Computer Spyware

Dear Gentle Reader,
Does it bother you at all that the government may be reading your e-mails and even spying on your computer files? Even though I have nothing to hide, it still troubles me that some agency can mine my data. If AOL is your provider, you are being snooped on all the time. (I used AOL last summer when we were on vacation, but I won’t again!) Read this article if you want more information: http://rense.com/general69/scout.htm
The article also says that Active X and file-sharing are "open doors" to snoops who want to gain access to your files. But it didn’t tell how to change one’s computer settings.

So I investigated the "Help" files on Windows and this is how to do it.
Open Internet Explorer.
On the Tools menu, click Manage Add-ons.
Click the Show arrow, and then click Add-ons that have been used by Internet Explorer.
In the list of add-ons, click the add-on you want to update, and then click Update ActiveX. (Or disable it. That’s what I did.)
To disable a browser add-on
Open Internet Explorer.
On the Tools menu, click Manage Add-ons.
Click the add-on you want to disable and then click Disable.

To make your folders private
Open My Computer (click Start, and then click My Computer)
Double-click the drive where Windows is installed (usually drive (C:), unless you have more than one drive on your computer).
If the contents of the drive are hidden, under System Tasks, click Show the contents of this drive.
Double-click the Documents and Settings folder.
Double-click your user folder.
Right-click any folder in your user profile and then click Properties.
On the Sharing tab, select the Make this folder private so that only I have access to it check box.

This option is only available for folders included in your user profile. Folders in your user profile include My Documents and its subfolders, Desktop, Start Menu, Cookies, and Favorites. If you do not make these folders private, they are available to everyone who uses your computer.

When you make a folder private, all of its subfolders are private as well. For example, when you make My Documents private, you also make My Music and My Pictures private. When you share a folder, you also share all of its subfolders unless you make them private.

Hope this is helpful information to you.

Happy New Year!

Another Miracle

Dear Gentle Reader,
Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. But we are not revelers. For at least the last 35 years my husband has flaunted New Year’s celebrations, contending that they were meaningless. When our sons were growing up, I used to stay up with them to watch the clock at Time Square and then greet the New Year in our own time zone. But now it’s more enjoyable just to crawl into bed with hubby and discover the next year in the morning.

Normally there isn't much to do on New Year’s Day unless you’re a fan of parades and/or football games. Few businesses or restaurants are open. One year we vacationed on North Padre Island in Texas, and we had a difficult time finding anyplace that was serving food. Eventually, we discovered a McDonald’s and were delighted to have done so!

But this New Year’s Day falls on a Sunday, so we'll get to enjoy church services. Also, my Russian friend Elena has invited me to go with her for breakfast, and –amazingly!—the restaurant of choice will be open! In the afternoon I plan to go see "Narnia" in the afternoon with a friend (who shares my disinterest in parades and football games).

Now, having dispensed with New Year’s plans, I want to share with you part of an e-mail that came from a friend in Wisconsin this week. It shows the power of faith! (If you haven't read the earlier blog on "Christmas Miracle," it describes a similarly inspiring victory over the seemingly impossible.)

I stopped today to check out Boston Store's rugs because on Jan 1 they have a 50% off sale. Last year, I saw a rug that was just perfect and I knew in a few days it would be half off. The day before the sale someone bought it. But God had given me a verse which I can't remember- Protect him from him who would snatch away his goods- So I thought God is going to give me this rug, this is my rug. The customer didn't return it that day. I gave the sales woman my number. And I stopped in a couple of times after that maybe up to two weeks later. Then I gave up. Well guess what was there today? At first I thought it was a rug just like it,even though I knew they were discontinued. But then I found out it was the same rug. The woman had brought it back and the sales woman had lost my number. It was sitting there waiting for me for almost a year! So today the same woman remembered me, told me the story and gave me 10% off the price (now on clearance at 50% off). Amazing ! Never give up if God has promised something.

Life is full of surprises and miracles. May you trust God for your miracle in 2006!

Belated News

Dear Gentle Reader,
Today I read at CBS News on the Web that on September 10, 2001 (the day before the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon) Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had acknowledged that the Department of Defense had misplaced 2.3 trillion dollars. How many wars could they fight with that, and without raising taxes? You can check it out at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/01/29/eveningnews/main325985.shtml

It’s hard to believe that this information is just making it’s way to the public. But apparently no reporters followed up on the story because of the panic at the WTC and, of course, at the Pentagon where the money had been misplaced. So only now, more than four years later, do we learn about either the DOD’s incompetence or malfeasance, neither of which commend the Pentagon to our confidence.

And I recently read an article in The Progressive Populist about Reservists being called back into duty who had serious physical problems. One woman was required to go to Iraq (according to a cited report by the Congressional Budget Office) who was still undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. Apparently there is no effort to match call-ups with their V.A. medical records. Military families have a tough go. I’m sure I’d be a nervous wreck if I had a son or daughter in Iraq.

For one more factoid, check out a website called http://www.costofwar.com/
to see a running total of the cost to U.S. taxpayers of the Iraq War. As I write this, it's $230,042,365, 742--but by the time you read it, the total will have inflated considerably--probably more than your yearly salary. We could certainly use those dollars spent on reconstructing Iraq (or the dollars that were misplaced somewhere and never found) to invest in the reconstruction of cities and states hit by Katrina. There's something wrong with this picture.

