When News Is No Longer News

Hear ye! Hear ye!

Today there are no fewer than four headlines dealing with Anna Nicole Smith, the playboy-playgirl! Enough already! Has this not gone on long enough? Let's let her continue to rot in peace. What ever happened to Journalism? Crap is all these so-called journalists seem to know today. Wake up America! What happened to values? People are dying every minute of every day. These unknowns were just as important, if not more so, than this sad excuse for a female. Let's put an end to this nonsense right now. Or does using and dying from an overdose of drugs make you someone to emulate? What difference does it make where she is layed to rest? She's dead. And for you who believe otherwise, no, she will not return reincarnated in any other form. She's gone period. May all others like her find the same end. Thanks for visiting and letting me get this off my mind. --Bob See my other article for today: http://fourwinds.blogster.com

Things Are Not Always What They Seem

I recently received an e-mail asking NBA or NFL? I wasn't sure what they were referring to, so I, like you, if you want to know, need to take notice to this: NBA or NFL? 36 have been accused of spousal abuse. 7 have been arrested for fraud 19 have been accused of writing bad checks 117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses. 3 have done time for assult 71 repeat 71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit 14 have been arrested on drug-related charges 8 have been arrested for shoplifting 21 currently are defendants in lawsuits, and 84 have been arrested for drunk driving within the past year! Now, can you guess which organization this is? NBA or NFL? Give up? Neither! It's the 535 members of the United States Congress. The same group who crank out hundreds of new laws each year, for us to obey, designed to keep US in line. Is it any wonder to you why this country is in trouble? You can pass this along if you care to; at least share it with a friend or associate. Thanks for visiting. -- Bob (Mt 10:29-33) You're welcome to visit my other blog articles at: http://fourwinds.blogster.com

To Thine Own Self Be True

Stress? Hypocrite? Sanctimonious?

You judge. Some people go through this life without realizing that they're really saying: "Don't do as I do, do as I say." At times this can and does get out of control. Here's a short story to illustrate:

A man was being tailgated by a stressed out woman on a busy street. Suddenly a light turned yellow just in front of him. He did the right thing. Stopped at the crosswalk. Even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection, he chose not to. The tailgating woman was mad as all get out and honked her horn, screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection; dropping her cell phone and makeup, she went into a rant and rave mode. As she was carrying on, she heard a tap on her window and looked straight into the face of a very serious-looking policeman.

The officer ordered her out of her vehicle with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photograph ed and placed in a holding cell. After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

The officer explained: "I'm sorry for this. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the 'What Would Jesus Do?' bumper sticker, the 'Choose Life' License Plate Holder, the 'Follow me to Sunday-School' bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the lid of the truck. Naturally...I assumed you had stolen the car."

People normally choose to ignore such behavior to avoid confrontation, and let the offending person slide. To do otherwise is to escalate the situation into something ugly. In this factitious instance an officer happened to be nearby and did his duty. I feel quite certain that a good many people have experienced people, neighbors and otherwise, who say and promote one thing and do just the opposite.

The cause of such attitudes are not always obvious, and are best ignored. To call attention to individuals who say one thing and do not follow their own beliefs/advice -- unless you're a close relative who believes you ought to do so -- is normally useless.

The title of this article "To Thine Own Self Be True" can be easier to attain by accepting and applying to self this saying, that I was fortunate to discover a good many years ago,(before I ever heard of anyone named Confucius). Consider yourself in these words:

Be what you is and not what you ain't,

If you ain't what you is, you is what you ain't.

-- Confucius

As for the lady in the above hypothetical case, she represents lots of people, people in all stations and all walks of life, who become what they really are not. Being human, our bad manners are unnatural. Bumper stickers and emblems are fine, but we need not rely on these things to speak for us, especially as Christians. All we need to do to put a stop to our changing, unacceptable attitude, character, personality, is to be what we truly are meant to be and let our light shine before men.

Thanks for visiting. --Bob (Mt. 10: 29-33)