunities which they had never had.

The enabler of every addiction is the hideous process of throwing money at it. We throw money at education, enabling poor performance; throw money at welfare recipients, throw money at useless business enterprises—and something which cannot be hid from the world—we throw money at our national enemies, hoping they will love us. As long as decent, hard-working, taxpaying, God-fearing Americans tolerate the throwing of money and thereby enabling addictive behavior, we will just have more of it.

Please answer this question: why would any young man or woman work or show responsible living, when, because of addictive behavior (alcohol or other drug absorption) they can lay around watching useless slop on television, live off the tax dollar, supported by ambitious people who work for a living, pay their taxes, and appreciate the opportunities provided them by this democratic republic?

Classic, time-tested behavior: studying, reading good books, taking advantage of spiritual and physical opportunities, exercise, decent sexual control, eating correctly. Few people who love their prized pets would feed them junk food, likewise parents who love their children will control their appetites, whether food or that which enters the body through the eyes or ears.

I am very familiar with one young man, a father of four small children. He was working several jobs in order to support the family, before leaving for work, he told his 9 year-old son to pull all the weeds from the shrubbery and the flowerbeds. Coming home, tired, weary from work and worries, he noticed the weeds were still in the shrubbery. Going inside the house, the son had his eyes glazed and fixed to the television set. He went over and kicked the front out of the television set, he said, “now we will see how much television you watch, because there will never be another one in my house!”

It is time for parents to put muscle behind their parenting, set examples for their children. Probably this young man working for me, who will spend 45 days in rehabilitation always observed beer in his family's refrigerator, saw his parents drinking cocktails. All things considered, most communities are fortunate that things are no worse than they are.

Hyperbolic 197

If the crust of the earth were gold (atomic weight 197), men would lie, cheat and steal for a handful of dirt. The value of gold is greatly exaggerated compared to the immortal soul of a human being, God's greatest Creation.

On an expedition ship to the Antarctic (South Pole), I shared a cabin in the ship with a Fleet Street banker from London. He was perhaps the classiest, wittiest, most captivating man I have ever met...educated at Oxford, knighted by the Queen. He had a tremendous knowledge of world finance. He would have been the first to tell you that the United Kingdom (the British Empire), captured/colonized the world in an effort to channel most of the world's wealth to the British Isles. Until this very day, the United Kingdom controls most of the world's wealth (measured in gold, art treasures, classic political power).

From the time that Nebuchadnezzar hauled away all the gold and treasures of Judaism to Babylon. From the time Greco-Roman wars etched the lines of European civilization, it has not been a matter of land or water rights but who has the most wealth stored up in gold, silver, and precious stones.

The conquistadors landing in South America, were not interested in human slaves or the poor, undeveloped land to conquer, but rather the accrued wealth of the Mayans and Incas. Just as the gold, silver, sculptured frescoes from the Parthenon went back to England, so the wealth from South America found its way back to Spain and France.

“Follow the money” is a historical principle and prophecy which has never failed. Of course, paper fiat money, notes, bonds are relatively new, but the time came when it was burdensome to travel with heavy gold, silver coins or items of bartering value such as porcelain. Early European city-states such as Venice, Florence, Rome started what has become the modern day banking business, such families as the Medici, Doge, Rothschild. Fortunes then, and still to this day, were made and are made by the money handlers. The money handlers are involved with everything, nations, industry, even the church. Christ himself chased the money-changers out of the temple (John 2:14-16). Those of us who have explored Vatican City, St. Peter's, are well-aware of the gold there...the Catholic Church, the richest entity in today's world.