How I hope that 2006 will be the year our troops can return home to their families!

San Diego Wedding

Dear Gentle Reader,
The 50-something bride looked radiant as she spoke forth her vows to her groom. He looked at her tenderly, as though he'd discovered a precious treasure. Their family, assembled together from as far north as Monterrey and as far east as Virginia, rejoiced in the remarriage of their mother and father/ grandmother and grandfather. The small congregation looked on with smiling faces as they observed a miracle of reconciliation.

The couple's family is a model of diversity. Their two Anglo daughters married two Chinese brothers. One of those daughters was just in her early twenties when she adopted a Mexican orphan, who now has a child of her own. One son-in-law is in the Navy, another is a private contractor in Kuwait, repairing American helicopters.

It's been a long road toward this wonderful evening, and the road was strewn with hardship, alienation, and despair. They've known homelessness and alcoholism but now face a future with the maturity to overcome past patterns of dysfunction and consciously work on new ways to relate to one another. Both the bride and the groom say they are different people now, with different values and responses than before. They've learned to forgive each other for past hurts and look to the future.

Their experience reminds me of the Apostle Paul's definition of love in the New Testament as presented in The Message: Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always "me first," Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, Doesn't revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end. Love never dies.

Amen.

Cold Remedies

Dear Gentle Reader,
It’s been a lovely day, but it didn’t start out that way! I woke up at 2:45 with a painful sore throat. You know how you’re sleepy and tempted to ignore the symptoms? But a neighbor (who may have already shared her germ with me) had told me two days earlier that she’d wakened with similar symptoms and went to Urgent Care. So I forced myself to get up and go drink some water containing GSE (Grape Seed Extract). I’ve had very good success with that supplement this year. It’s not too expensive, either, probably less than four dollars. And then I swallowed 5 garlic tablets, filled up a hot water bottle, and returned to bed. By morning the sore throat was gone. But I’ve continued to take the GSE every few hours today on the premise that the germs might be stunned but not annihilated.

This was the day that my best friend Kathy and I were to meet to have our little Christmas exchange. We just couldn’t find a date when we were both free before December 25 , so we decided to regard ourselves as celebrating an early Christmas, that is, one based on the original Christian calendar (see yesterday’s blog) or the contemporary Eastern Orthodox calendar.

Although all my little gifts had already been purchased for her, it would make financial sense for people with limited funds to customarily celebrate Christmas on January 6, thereby taking advantage of all the post-Christmas and New Year sales. And children could have an extra day off at school, observing a religious holiday.

But maybe it’s hard for people to think outside the box when it comes to Christmas customs. Especially if they think Jesus truly was born on December 25.

Wherever you live, I hope you’re enjoying this little interlude between Christmas and New Year’s Day. I have no interest in any of the "bowl" games, but if the movie "Narnia" is still showing, it would be fun to go see it after church on Sunday.

Have you noticed?--The days are already starting to get longer. Isn’t that encouraging!

When Was Jesus Really Born?

Dear Gentle Reader,
Christmas has come—and is nearly gone—for those of us in the United States. Those who attend church only on Christmas and Easter have performed their semiannual obligation, while many Christians have protested the substitution of the words “Happy Holidays” for “Merry Christmas” at chain department stores. Meanwhile, devout believers deplore the crass commercialism of the holiday, wondering how they could restore it to its earlier religious significance.

But wait. . . How certain are you that Jesus Christ was even born on December 25? Actually, I can tell you with 100% certainty that He was not. And it’s hard to understand why Christian ministers play along with the myth of a December 25th nativity. Let’s look at the history.

According to an article in the Catholic Encyclopedia that you can read online (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03724b.htm), various dates were celebrated as Jesus’ nativity. The article cites Fazena Lupi as having shown that “. . . There is no month in the year to which respectable authorities have not assigned Christ’s birth.” However, the date of January 6 was observed until 354 A.D., when Christmas was changed to December 25.

The apparent reason for the change was the decision of Pope Damasus I in 380 A.D. to diminish the influence of pagan religion in which the birth of the sun god was honored at midnight on December 25. He therefore required everyone to attend a memorial of Christ's death at midnight, instead (the beginnings of Midnight Mass at Christmas.) Gradually, the Christ-Mass and the Nativity became inseparable.

Careful readers of the account of Jesus’ birth will note that shepherds were still out in the fields with their flocks, whereas late December would have been much too cold for animals to be unsheltered. In the Gospel of John’s first chapter we are told that Jesus came and “dwelt among us.” The original word for “dwelt” meant “lived in a tent or tabernacle,” a phrase leading many scholars to speculate that Jesus was born during the Feast of Tabernacles in September. If you want to read more about a likely date of Jesus’ birth, you can go to http://members.tripod.com/~PetraGrail/page5.html or
http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/sukkoth.htm

In any case, if contemporary Christian leaders truly wanted to avoid the commercialism of Christmas, they could encourage the worship of Jesus during the Feast of Tabernacles in September. Tabernacle-mas would be a holy day devoted to Jesus, without the distraction of Santa Claus or gift exchanges. But could Americans bear to deprive themselves of the feasting and gifting that have invaded the observation of Jesus’ birthday? What do you think?

