Humble or Inspirational Moment?

I regret that I am unable to tell you the name of the man I am about to write about. Perhaps that should be ashamed? You see I only saw him for a few moments on Sunday morning around 1:00 AM as I was having an exciting time ironing my shirts as we night owls do.

The television was on and it was a gospel music show from some church and I thought that the show was called the awakening however when I Googled it under this name nothing came up but whatever the name of it the singing was excellent. You see I wanted to find a web site for the show to be able to name this individual to do him the honor he deserves. I hope that he will forgive me if I call him our friend though we never met because we are after all brothers in Christ.

He is closer to God than any of us because it said that he died this year and we know that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

Our friend had an unpronounceable disease which if I remember correctly is so rare that only 350 people have ever been diagnosed with it. I do remember that as he sat in his wheel chair he described the pain as being like two people twisting your bones from either side over a hot flame.

What moved me to tears and many men and women in the audience and some of the band members was that this man face racked with pain, head bowed, stood up and supporting himself with a walking stick stood in obvious agony and sung the country and western song "I can only imagine".

It was more speaking rather than singing but it was simply a beautiful inspirational moment that made one both proud to be a fellow Christian but also humbled you at his obvious faith in God and Jesus Christ. I have heard that song many times on the radio but it never touched me as it did last weekend.

Watching our friend also took me back in time to when I was a little boy. It was the year that my father died. He had had a cerebral hemorrhage the year before and the stroke left him paralysed down his left side and unable to speak. Always a very active man he wanted to walk around our block before he died but as we lived on a very large oval of about half a mile and part of this uphill he was not able to complete his walk. I remember looking up into the face of my hero standing there supported by his walking stick face racked in pain as he admitted to himself that the task was impossible and the slow walk as we headed back home as he dragged his now calipered and painful left leg. A second stroke took my dad shortly thereafter but at least he had not lost the courage that took him from El Alamein to the shores of Normandy and across the river Rhine.

I am a man now and not a boy and over the years I have seen many brave men and women give tremendous inspiration to those around them. One thought that often comes to me is how much more difficult this must be for those who do not believe. To not believe in God is alien to me. It is just something I do not understand. Even more is the aggressive campaign by those in America who attack Christianity. Why would you need to attack something that you do not believe in?

Dust to dust and ashes to ashes come to all human beings but those who touch our lives even if only for a moment are remembered. I will never hear the song "I can only imagine" without thinking of and remembering our friend.

God bless you and yours,

Macy's Factor

I went shopping for a present for my daughter yesterday evening and the first shop that I entered was Macy's. Now you would think that Macy's being in the business of retail sales would welcome a man who could buy anything that their store had to sell but apparently not.

Let me back up a moment. I walked into Macy's blessed by God able to buy anything that their store had to sell but bought nothing. Why? Simple it is a happy holidays kind of place and I am a Merry Christmas kind of guy. God put the money in my pocket and so why should I give His money to someone who does not honor His son. I heard happy holidays from the store clerk and thought I am glad I am not buying anything in this store. Now keep in mind that the staff at Macy's have always been very helpful and very kind to me. I am making the assumption that they have been instructed to say happy holidays by management based on the fact that I saw no signs in the store saying Merry Christmas.

Next store I went to was Dillard's and as I did not see any Merry Christmas signs there either or hear any wishes of Merry Christmas I passed on to Belk's. It was there that I bought my daughter's present. Was I just lucky to meet an assistant who wished me a Merry Christmas? I don't know but I do know that as I purchase all of my Christmas gifts for my family I thank God for His blessing to be able to do this without debt. You see we are Christians and as Christians we celebrate the birth of Jesus at this time of year. It is not just a holiday to us it is a special time of year because without Jesus sacrifice we would not be able to come before God in prayer.

Now for all those liberals and atheists out there who know a little about history I too know that Jesus was conceived in December by the Holy Spirit and born in September but as the evil of partial birth abortion was not practiced 2,000 years ago and as I believe that life begins at conception then you will understand why I am happy to celebrate His "birth" with the rest of Christianity in December.

Most of my gifts will actually be purchased overseas at Marks & Spencer in the UK because that is where my family live. It is definitely a Merry Christmas kind of store even though it was founded and probably is still majority owned by Jews. Jesus Christ was born a Jew though many try to forget that including a few Christians but then more than a few of them try to forget that Moses wife was black and God honored her as Moses wife.

The fact that Jesus was a Jew may account for the fact that right beneath the M&S web site listing when I pulled it up on Google was a Muslim hate site asking people to boycott Marks & Spencer. I do not boycott Muslim stores or restaurants so why should I boycott a Jewish one? In fact over this year I know that I have spent more in a local Muslim owned store than I will in Marks and Spencer this Christmas.

You see my God asks me to practice love and kindness to all who believe in Him and to love my enemies whoever they may be. To my knowledge I don't have any as I woke up this morning not hating anyone in the world.

Talking of "enemies" I have a Muslim friend who does not hate Jews. He believes in God and though some would argue that his God is different from my God you must keep in mind that certain Jewish sects do not believe that Jesus was the messiah either. I don't know too much about all this but what I do know is that I respect his beliefs and customs and he respects mine. Is that not what peace on earth and goodwill towards man is all about? I do not have a Jewish friend but if I did I would trust that he or she would respect my faith just as my Muslim friend and I respect each others which it would appear certain US retail stores do not.

Ford 500

I rent cars all of the time and recently it was a Ford 500. I liked the style of the car and the color coordination between interior and exterior. The trunk was spacious and the leg room and height excellent. Pity about the cheap plastic dash on such a nice automobile. I had no problem with the fake plastic wood but why not at least use the same grade of plastic for this automobile as on a Ford Taurus for the rest of the dashboard?

Ford cars by and large lose me with their uncomfortable seats. Someone please tell me how my 1997 Lexus SC400 bucket seat fits me like a comfortable old slipper and feels so much more comfortable than a brand new Ford 500 with only 1,200 miles on the clock? Even Toyota Camry's I rent have better seats and I feel that the 500 is aimed at a more affluent clientele than the Camry. Lest I be chastised for selecting only Toyota/Lexus products let me give the designers at Ford a clue . . . . . use the seats out of a Volvo!

The Ford 500 performance and fuel consumption was adequate and the handling acceptable for a car of this size and in this price range. I can see a definite niche for this car if Ford simply tweak the dash and improve the seats. One thing they must refrain from is badge engineering this nice car.

My compliments to Ford for getting this car 75% correct well perhaps I could say 80% with the good visibility and excellent lights fitted for driving at night or in poor weather. Would I buy this car? No but I would at least recommend it to someone else looking for a large family saloon.

If you are a Ford executive reading this and want a full endorsement fix the seats and the dash and call me . . . but then again why not surprise all of us (road warriors) and every other potential customer out there by letting your revised product speak for itself.