Here are some of my thoughts and writings from the past; prior Facebook posts, emails, journal entries, etc.  My aim is to preserve these in one collection, and as I do so, delete them from other public sites.  I will attempt to date them according to the original posting date, beginning with the oldest.  

2011:  Posts about books I have read. 

11/25/2011   I'm in the library picking up more books. I finished 2 novels this week and will finish a third tonight - unusual for me - I usually read non-fiction. Three good books: Mr Pip (Lloyd Jones), The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins) and The Art of Racing in the Rain (Garth - somebody?).

    Note: I ddn't know the Hunger Games was a series at the time I read the first book.

 I'm reading Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (Jamie Ford) right now. Then I'm going to do a couple of nice Christmas-type books, so maybe I'll get back into the HUNGER series after that. 

12/01/2011  I finished reading HOTEL AT THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET (Jamie Ford) today. It's a good book, dual time settings in Seattle area: (1) Chinese/Japanese communites during WW2 and (2) events in the character's lives 40 years later. It's about losing things and moving forward ... and much, much more. Good love story too. Some tearful moments too - good and bad.

For me, it reminded me of recent events in our country, how America has the usual way of over-reacting to people of other national origins in times of crisis, thus creating crisis in their lives too, even when they're innocent.

Comments:

   Diane Methany: We have some very dear friends who experienced everything in this book. Mary lived in Seattle during the time depicted in this book and had an experience very much like the girl in the book. She and her family lost everything they had; they were placed in a detention camp when she was four and spent the rest of the war there. Charles' family had a large farm near San Jose, CA, and when the government confiscated their farm, they moved inland to Colorado for the duration of the war. Both Charles and Mary were second-generation Japanese American CITIZENS. You are so right, Joe. We are seeing the same kind of mass hysteria that led to this egregious act against a whole population of innocent men, women, and children. I highly recommend this book. It needs to be required reading in every high school in the country.

   Me:  Thanks for sharing. Even as fiction, it's a heart-breaking story - but, knowing actual people who experienced it really adds a much deeper dimension to it. 

2/15/2012  "How is it possible to keep caring for the poor when the poor only get poorer? How is it possible to keep nursing the sick when they are not getting better? How can I keep consoling the dying when their deaths only bring me more grief? The answer is that they all hold a blessing for me, a blessing that I need to receive. Ministry is, first of all, receiving God's blessing from those to whom we minister. What is this blessing? It is a glimpse of the face of God. Seeing God is what heaven is all about! We can see God in the face of Jesus, and we can see the face of Jesus in all those who need our care." (from HERE AND NOW by Henri J. M. Nouwen, page 95)

Matthew 25 (KJV):

(40) Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

(45) Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

2012  POSTS AND COMMENTS:

1/5/2012  In response to a Sojourner article, "An Invitation to the Great Conversation," I posted this thought, mostly to myself:

I need to practice this myself. I generally don't make New Year's resolutions, but if I did, a good one for me would be to show God's continuing love and presence as I have conversations with those who have different views from me, especially politically. I have been known to be somewhat adamant (and arrogant) about my political views. I have been known to become angry with politicians (and their followers) who are too far away from my views. I will do my best to welcome all views on this wall, as long as it can be said in love, and I will do my best to continue The Great Conversation in the same manner. I will pray for all of our candidates this year. They will all need our prayers. Some of them will become, or continue to be, our elected officials.

2/14/2012

John 13 (KJV):

(34) A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

(35) By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

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This is for all followers of Jesus, whether the Christian "right" or the Christian "left."

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In Christ there is no east or west, in Him no south or north;

but one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide earth.

In Christ shall true hearts everywhere their high communion find;

His service is the golden cord close binding humankind.

In Christ is neither Jew nor Greek, and neither slave nor free;

both male and female heirs are made, and all are kin to me.

In Christ now meet both east and west, in Him meet south and north;

all Christly souls are one in Him throughout the whole wide earth.

(Stz 1, 2, 4, John Oxenham, 1913; stz 3, Laurence Hull Stookey, 1987.

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Galatians 3:28b (KJV):

... for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

3/8/2012

On this date (March in 1969, Becky and I had our FIRST DATE. It was the weekend leading into Spring Break (then known as AEA Week in Alabama). We went somewhere together everyday the next week (visited her grandfather, lunch at her house, shopping, church ... everywhere). By the time we returned to school, we were always together and everyone was amazed that a geek like me could get a beauty like her. I'M STILL AMAZED! It's one of the best days of my life!!!

We just had another date at one of her favorite restaurants - LEGENDS in Irvington.

All reactions

3/21/2012

They who wait on the Lord ...

We had a tree dying in our back yard and it was near some power lines, so last fall the power company cut most of it down, leaving about a 20 foot "stump." However, they wouldn't haul away the limbs and brush, so I stacked it and covered it, so it wouldn't get too damp and heavy through the winter. Getting word that the wood chipper truck would be coming around last week, I moved the piles to the front curb. They didn't pick ours up. Two days ago a lady came by in a pickup truck and was thrilled to find all this free wood to burn in her outdoor chimney. It was a win-win deal for her and us. God's always right on time. 

(to be continued)

17

 My Brother's Keeper

I definitely was not my brother's keeper, but I like the title - and, in a lot of ways we were each other's keepers, especially in our younger years.   Our Dad died when Gene was six-years-old, and a couple of months before my third birthday.  I have no real memories of Dad, but Gene was really close to him and his death had a larger impact on his life.  

I was sick with asthma and rheumatic fever in my younger childhood, so I was not able to play physically in a normal way.  Gene was always athletic and active, but he managed to find time to create indoor games with me that made me feel involved in sports.  He created a baseball and football dartboard game for us and built homemade skateboards that we could sit on and coast down our driveway.  (This was before skateboards were a publicly known item.) When I was finally able to play Little League baseball, around age 11, Gene spent a lot of time coaching me in our backyard. 

When Gene began his interest in playing the guitar, I was able to return the favor in a small way.  He frequently woke me in the middle of the night to ask about chord progressions, and even how to create certain chords.  I'm sure in his earlier musical years he had some strange guitar fingerings, since he learned some of it from his piano playing brother.  

Although he surpassed me in many ways with his music, he still involved me in his life in later years as he would invite me to come down to Tennessee to do some music at some of his churches, and even do some keyboard tracks on some of his recordings in his studio.  

My brother, Gene, died this past November (2021).  I was glad that I was able to visit with him a few days in January 2020.  That was the last in-person visit I had with him.  While I was there, I took him to the grocery store a couple of times and he always bought Gorton's Fish Fillets for his daily fish sandwich.  I'm going to eat one today in his memory.  

Today, some of his friends and family members are gathering in person, and others of us will gather online to honor the memory of Gene.  Whenever possible, I'll add memories and pictures to this blog.  If you happen to see this and knew Gene, please leave your comments.  Thank you. 

I love my brother, and miss him dearly.