Christmas Poem

A baby in a manger,
A lovely Christmas symbol,
And when the New Year comes,
We put him away
With the artificial tree.
An artificial baby?
Of course! That’s what’s convenient.
"No crying he makes,"
No demands on our lives,
A precious decoration.

But wait—what about the grown-up Jesus
Who won’t be stashed away in a box?
Who told us to forgive offenses
And love our neighbors.
(He can’t mean those rowdies who party late at night
When we want to sleep,
Or the jerk
Who lets his dog use our lawn
as a toilet. . . can He? Not those neighbors.)
Not that Jesus.
John 14:15 "If you love me, show it by doing what I've told you."

Christmas, Beach Style

Dear Gentle Reader,
Christmas is nearing in San Diego. It was such a warm, balmy day—like summer but even better than the weather we get during June. At this time of year the surf is always high, and the waves are exploding against the beach. At night when I’m in bed, ready to go to sleep, I can hear the roar of the surf crashing and then receding. It’s better than a lullaby! And we live at least seven or eight blocks from the beach.

This afternoon my good friend Connie called to invite me to take a walk. I’d already planned to go to see the waves, so it was a perfect time for us. Connie is getting married next week, for the second time. But to her ex-husband. They went to get their marriage license today, and she’s so excited.

Neither the bride nor groom is a kid anymore, but it’s so fun to see their love for one another. They had been separated and then divorced all during the time I’ve known her. He had a long-term alcohol addiction until several years ago. Now he’s a new man, and they’re trying to learn new ways to relate to one another.

On the way to the ocean, we walked past the Christmas tree that appears on the bay every year. People in the neighborhood (and maybe from other neighborhoods who walk in this area) bring their decorations to place on the community tree.

Meanwhile, my Christmas card list is languishing for lack of will-power. Instead, I’ve spent several evenings helping neighbors to set up their brand new Dell computer. Now everything seems to be up and running, and I left them downloading the DSL connection that came with the computer at a discounted rate. I hope I can help them reinstall their e-mail list. I mailed it to myself from their computer and now have sent it back to them but couldn’t retrieve it until their hook-up was complete.

I hope your Christmas preparations are nearing completion. For women, there’s always one more thing to do. Christmas lights are pretty, but Jesus said, "YOU are the light of the world." Shine, shine!

Miracles Still Happen

Dear Gentle Reader,
Have you visited your dentist lately? It seems that many of my family and acquaintances are having dental work this December.. My daughter-in-law had 3 wisdom teeth pulled a couple days before my visit (what a combination, toothache and a mother-in-law!) She also had a permanent crown installed while I babysat two-year-old Angie (another whole story), and my son will have crown-work done this Friday. A good friend had her teeth cleaned this afternoon. And my own dentist put in a temporary crown for me this morning.

On my way out of the dental office, I stopped to write a check for the crown (ouch!) and Melissa, the office manager, said, “You may have noticed that Vivian wasn’t here this morning.” Yes, I’d noticed there was a new dental assistant, who introduced herself as Lorena, and I’d wondered where Vivian might be. (My husband and I are both so fond of her that we told her we wanted to adopt her.) She’s the most warm and caring dental assistant you could imagine. Well, maybe Vivian just had the day off, I’d reasoned to myself.

But when Melissa brought up the topic, I was eager to hear the reason why Vivian wasn’t around. “She’s not working here now…because she’s pregnant!” Melissa announced with a big smile. “She’s been married for ten years and had despaired of ever having a baby. But I kept telling her, yes, you will definitely get pregnant, and I prayed for her every day.”

What wonderful news! Melissa went on to say that one day recently she’d told Lorena, “Why, Vivian may even be pregnant right now.” And on the following Monday she received a phone call from Vivian, who said the doctor had that day confirmed that she and her husband had conceived a child.

Melissa had been doing exactly what Jesus told his disciples in Mark 11:23. “Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, Be lifted up and thrown into the sea! and does not doubt at all in his heart but believes that what he says will take place, it will be done for him.” He went on to summarize: “For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you, and you will [get it].” (Amplified Version)

For two years Melissa not only prayed for Vivian, but she said what she believed in her heart, encouraging her co-worker and friend. I was so excited to hear that God is blessing Vivian, and also to learn that Melissa has been putting into practice one of the important principles of the Kingdom.

Today a Christmas card from a friend since childhood presented this quotation from Willa Cather: WHERE THERE IS GREAT LOVE, THERE ARE ALWAYS MIRACLES. Isn’t that the truth!

Christmas Ramblings

Dear Gentle Reader,
Although I should be writing Christmas cards, I'll ignore the pile that may not make it to the mailbox in time and write to you instead.

My time in Milwaukee was really sweet. It was great to see our sons, their wives, and the darling grandchildren. There was snow everywhere, of course, and the ride from the airport in the dark was so pretty because so many houses have lights, and many have elaborate decorations lighting up their yards as well.

Angie and I had lots of time to get reacquainted. Here she is, all bundled up to go to the mall! Her second birthday brought her lots of excitement--big balloons that she loved, a new rocking horse, and a little electronic keyboard/piano.

