This morning I woke at the 8:00 am alarm. I had been up only twice during the night. When wakened by the alarm, I found I was breathing easily and I wondered where my bed partner, the CPAP mask, was and found it securely on my face. That is the old Fool’s health report.
My brother John and me. He is the older one.
I was on my recliner in time to hear Oprah say on Morning Joe that the improvement that made her network, OWN, come alive happened when as the owner she decided to stop talking and begin to execute. That reminded me of Barrie Wilson and his book, How Jesus Became Christian.
Wilson’s problem with the Christian portrayal of Jesus is that there is too much talk about Jesus and not enough execution of his words and work by Christians everywhere.
The gospel of Matthew is Wilson’s favorite gospel. He calls Jesus the new Moses. He likes the beatitudes with which Jesus began his sermon on the mount. In some ways, Wilson could make a good Mennonite, perhaps better than most of us.
As a child I memorized the great commission as recorded by Matthew. Wilson and I would agree that this commission says less about what one believes and more about how one behaves. But I began this blog by reporting about my morning, and there is more for you to know.
This morning brought a statement from PayPal. It shows me that since posting my “donate” button, PayPal will for first time need to reach into my personal funds to pay expenses related to this website. Before the button was posted I paid for the total costs including my training by the webmaster who has worked closely with me to make it the success that it is.
Success is not measured by the profit it generates for me, for I claim none such. But I am pleased with the traffic report. So far this month 26 individuals have spent more than one hour, and 85 others have spent more than 30 minutes visiting with me, the old fool. In addition, the report shows so far this month there have been 96 visits to My Faith Journey, 91 to Polarities in Society, and 167 to An Ode to THE FOOL.
Yet every donation is important to me, and I am grateful to everyone who enjoys the blog and has contributed to it.
So I call your attention again to my brother’s book of memories written in his 93rd year. He titled it, “Me, Musings of a Dirty Old Man.” Readers report that it isn’t terribly offensive. He defended the title to me by saying “But I had to be honest.”
He and his wife are receiving good care in Punta Gorda, Florida. We speak to each other several times a week.
There is another book, “Spots on my Trousers – The Life and Loves of a Mennonite Minister” by J. Irvin Lehman. My father provided the information for this book in his eighties and I edited it. It was published in 1990 by the Mennonite Historical Association of the Cumberland Valley, State Line, Pennsylvania.
The two books are similar in many ways. They are written sincerely, can be read easily, and move quickly from one story to another. They tell of some of the same persons, but from very different points of view.
Donate 25 dollars or more and receive a copy of both books. Donate $10 or more and receive the book of your choice. I hope you will find the PayPal button a convenient way to do this.
Note: I am not selling the books. They were donated to me and I am using them as an incentive and a reward for donating.
