Time On The Road……….by Donnie

Boo Or No Boo. Nothing Compares To…… Being Christ Like 

Boo Yes, Boo No? 

Is it ever OK to boo someone? How far is it acceptable? Sometimes, booing someone is part of the fun, that is, what is expected. For instance, professional wrestling. Most people agree pro wrestling is staged. It is theater. Highly tuned, sculpted athletes compete in what is often a predetermined result. The “good” guy is cheered, the “bad” guy or “villain” is booed. Booing someone in a comical way such as pro wrestling, or a fictional TV show, cartoon, or movie and such is one thing, it is all fun. Aside from that, I think great caution should be used before we boo someone. There are situations where booing may be warranted. Perhaps booing to make your feelings known can convey an important message. Where is the line drawn where we are telling someone, “I think what you did or said is wrong, I want you to know that”, from telling someone “I despise your existence, and hate you with such deep passion, I am going to boo you with a viral hate until you go away” 

A Tragedy 

On July 26, 2023, Irish singer Sinead O’Connor was found dead in her flat in South London. No specific cause of death has been released; officials are only saying her death is not considered suspicious. Her family had earlier said she had died of mental illness.  

Actions Have Consequences 

Ms. O’Connor had a troubled life, deep in controversy, sometimes due to her own actions. She said and did some things I find offensive, as did many others. 

In 1990, Sinead had a hit single, written by Prince, titled Nothing Compares 2 U. It was number one in the US for several weeks. The song highlighted her enormous talent. 

On October 3^rd, 1992, Sinead appeared on Saturday Night Live, and sang the song War, a cappella. She wanted to protest child abuse being covered up by the Catholic church. However, as is often the case, her method of protest was not understood. It was offensive and disrespectful to many people. At the conclusion of the song, she tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II in front of a live studio and TV audience. I am an Evangelical Christian, I am not Catholic, but I believe insulting millions upon millions of people, is not an effective way to have people listen to your cause. 

We Are Called To Be Christ-like 

Two weeks after her fiasco on SNL, Sinead appeared at a tribute concert to honor Bob Dylan on his birthday. As Sinead began to sing, she was cheered and booed. Producers of the event asked singer Kris Kristofferson to go on stage and pull her off. He did go out, but to comfort her, be her friend. He told her not to let the “bleep” get her down. She told him she was not down and continued to try to sing. The boos, however, became overwhelming, she yelled the rest of her song, walked off stage, and broke down. Then Kris Kristofferson grabbed her and hugged her tight. Now I do not know if he is a Christian, I believe he claims to be, only he and God know that answer. But….what he did, was acting Christ-like. He held a friend who the world was ready to stone. Christ did the same for the woman who a mob of hypocrites were ready to stone for adultery. Kris of course does not have the power to forgive anyone, but he can show love to a friend, and he did. I know I have been the woman about to be stoned before, I have been the woman at the well. I have been Paul. Christ will forgive us when we ask. We must try and remember that when we approach others we want to boo. Christ does not boo, He cheers. I know I need to remember that.  

It is almost summer, officially. The negatives to me about the beginning of summer, though it is the longest day of the year, the days will then begin getting shorter, and we are getting closer to fall, which I despise, and worse, we are getting closer to winter, which I loathe. But I look for the positive and live for the moment. If I worry about fall approaching, I cannot enjoy the fun of summer. The first day of winter is of course the shortest day of the year, but the days get longer from there. Which is the only thing that makes winter bearable.  I see each day as one more day closer to spring. 

I have never been a big cereal eater. I eat cereal, sometimes more than other times. When I do, I try to get something at least sort of healthy, maybe with fruit or fiber. You sometimes hear stories or see memes where people will talk of the “good ole days’, where they would sit with a bowl of cereal on Saturday mornings and watch cartoons. I too watched Saturday morning cartoons, but usually it would be with my favorite staple breakfast food, red link sausage, toast and grape jelly, sometimes with an egg. (And a vitamin or such) My mom had a special knack for preparing this for me. Oh, I tried to like cereal, the fun looking cereals advertised on TV, the captain’s cereal, maybe the prehistoric man’s cereal, the sweeter, the better. Not to mention the generous amount of sugar I might add on top of the gallon of sugar already included. No wonder I never acquired a taste for cereal. I was not having cereal; I was eating a bowl of sweet milk with a few flakes of corn or rice flakes. Probably my main attraction to cereal was the toy inside. Once I found that, the cereal had served its purpose for me and was no longer needed in my life. I miss the simpler times when my biggest issue on a Saturday was the cartoons were over for the day, or my bike tire had a flat. 

