STOPPING BY THE SNOWEY WOODS - Just A Minute Radio for Friday Dec. 11,2009

            Good Day…  IT’S FRIDAY! as dear old Paul Harvey used to say… I wonder if he’s the guy that coined the TGIF slogan?

 

            And I reckon I’m glad it’s here.  This period between Thanksgiving and Christmas seems to be hard on my anxiety button. I “take counsel of my fears” for some reason – I guess I’m afraid the stores will run out of wrapping paper – although I’ve never heard of it happening… and I *always*  am casting about at the last minute if I’m needing to wrap something anyway. All of those are unlikely events. (J)

 

            It’s just something that seems to sneak up in preparation for the long January that is to follow.  However… It’s cheering to remember Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. Which brings forth another axiom – too often characteristic of Christians – at least speaking for myself… We too often fall into the trap:“Why pray when you can worry?”  Oh, how true, how true… How much worry-time I put in as a student… and how little good it did.  Much better, for any students who happen to be listening (another unlikely event) to put in a bit of extra time studying – and, as one who is well past the marker of ‘threescore years and ten’, we used to say: “In a hundred years it won’t make any difference anyway.” I’ll testify – Before you get to 100 years, it doesn’t make any difference. I don’t remember really any hard studying time I put in – except perhaps for Hebrew History… in Summer School…. Indeed that was tough!

 

            So much for academics… it’s time we got busy with ‘Decking the Halls’ – and Singing the Carols… When I was say before 10 or 11, I used to think the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas was interminable. Just goes to prove time is flexible. When you’re young like that… it sometimes creeps… and when you get past 55 or 60… it skeedaddles… whiz-bang… So Christmas … the getting ready part is a little less intense than it was when we had five children, under ten, underfoot.  But it was fun… and we look back on it with joy.  Now it’s time to enjoy the Grands… !

 

            It’s also the Advent season… we really enjoyed the run-up to Christmas one December when we visited our missionary kids and met them in London for a visit to Switzerland.  That’s when I really got the idea celebrating Advent really, significantly, stretches out the spiritual blessing of Christmas.  I hope your family has had some joy already along those lines.

 

            So much for this week… and today… I’ll look forward to being with you Monday.

 

            Cordially, IN HIM

 

 

            Barbara and Jack Buttram

 

http://www.jebcovoice.net/audio/jama12-11-09.mp3

 

http://www.jebcovoice.net/scripts/jamt12-11-09.doc

 

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“JUST A MINUTE”

STOPPING BY THE SNOWEY WOODS

JUST A MINUTE – Maine’s Republican Senator Olympia Snowe, delivered a little-noticed speech just before Thanksgiving, which I applaud.

She observed Democrats pushed a bill in “artificially generated haste” requiring “ram it, jam it” tactics through Congress.  Sen. Snowe extended her utmost to develop consensus and genuine bipartisan support – not just symbols.  She said – Social Security, Civil Rights, Medicare, all garnered bipartisan support.  She met 31 times with six Finance Committee members – but Chairman Baucus rushed the unfinished, 2000 page bill to the Floor … Pelosi, poured on the gas, Senator ‘Searchlight’ struck the match.  The rhetorical bonfire threw out much heat – hardly any light.

Something will, pass the resultant meltdown – taking decades to repair; meanwhile the four hundred billion in new costs, and half-trillion in Medicare cuts, guarantee a huge increase in taxes and reduction  in care.

Such hasty, such partisan sin – shall be repented of in lengthy measure.

<> I’m Jack Buttram

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