But now I'm back in San Diego, and the cold weather is just a memory. Yesterday I wrapped about 10 gifts and boxed them so I can mail them tomorrow. Hope the line isn't too long. While Dick is being interviewed as a part of a UCSD research project on osteoporosis, I'll head to the Post Office. (I really should take along Christmas cards but he's collected some articles he thinks I'll enjoy reading, so the cards will have to wait. A time for everything.)

We had our family Christmas exchange in Milwaukee, so after these few packages are in the mail, I'll be able to relax. Sort of. Well, there are just a few teensy items that remain: a trip to the dentist to get a crown on Tuesday, and an attempt to help our neighbors install their new Dell computer system (yikes! I wonder if I can do it!) as well as the the usual holiday baking. I like to take goodies to the neighbors Christmas Eve.

I hope you're having some fun with the traditional holiday activities. Women always have so many things they want to do at Christmas--try new recipes, find the perfect gift for someone, savor a little eggnog between projects. Enjoy, and try not to get too stressed--remember, Jesus is the Prince of Peace!

If You Think Your Life Is Difficult...

Dear Gentle Reader,
I accidentally taped a radio program last week that carried a stunning interview with George Chen, a leader in China's church, telling about his experiences in a labor camp during the cultural revolution. Hope you find it of interest.

It was 1952 when I started to be an evangelist in Communist China. The Revolution was occurring in 1949. The first few years the Church was not being radically persecuted by the authorities. But gradually, gradually, the authorities did not like the Church, they did not like the way the Church grew too fast, and they tried their best to reform the Church, the so-called Reformation.

Their intention was to try to extinguish, eliminate the Christian faith from the nation. So I give you some instances. In 1949 when the Communists came to power in China, I was living in Shanghai, the biggest city in China.

At that time there were over 200 big churches in Shanghai with large buildings, not including the house churches. There were almost 250 big churches, but in 1958 there were only 8 churches left. The rest were all closed by the authorities.
By 1966 when the Cultural Revolution occurred, all the churches were closed. No more church, no more religion inside China. So gradually, they launched the Reformation, which became persecution to the church, to the Christians.

I became an evangelist in 1952, and I went to the villages to preach the gospel, to meet the people, and then the people came to Jesus Christ. And I started to plant churches. The first churches were founded in 1953-1954, and I was first arrested because I built the church with the Christians. Only one month, and then I was released with the warning. They threatened me to be no longer involved in the church ministry.

But I continued to evangelize, to preach the gospel. The second time in 1954 I was once again arrested. And then the third time I was arrested in 1960, and then they did not release. They put me in prison altogether 18 years, from 1960 to 1978. All the reason was because I was a church leader in China.

And you know, the situation in China was hard, it was desperate during that time. And people wondered how I could survive for 18 years in a Communist labor camp. The first few years I was detained in a prison in Shanghai. Because there was insufficient food, I suffered hunger. Every night I couldn’t stand up because I had no strength to stand up when I moved in the prison ward, I had kneel down in order to crawl. But I did not die.

So in 1964, after 3 ½ years they transferred me from the prison ward in Shanghai to the central part of China, to a labor camp. In the labor camp I had to work in the fields. And also, because they knew about my background. In the labor camps most of prisoners were still free to do a job. It was to empty, to dig out the human waste. And became the authorities knew my background—my background was that I came from a relatively well-to-do family, my father owned a factory at that time—and they knew I was well educated. And you know the Communists at that time hated all the intellectuals, especially the sons born to well-to-do families. And also they knew I was a pastor, a religious leader, and they were atheists. But they hated all those religious leaders. So, knowing that I was the cultured son of a well-to-do family and a Christian leader, they enjoyed putting me to work in the cesspool. They thought it was the best place to torture me, to punish me—as they put it, to re-educate me.

And you know, in the labor camp there were many cesspools—all the human waste collected from the entire camp. And every pool was at least two meters wide and two meters long, and deeper than two meters. And when you work in the cesspool to empty it, because it was so deep, you could not reach to the bottom of the pit. So first of all, you had to walk into this disease-ridden mess. And all the prisoners in the labor camp were afraid to do this job. Because there was a virus, and once you were infected, there was no way you could get healed at that time. Because they were afraid, the authorities enjoyed putting me to work there.

Because they didn’t know that in those years I enjoyed working in the cesspools. The cesspools were very deep. I had to walk into it to dig it out. When I scooped off each successive layer of the human waste, I had to smell the most maddening stench that permeated the air. I was surrounded by that stench, by foul air, those human wastes—but I enjoyed working in the cesspools.

The reason I enjoyed the cesspools was that I enjoyed the solitude. In the labor camps prisoners were under severe surveillance. No one could be alone. 24 hours a day each day the policemen—the soldiers--by shift they watched us, and no one prisoner could be alone. Twenty-four hours a day we worked together, we ate together, we slept together, all the time we had to stick together.

But when I worked in the cesspool, the prisoners tried to avoid me and stay away as far as they could. So I was alone in the cesspool at that day, at that time. So I could pray to the Lord as loud as I needed. And also, at the same time, the same day, I could recite as loud as I could, all the scriptures I still remembered, and that encouraged me and supported me. So that is the reason I enjoyed the work in the cesspool, because I enjoyed the solitude.

That was the only place in the labor camp where I could praise God loudly, I could pray to the Lord loudly. I could recite all the scriptures loudly, and no one would come close enough to protest about me.