Today is May 31. June is almost here, the  unofficial start of summer. Or was that on Memorial Day? Yes, summer officially begins on June 21.  But by then summer vacation is basically half over, for the kids anyway. When I was in school, we normally got out sometime in late May, and did not go back until AFTER Labor Day.  Now kids go back the third week in August or such. Stores will begin selling their back-to-school supplies right around the fourth of July, oh the sheer audacity. Even though I have been out of school, and college for many years, it still depresses me to see BTS merchandise hit the stores in the middle of a nice hot summer.  Where I  work, (A Christian owned crafts store) we began putting BTS teacher supplies out just as the schools were getting out for the summer. We cater heavily to home-school teachers.  This is also the time of year our fall and Christmas items, yes, I said Christmas items, begin to hit the shelves as well.  Do not get me wrong, I love celebrating Christmas. I enjoy the secular aspect with jingle bells, Frosty, Rudolph and Santa, but I especially love celebrating the true meaning, the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.  However, we do not know if His birth occurred in December, it could have been in the spring or summer, we don’t know. We should always celebrate Christ birth, but perhaps we can celebrate the Christmas holiday in April. That would be good, right? But by doing that, we may have to say “so long” to Frosty, I am OK with that.  There was a movie years ago, where an actor playing God, supposedly granted a human special powers to control certain events in the universe. This person promptly misused the gift, and literally lassoed the moon closer to earth to impress his girlfriend. Of course his doing this caused disaster to ensue when tidal waves ran out of control on the planet. This would be a good example of why  God would never grant humans that power, especially someone like me. If He were too, I fear that those of you who love fall and winter would never see one again. God created four seasons for a reason, He certainly did not ask for my or anyone’s input. That’s a very good thing.  

Another day of winter, another day closer to spring. The days are getting longer, though not quickly enough for me. In a few weeks that furry rat from Punxsutawney will let us know just how much more winter we must endure. I am not what you call a winter person. Shoot, I can barely survive fall. I like long hot days. Fall, and especially winter would be the antithesis of that. Antithesis, bet you did not think you would get a twenty-dollar word for free, did you? Here is another, this may even be a fifty-dollar word. Crestfallen, meaning dejected. Winter leaves me feeling crestfallen. Spring, now that is a million-dollar word, and it can’t get here fast enough.  

After 15 votes, Congressman Kevin McCarthy has been elected the Speaker of the House for the 118^th Congress. Why did it take so many votes for Republicans, who hold the majority, to elect him? Concessions had to be made, many by McCarthy, to win over enough Republicans votes to elect him. This is how the country works. Why am I up so late, almost 11:30PM here in Kansas, after midnight in Washington DC? I am up for the same reason I watch results for major elections. I love this country, and I love swimming in the waters of freedom. The water is great, take a swim. 

The new year has started off with less than positive results.  The least of which, the US Congress has just begun its new session, and even though Republicans have control of the House, which I hoped for, they can’t even agree on a speaker.  In California, some man intentionally drove his Tesla off a cliff, over 200 feet, hoping to kill himself, and the occupants.  Apparently his wife or girlfriend, and his two children.  Thankfully, and amazingly, though the car fell 200 feet, no one was killed. He is being charged when he’s released from the hospital.  Then, on Monday Night Football, a safety for the Buffalo Bills, Damar Hamlin, only 24 years old, went into cardiac arrest on the field after a routine tackle.  His prognosis is still unknown.  This reminds us of just how much we need God in our lives.  In the case of Mr. Hamlin, probably millions of prayers went up to God, and continues to do so.  God is always willing to listen, when we reach out to Him.  Jesus is ready to save the lost when they trust Him alone to save them.  Time is precious, and time is short.  We are not promised another millisecond in this life.  If you don’t know Jesus, trust Him alone to save you today, before it is too late.

Over 2,000 years ago, a young girl, who was a virgin, gave birth to a boy. So many women have given birth to a son who would someday grow to do great things.   Men such as George Washington, Winston Churchill, Neil Armstrong, Martin Luther (the theologian), Martin Luther King, C.S. Lewis, Abraham Lincoln, and the Apostles of Jesus. All these men did great things, and many served God diligently. But ALL these men were flawed, and none were without sin. Only one has been without sin, the one born of a virgin. Jesus Christ came to this world to save us from our flaws and sin. He came so we might live forever with Him when we trust Him alone to save us. Today we celebrate His birth; it is Christmas Day.

Except for Christmas, there is something about winter I hate. I can’t quite put my finger on it; maybe it’s the…oh wait, I’ve got it, it’s EVERYTHING. I love Christmas, but Christmas Day was probably not on December 25^th. In fact, I have read nowhere in the Gospel of Luke, or anywhere in the Bible that it states that an angel of the Lord approached Mary or the Wisemen warning them of an approaching snowstorm or temperatures below zero. So I don’t think the first Christmas was snowy or cold, and likely not in winter. I think Christmas should be celebrated year-round. But let us make Christmas Day sometime in April or May and let winter alone in its miserable cold self.

Winter is about six weeks into its nasty behavior, and, according to that furry rat in Punxsutawney, we have six more weeks to endure. But, to borrow on an adage, the pessimist would say, “We still have six more grueling weeks of winter.”  And of course, the optimist might say, “Spring is but six weeks away.”

February is the runt of the litter in the scheme of things. Besides being the shortest month of the year, it is also perhaps the coldest. February used to have some positives for me; the beginning of NASCAR used to be a warm-up of sorts, of spring approaching. But, NASCAR has lost much of its appeal to me, just not as fun as it once was. Spring training for Major League Baseball typically begins in February, but it seems that may not happen. A strike seems to be looming. If they want to strike, strike. If I never see another professional sport played again, my life will be exemplary. Too many hard-working heroes in the world being underpaid. Police officers, firefighters, first responders, teachers, nurses, and our military are risking their lives and time with their families to keep us safe. Grossly overpaid athletes are either whining they think they are underpaid or that we should fall in lockstep with their opinions.