Much to our sorrow, we have seen money so infiltrate God's church, God's work, that the real mission of the church is barely recognized. We know that missionaries, ministers of the Gospel, ministries blessed to teach and preach the Gospel (churches, colleges, hospitals, orphanages, media programs) must have funds, funds from Christian people given as unto God. We find that many preachers/evangelists are more interested in their pastoral package (salary, car, housing allowance, vacation) than they are in the church pulpit and God's program. Servitude is a matter of personal character, whether ministry, healthcare, academia, or even political service. It takes a certain amount of gold, or its equivalent, to live and support a family but we are assured that God knows our needs, and will supply our needs. We are assured that everyone, regardless of vocation will have troubles. That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:7)

A historical landmark marks the place in South Dakota, Wounded Knee, where hundreds of Native Americans were killed by the 7^th Cavalry Regiment. This is just one example of the slaughter that took place as early American settlers traveled westward claiming (what is now) American soil from the natives who possessed it. Not only did Americans claim the possessions and wealth of the Native Americans, but just as important as gold to them, their supply of food (it is estimated that 16 million bison were killed and just left to rot on the plains of this great nation) in somewhat successful the attempt to starve these men, women and children.

Like the Europeans who colonized Africa, the Middle East, South America and much of Asia, it was the greed and thievery of their wealth (gold, silver, minerals, art treasures) that will forever be a blight on Western civilization. Just think, England, colonizing/capturing most of the civilized world, to this day still holding on to most of it...Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, etc. (54 total members of the British Commonwealth). It is wealth, but it is not “commonwealth”. As my Fleet Street banker friend said to me, “there is probably not a calculator made that could total the wealth of the British Empire, controlled by just one family, a so-called royal family. In many of the 54 nations of the commonwealth, there are men, women and children who have never had a drink of clean water. Their drinking water, cooking water, laundry water, all coming from a polluted creek or river. Just one of the Queen's many castles, Buckingham Palace, has 775 rooms, 50 bathrooms...this much space for an 85 year old woman and her 89 year-old husband.

Everything pertaining to God's Church is found in New Testament books of Romans through Philemon. The first chapter of Romans tells the world, for time through eternity, about man's inhumanity to man, particularly the homosexual agenda. In spite of what the heathen such as Nietzsche has said, God is not dead, nor is He asleep. He knew about the cruelty of the Romans during the earthly life of Christ, from Sirius of Assyria, from Alexander the Great of Greece to the Caesars of Rome, for every power-grab, every idol worship, the slaughter of every innocent child, the trail of every stolen coin, He has an accounting system. The eraser on His pencil is seldom used. For nations, nationalities, individuals, He only had to say it one time: For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (1 Timothy 6:10)

Hegemony of Imperatives

Mark Twain said that India is the ultimate travel destination. In my years of world travel, perhaps I spent more time in India than in any other foreign country. On one visit, sharing a train compartment with the Indian Minister of Travel and his son (the son was returning to a university in England), I was asked if I had traveled through India previously. I said, “yes, and nothing ever changes. Every time, I feel like I am in the Gandhi movie, the train, and everything on either side of the tracks.” The minister said, “you are right, it has not changed in 2000 years.”

The most revealing thing about India is religion, India is the most religious nation in the world. Everywhere, there are temples of some sort, monkey temples, Brahma temples, Jain temples. You walk up to some place and someone anoints your forehead. Their great, aged temples whose walls are covered with pornographic figures such as those at Khajuraho; at other temples, mothers throw their babies from the tops of the temples in a ritual. I was allowed to cross the bridge and enter the gold temple of the Sihks at Armistar, turbaned Sihks were preparing a great abundance of food for pilgrims. In other areas of the Himilayas, Asia, there are Buddhist monasteries, boys and men of all ages serving as monks. In Sri Lanka, out in the countryside, I was awakened early as a band came down the street escorting devotees, taking food to the monks at their monastery. At Kandy, Sri Lanka, followers of Buddha were lined up in a monastery just to view a tooth of Buddha.

I am sorry to report that the passion and integrity of Christians has disappeared in most parts of the world, particularly in Europe. In my many visits to the Vatican, those visiting for the first time were easily recognized, tears came easy to those went into St. Peter's for the first time.

There is a difference in spiritual awareness and spiritual/physical happenstance (following laws and rules) such as you find in an Islamic mosque. The mosque is much more concerned with your physical appearance...shoe-less, head and limbs covered. I had great difficultly learning the actual devout places of Muslims, but often without knowing it, I would go into a Muslim holy place and someone would come running with a towel for me to cover up my legs if I was wearing shorts, or if a woman companion was wearing a short sleeve blouse. At least, there are some religions that still do have controlled rituals.