And at the same day, the same time, I could also sing all the hymns I still remembered. And one of the hymns that was my favorite was an old one called "In the Garden." I do not know if you remember that hymn. It goes, "I come to the garden alone, when the dew is still on the roses, and the voice I hear, falling on my ear, the son of God discloses. And he walks with me, and he talks with me, and he tells me I am his own. And the joy we shared as we tarried there, none other has ever known."

None other has ever known such joy, such sweetness as when I worked in the cesspools. Again and again, I met the Lord’s presence, and I heard Lord tell me I was his own. When I was in the labor camp, I was in the human waste but in the sweetness of the Lord’s presence.
--------------------------
Christmas in the United States has drifted so far away from the worship of Jesus Christ, that it's sometimes good to remind ourselves that there may be a price to be paid for our faith. Given George Chen's options, would we just obey the government?

Biscotti Recipe

Dear Gentle Reader,
On the plane today I worked a crossword puzzle, and guess what! "Biscotti" is plural for "Biscotto." You learn something every day! (As I type, my adorable granddaughter is at my lap, giggling that sweet two-year-old laugh that melts my heart and makes it hard to concentrate on typing!)
Dear Alana gave me her recipe for the chocolate biscotti that I enjoyed on my trip. Here it is:

2/3 cup whole almonds
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons Amaretto or Kahlua or double-strength coffee
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached or all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup chopped milk chocolate
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. When hot, bake the nuts in a shallow pan for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool. Meanwhile, cream butter and sugar in a bowl, beating in eggs and liqueur or coffee. In another bowl combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Add to the creamed mixture and stir well. Cut nuts into thirds, then fold into batter along with the milk chocolate. Grease and flour a baking sheet, and then press half of the dough onto it, patted into a log about 1 inch high, 1 1/2 inches wide, and 14 inches long. Treat the other half of the dough in the same way, placing it at least 2 inches away from the first. Bake in the middle of a preheated 325 degree oven for 25 minutes. Remove from the baking sheet to a rack. Cool for 5 minutes before placing on a cutting board. Use a serrated knife to slice about ½ inch thick. Place the slices upright on the baking sheet ½ inch apart. Return to the oven for about 8 to 10 minutes longer to dry slightly. Cool on a rack. Store in a tightly covered container. Makes 3 ½ to 4 dozen.
Snow covers the ground here, and it's nippy out. Tomorrow morning Mila and I are getting up early so we can be at the mall when the store opens, and they will hand out coupons for 30% off anything in the store. The plan is to buy a rocking horse.
Hope your Saturday goes well!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Dear Gentle Reader,
I’m feeling very ambivalent as I write to you this evening. I’m eager to go see my sons and daughters-in-law and grandchildren again (last time was in June, and you know how quickly those little ones change!). But I hate leaving Dick to fend for himself—yes, I know he’s a grown-up, but he’s not used to being alone, and I’ll miss him. But since I'll be busy and distracted, he'll miss me worse. Furthermore, the temperatures in the Midwest aren’t exactly alluring! The one positive aspect is that Lake Michigan still seems to be exercising a moderating influence, so that it’s not quite as cold as in Iowa, say, where I’m told it was –19 this morning.

So my suitcases are packed and nearly ready to go, and I’ve discovered that Alana’s boots fit pretty well if I wear knee-highs instead of socks. For snacking, there’s a bag of home-made "trail mix" and four of her sinfully delicious chocolate biscotti cookies. The airlines have certainly deteriorated in terms of meal service! I wonder if you get "regular" meals when you take longer flights, e.g., to Europe or Hawaii. (My daughter-in-law and grandchildren just returned from Hawaii. I must ask the little jet-setters what they ate on their flights.)

How are you coming along with your Christmas cards? This year I decided to send "Christmas letters," and I’ve sent out about half of them so far. I considered taking the remainder on the plane, where I could write notes, but my penmanship isn’t that wonderful anyway, and the seats are usually rather cramped.

Today I received a wonderful card and letter from my cousin John, who’s a retired M.D. living in Iowa. He sent two photographs taken at our grandparents’ Christmas gathering when I was about 12 and he looks like he was maybe 6. Ah, it’s almost like going back in time to see all those familiar faces. My father looks handsome, and our aunts look so young (they were probably only in their 30s then but seemed "old" to me!) And my older sisters were pretty. Yes, that's the photo at the top of today's blog, and that’s me in a red sweater, seated next to my grandmother. My nephew David is barely visible, on my lap. My cousin John is standing between my grandmother (we called her "Nannie,") and Granddad. Who would guess that little boy would grow up to become a very respected obstetrician in his community?!! Also, he’s always been very good at corresponding, which impresses me, since not many men seem to take an interest in it.

This may be my last "news" until I return to San Diego. But sometime this week I'll try to post a transcript of a radio program I heard a few days ago. A Chinese church leader was interviewed about his experiences at a Communist labor camp where he was imprisoned for 18 years. He's an amazing man.
Until next time…Peace!

Thinking About Winter in Wisconsin

Dear Gentle Reader,
The morning began with an early telephone call to a cousin who lives in Iowa. "It’s minus-eleven degrees this morning," she told me. That is cold. But then I had occasion to phone a florist in the same county. "It’s minus-twenty degrees," she informed me. Well, when you get down to double-digits below zero, I’m not sure if one would really notice the discrepancy.