I am sorry to report that most “Christian” churches are no longer easily recognized, just another auditorium. I may not be right, but I want my church to be right, I want my Christian church to show Christianity, with a cross, alter, sacred music. I may not be right but I want my pastor to be right, not a Joel Osteen, Rick Warren, Robert Schuller, one who has forsaken doctrinal foundations. The best example of this was shown recently, when Larry King interviewed Joel Osteen. Osteen, who never went to a Bible college or seminary, who has done nothing in his life, except take over when his preacher father died, who smiles and jokes his way through his “sermon-ettes”, mostly for “Christian-ettes”, seemingly does not know who will go to heaven or hell.

KING: Because we’ve had ministers who said, your record don’t count. You either believe in Christ or you don’t. If you believe in Christ, you are, you are going to heaven. And if you don’t, no matter what you’ve done in your life, you ain’t.

OSTEEN: Yeah, I don’t know. There’s probably a balance between. I believe you have to know Christ. But I think that if you know Christ, if you’re a believer in God, you’re going to have some good works. I think it’s a cop-out to say I’m a Christian but I don’t ever do anything

KING: What if you’re Jewish or Muslim, you don’t accept Christ at all?

OSTEEN: You know, I’m very careful about saying who would and wouldn’t go to heaven. I don’t know . . .

KING: If you believe you have to believe in Christ? They’re wrong, aren’t they?

OSTEEN: Well, I don’t know if I believe they’re wrong. I believe here’s what the Bible teaches and from the Christian faith this is what I believe. But I just think that only God will judge a person’s heart. I spent a lot of time in India with my father. I don’t know all about their religion. But I know they love God. And I don’t know. I’ve seen their sincerity. So I don’t know. I know for me, and what the Bible teaches, I want to have a relationship with Jesus.

Dr. Robert Schuller, pastor of the, now bankrupt, Crystal Cathedral, believes that anyone and everyone will go to heaven. Rick Warren, pastor of the “believe anything” Saddleback Church in California, believes it is a matter of thinking good things and doing good works, a part of the emergent church movement.

This past weekend, just a few miles from my home, a large tent meeting called the Wild Goose Festival, attracting thousands with such modernist, liberal religionists as Brian McLaren, Jay Bakker (gay son of Jimmy and Tammy), Shane Claibourne, and musicians such as David Wilcox and Michelle Shocked. The organizers say that they want to distance themselves from the “politicized versions of Christianity.”

One of my friends, Martha, active in this new-age, new-world church movement said to me, “Tom, God loves these people as much as He loves us.” I said to her, “Martha, Christ died for everyone. To the Cross He took all the sins of the world, all the sicknesses of the world, but it is our privilege to follow Him, not Him follow us. He has told us that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments. He preached Himself. 14 times in the book of John alone, we are told that we can know we are saved. He is the truth, the way, the life.” (John 14:6) Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. (1 John 3:1)

Some Will Understand

I sleep with my window open at night. Until someone can prove otherwise, I believe that the secret to good health is fresh air in the lungs and nutritious calories in the body. Near me, a homosexual hodge-podge of gays and lesbians have a cookout at their house on Friday nights. As I lay starving, the aroma of grilled steaks drift into my room. Accompanying this aroma: bellicose laughter, flamboyant cursing, using our precious Lord's name in vain. I have never understood why these lost people always preface every Satanic sentence with “Oh God!”

I have attended several country clubs in my time (private clubs, fraternal groups, etc.). One of my friends who often was invited to local country club said, “one of the more prominent 'Perle Mesta'-types would walk around the elitist groups saying, 'I wonder what the poor folks are doing?'”

Why is it is none of my business how other people spend their money? As a Methodist bishop told me one time, “it is none of my business how Methodists spend their money.” Most will never understand the importance of self-denial, because they do not believe in denying self regarding anything. Those of us with the money to pamper ourselves take much more pleasure in denying self for the benefit of others. Our blessed Lord said, “if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24)

It was a shocking revelation to this country boy when I learned about the real difference between classes of people...the fraternity house, “rush week”, “big I little u” mentality. It was at the university that I realized the powerbrokers of the world take care of their own. The university furnished an academic “concierge” to make sure that the sons and daughters of the state's elite are coiffured with good grades, professorial interest, and everything that money and political power can arrange.