You can imagine how I’m looking forward to the weather in Milwaukee!
Remember my inability to find a pair of winter boots to take with me? A phone call from a neighbor resulted in two blessings. First, she asked if I’d be interested in trying her freshly-made chocolate biscotti. (I’m not sure whether the plural form of biscotti is biscottis. Someone who’s Italian should let me know.) And then when she brought them, I told her about my boot plight. Dear Alana responded, "I have some old boots that you could try!" As it turned out, they’re one size too small, but for six days in Wisconsin, I should be able to scrunch my feet without permanent damage. I’m sure we’ll only be walking between the car and the mall in any case.

And the biscotti were scrumptious. Oh, they were the best I’ve ever tried, but then, I find it hard to resist anything made of chocolate.

Wednesday is always "date day" for us, and we went for lunch at the Great Moon, an Asian-American buffet that serves everything from pot-stickers to pizza to sushi (which I generally avoid.) Everything I sampled was delicious. About a month ago I had become acquainted with one of the waitresses, and she's even attended our Bible study "family" meeting. Like all the servers, she’s an immigrant. Initially I thought she was Chinese but she’s Indonesian, a very nice girl in her late 20s. She came to the U.S. on a student visa, but for some reason she’s not going to school. Instead she’s working six days a week, 16-hour days. All the workers live in the same house, and the conditions seem like slave labor. It does not appear to be a very good situation, and she says she never gets enough sleep. I gave her a copy of a small book called From Prison to Praise, because it explains how praising God in difficult circumstances can actually change things for us.

The weather was so beautiful this afternoon, and I’d like to send some of San Diego’s warmth to you if you live in the frozen part of the country. As a beginning, I took a few photos on my walk at 4:15 this afternoon. That seems to be the time that joggers show up to enjoy the last rays of sunshine.
Wish you were here.
Stay warm.

What Is MOHS?

Dear Gentle Reader,
This morning I received e-mail from a girl who was a classmate in school when we grew up in Iowa. Okay, technically, she may no longer be a girl, but I haven’t seen her for decades and in my mind’s eye, she still has dark brown hair and the figure of a 17-year-old.

Unfortunately, her skin has aged, like mine, and she recently underwent MOHS surgery to remove a basal carcinoma. Using the MOHS approach, the surgeon keeps scraping off layers of affected skin and sending them to the lab until the result comes back that there is no more carcinoma. Those terms were familiar to me because I’d undergone the same procedure in 1992. At that time the dermatologist who had removed what I initially thought was a harmless growth, opined that basal cell epitheliomas are an inherited trait.

But an article I read after the surgery suggested that a cancer anywhere in one’s body should be a red flag regarding the condition of one’s health. So I started doing a lot of reading on nutrition and discovered that my diet was considered by many to be inadequate, termed "S.A.D." (Standard American Diet) that would result in premature aging and degeneration of one’s body, leading to high blood pressure, arthritis, and other ills.

To put it bluntly, I was eating way too many processed foods. In other words, anything that comes in a container should be avoided to the extent possible. (Yes, even water. Scientists suspect that plastic from the water bottles migrates into the water.) Not only are many of the food additives of questionable influence on the body, but the mere acts of baking, microwaving, adding sugar, etc. contributes to the acidity of the foods.

You can ascertain the level of your own body’s acidity by using little tabs of paper called pH testers which turn color, reflecting the acidity/alkalinity of your bodily fluids. (Ask your pharmacist.) Or you could invest in a book called Alkalize or Die by Dr. Theodore A. Baroody, which provides information on the foods which are acid-forming and those which are alkaline-forming.

The easiest way to alkalize one’s body is to eat fruits and vegetables the way they came from the garden, au naturel. But this calls for an entirely different mind-set about eating, and a completely new set of recipes! Unless you live by yourself, you may find yourself making two different menus, one for yourself and one for your housemate. I’ve done this for years, and it makes life a little more complicated. Fortunately, eating raw requires very little preparation. One settles into a routine. I almost always eat raw fruits and vegetables for breakfast and lunch, and at dinner/supper I add some cooked foods, e.g. a black bean burrito. We have salmon once a week (not canned, but that would work, too), along with Italian bread and a green salad.

I should mention that, although my husband has decided to adopt some of my natural diet, I have had absolutely no influence on the rest of our family, who think I’m a bit kooky where food is concerned. And yes, when I’m in Rome, I do as the Romans do. In Milwaukee, I’ll be eating lots of cooked foods and indulging in eggnog!

To your health...

A Parking-Lot Conversation

Dear Gentle Reader,
One meets such diverse people in San Diego! This morning while in the check-out line at the grocery store an older man was talking about three stages to depression. I wondered if he was speaking from experience, so I engaged him in conversation as we walked to our cars. The first thing he said, very proudly, was that he had been a friend of Albert Einstein while living in Manhattan, but that he and his wife had moved to La Jolla because it’s a much healthier place to live.

At 82 he is working very hard to resist depression, stay healthy, and live a long time. His wife teaches at UCSD, and he belongs to some kind of a UCSD institute for learning. He dropped a lot of names of people who had successfully led long lives, but they’re all deceased now. So I asked him if he thought there is life beyond death.