Today is the beginning of the Bohemian Grove July encampment in California. There is a 2,700 “pied-a-terre” near San Francisco where, annually, the elitists of the world (former US Presidents and other world leaders, industrialists, bankers, academicians) gather from their summer snoozing, boozing and cruising. At this two week retreat, families are not allowed, only men, all trying to impress one another. This retreat is where the Manhattan Project was started, leading to the atomic bomb. President Richard Nixon who attended several of these Bohemian Grove events said that it was the “most faggy thing you could ever imagine” and that he wouldn't shake hands with any one from San Francisco.

Despite the connotations and denotations of the groups and the groupies, like the local country club, the college fraternity, the fraternal order, many small minds still consider it a big thing to be included with those who discriminate. It gives some people a superior feeling to “step up” with those who “cut down” others

The Yellowstone Country Club is the world's most expensive, elitist country club. The initiation fee for Yellowstone is $250,000, the annual membership - $20,000, the average home near the club about $4 million. Members such as Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Ted Turner enjoy the many acres, ski lifts, etc. News sources have uncovered that the founder borrowed $375 million against the interests of the club and took $209 million for his trouble. There was a time that the foibles of the rich and famous could be hid for a while but Wikileaks, Anonymous, and hacking in general have exposed international crime and rich criminals to cleansing sunlight.

Most of the grasping for high political office, grabbing by wall street profiteers involved the incessant hunger to be included in this type world-class, superiority-complex hiatus. Can one even imagine that there are those who feel their life is only complete by spending and spreeing?...hundreds of dollars for a meal, hundreds for drinks, impressive iconic vehicles, homes, biography. I have known so many who think that it makes them look superior to hang around people and places that they think are superior. Get real, the thrill of living, livelihood, comes from transforming, not conforming (Romans 12:2).

I go to a thrift store hoping that God has led one of these wealthy people to leave his little-worn, labeled “duds” for me to a buy at a fretful price. The wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. (Proverbs 13:22) I do not own one article of clothing that was not bought in a thrift store. Every time I leave the house I always have on a dress shirt and a nice silk tie, but I do not own one dress shirt or tie for which I have paid more than 25 cents.

At my own father's funeral my wealthy sister said to me, “that is a beautiful suit you have on.” I pull back the coat, showing her the Saks Fifth Avenue label and said, “yes, I paid $5 for this suit.” She said, “I cannot believe you would wear a $5 suit to your father's funeral, as hard as that man worked for you to have the very best clothing!” It is true that my parents clothed us real well, but she had already told me what a beautiful suit I had on, and my father was very proud of the fact that his son knew how to hold onto a dollar, invest wisely and give more to God's Work than all of us together had ever made.

Some of us know the thrill of the chase: finding bargains, getting a good buy from a radio classified program, a good buy from the sales papers at the grocery store or otherwise, buying anything (building, vehicle, fixer-upper). I do not have any piece of furniture in my house that was not bought second-hand, restored, or refurbished...beautiful wood, classical china, silver.

Recently, the local country club decided to assess it members many thousands of dollars in order to redecorate the country club. My banker tells me that some members were desperate to borrow funds, they would not dare let their well-heeled fellow members think that they could not pay the assessment.

The vicissitudes, quells and qualms of life, involve what is important to you. If you spend your life as an impostor, pretending, whether in spiritual or physical matters, you are headed for a life of misery. My friend in the retail clothing business told me about how many women in town would buy a dress on Friday, wear it to a party on the weekend and bring the dress back on Monday, “they had decided it did not fit them well and the color was not right for her. At least she remembered where to put the price tags.”

The love of God never flows in the life of the unbeliever. Idolaters, self-centered, weak people more concerned with what others think of them, than what God knows about them. I said to a fancy matron, floating around the church, “why is this church important to you?” She said, “because the right people come here, it is not because of a Jew born in a stable.”