However, his whole focus is on extending his life. Sadly, because of what he views as betrayal by the Catholic Church, he has never been able to get past the sins of that institution.

It seems that he was born in Italy to a Roman Catholic mother and a Jewish father. They thought they were safe from Hitler in the early 1940s, but when Mussolini capitulated, the Germans moved into Italy and hauled away his father and several of his brothers to concentration camps. He himself escaped but was seriously wounded while fighting in the resistance movement.

After the war, his mother--a devout woman who went often went to confession--told him that the local priest had asked her in the confession booth to tell him about her husband and sons. Trustingly, she had done so, and then the priest had passed along the information to the Gestapo with fatal results.

Putting one’s faith in an organization instead of in Jesus Christ makes Christianity easier because the clergy take the responsibility for searching the scriptures and exhorting the congregation. But in situations when there is failure on the part of the clergy to conduct themselves righteously, it is so very damaging to people who have misplaced their confidence.

Jesus was skeptical about the clergy establishment in his day. He called them hypocrites (Matt. 22:18) and robbers (Matt. 21:12) and exposed their efforts to defraud the common people. When he turned over the tables in the temple, he was objecting to the practice of priests taking advantage of pilgrims who were trying to perform their duty to God.

I feel very sad for people like the gentleman I met this morning. They have been so spiritually abused that, aside from the grace of God, they may always be deprived of the joy and blessings of a relationship with their Creator.

But guess what! Today is December 5, and in the Bible, five is the number that symbolizes grace. May God’s grace rescue this man from his bitterness.

It's important to note that I am in no way suggesting that all clergy are untrustworthy. I am well acquainted with some wonderful church leaders. The point is that all humanity is frail and subject to failure, whereas our God is all-knowing, all-powerful, ever open to our petitions, and always compassionate. In the Book of Revelation Jesus is called "faithful and true." We can trust him.

Nary a Boot to Be Found

Dear Gentle Reader,
Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day, although it started out in rather chilly fashion. Okay, I’ll come clean. "Chilly" was 45 degrees, and you may justifiably chortle at my concept of "chilly." Next week when I’m in Wisconsin, it’s likely that I, too, will view 45 degrees as a heat wave!

But I skipped Sunday School this morning because the church had been so cold last week when I was sneezing and I couldn't escape the overhead fans (yes, you read that right). When I arrived for church, our dear pastor made a point of assuring me that in the future there will be someone assigned to turn on the heat so the faithful in SS don’t get chilblains.

The worship service was glorious with much rejoicing in God’s goodness. Pastor’s text included Psalm 37:4 about delighting oneself in the Lord, and I Peter 1:8 on exulting " with joy unspeakable and full of glory"! If you’ve never seen a pastor get so excited that he sings extemporaneously and dances in the midst of his sermon, you may have trouble picturing the scene. A young man sitting next to me said that it was his first time to visit and he’d been looking for a church like this but had despaired of ever finding one in San Diego.

However, things went from the sublime to the ridiculous in the afternoon as I sought to find a pair of boots for my Friday trip to Milwaukee. Would you believe that none of the major department stores in San Diego seem to carry boots that are designed to withstand snow? Instead, they stock "fashion boots". One salesman recommended that I go to a sporting goods store, but the one in the mall only carried snow boarding boots. Even "Boot World" could not meet a request for a snow boot.

This evening I relayed the quandary to my son in Milwaukee, but he seemed less concerned. "They plow everything here, Mom." So I guess I’ll just wear my tennies and, if it seems advisable, buy boots after I'm there.

Many thanks to my niece’s friend Becky for her advice in adding a photo to this blog! Becky's been blogging for a year and even has musical backgrounds for her pages. See http://www.beckmeister.info/ for this doctoral student's blog.
Also, I've enjoyed hearing from others of you who have read my fledgling efforts at blogging.

The Bougainvillea are so gorgeous right now that I wanted you to see the color.

Mat 6:28-20 All this time and money wasted on fashion--do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. --The Message

Preparations

Dear Gentle Reader,

It has been a busy day of getting clothes ready for the trip next week to snowy Milwaukee and putting away summer clothes for the season. I don’t even own a pair of boots, so finding suitable ones is a big item on my "To Do" list.

Making a batch of soup for Dick was another priority today, so he’ll have his familiar staples while I’m gone. Here is a great soup recipe that came from the San Diego paper a dozen years ago, and it’s become one of his favorites.

Garbanzo Bean Soup
1 chopped onion (about 1 c.)
1 celery rib (grated or chopped)
2 carrots (quartered, lengthwise)
2 C. diced ham
pinch crushed red pepper
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 bay leaf.
1 cup crushed tomatoes or ½ can tomato paste

Brown onion, celery, and carrots all together in skillet. Add ham, red pepper, thyme, and bayleaf and cook 3 minutes. Pour into mixture 1 quart chicken or turkey broth, 1 C. crushed tomatoes or tomato paste , and salt & pepper to taste. Simmer for 10 minutes.
If you freeze it in four equal portions, then you can defrost a container later and just add a can of beans (garbanzo or another kind of beans) with liquid. Simmer 15 minutes and serve to an appreciative companion.
-----

My friend Connie and I walked along the bay this afternoon. The sunshine is warm, but a brisk wind from the north heralds a change of weather. We returned the ineffective AirBorne cold medication and exchanged it for two containers of hummus, another easy food for Dick to fix while I’m away.

I’m now quite pleased with GSE for cold relief. It was effective in combating a germ (virus?) that seemed unstoppable to other efforts. Look at your local health food store.

Tomorrow is church. When I wake up on Sunday morning, I always think, "Oh goody, today we worship the Lord." May you be blessed on the Lord's Day.
Grace and peace...

Heavy Duty

Dear Gentle Reader,

I'd planned to tell you about gas prices in San Diego today ($2.35) and other aspects of life by the sea. But then I read an article that really bothered me. Today's entry is heavy duty, so if you'd rather surf to another website where the subject is lighter, feel free. Don't say I didn't warn you!


"We have met the enemy, and they are us."
Remember that Pogo quotation that was popular during the Vietnam War?
As Yogi Berra might say, "This is déjà vu all over again."

The troubling article I read was in Harper’s Magazine regarding our country’s current policy of torture in pursuing the "war on terror".

Porter Goss, CIA director, reportedly told the Senate Intelligence Committee in February that torture "doesn’t work. There are better ways to deal with captives." Then why does our country continue to use our tax dollars in a way that is reprehensible to most citizens? The use of torture as inherent to the way military and clandestine operations function is absolutely contrary to the Geneva Convention that have been part of "civilized" warfare for years and years, for good reason. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is pretty sound advice.

Does the Army truly run a "torture school" at Fort Benning, Georgia? Rumors that have circulated since the 80s carry more credence in the light of Abu Gharaib and Guantanamo.

The United States is obviously no longer a Christian nation. Jesus told his followers that they must love their enemies, and pray for those who treated them badly. What part of that is too conceptually abstract for our leaders to understand? We can't blame one political party or the other, either; very few senators or representatives have spoken up to denounce torture as a means of gaining intelligence. John McCain is one of the few exceptions.

If you’d like to read the entire article in Harper’s, it’s called "What We’ve Lost" by William Pfaff in the November issue. Many innocent civilians are being tortured and even dying in the process. Over 100 deaths have resulted from suffocation, beatings, etc.

What Pfaff fails to offer is a means of citizen response to such a heinous policy. But here’s an idea. You, my friends and relatives, live in a lot of different states, and you all likewise have friends and relatives that are far-flung. Why don’t you copy today’s blog and send it to them? You (and they) can go to the following websites to find your Congressional Representative’s e-mail or fax number, as well as those for the Senators for your state. Tell them you want them to halt all funding for the CIA (which seems to be doing a lot of the dirty work). Ask them to personally denounce torture by Americans in the war on terror. That would be a good beginning.

Fax numbers
http://www.aspb.org/publicaffairs/state_fax_nmbrs.cfm
E-mail info
http://www.congress.org

How can we talk about conducting a war on terror when our country is itself inflicting pain and terror? "We have met the enemy and they are us."


Pro 14:34 Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people.

The only thing needed for the triumph of evil is for good men/[women] to do nothing. --Attributed to Edmund Burke

Reflections on Shouting

December 1, 2005 Blog

Dear Gentle Reader

To go or not to go, that was the question. Should I meet with my Love Family this morning, or stay home and let Connie lead them? Dick thought I shouldn’t risk a worse cold by sitting in the unheated church (chilly, even in San Diego), since I need to be well by December 9, when I’m supposed to leave for Milwaukee.

His view seemed wise, and I liked the idea of giving Connie an opportunity to lead the group. She arrived here early to get the materials (song sheets, etc.) and she looked so pretty in a new pink, velour outfit. She’s an artist and makes jewelry, too. (I think she gives away more than she sells!) Her hand-made necklace was perfect with her outfit.

Instead of meeting with them, I’ve been researching Bible verses on "shout" (as in "Shout to the Lord") and have concluded that Old Testament believers were a lot rowdier than most churches are today. There are repeated references to shouting, rejoicing, lifting your voice ("bellow, shout"). My earliest memory of church in Iowa (Methodist) was the choir singing a song about how we should all keep silence before God. The scriptural basis for that was Habakkuk 2:20: "The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before Him."

It’s interesting how we can "cherry pick" verses that agree with our own viewpoints. For every verse in the Bible that talks about being silent, there are probably twenty that exhort us to shout aloud, rejoice, even bellow (according to the Hebrew, although no translations use that term).

For several years I've attended a neighborhood church aptly called The Praise Center.. The folks there do get noisy and rowdy in rejoicing before God. They shout, sing at the top of their lungs, raise their arms, and dance. A young man bring flags and his wife brings stoles with which to praise the Lord with all their might. It’s a lot of fun!

Fun? (Are you put off?)
"Church isn’t supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to be serious, holy."
But fun (read "joy") and holiness don’t need to be mutually exclusive, or the Bible wouldn’t tell us to rejoice with great joy!
In the New Testament St. Paul encourages us to "Rejoice! And again I say, Rejoice!"
Let’s rejoice this day. It’s a choice we can make. Even if we have difficulties, may not feel well, are lonely, or have snowdrifts outside the window…We can still make the choice to rejoice.
Peace and joy to you.