The Muse is Loose

You have on loafers? What a way to start APRIL FOOL'S DAY! How did such a day start? There is no common agreement, but it is an old tradition and one that is world- wide. Some think it may date to the Middle Ages and the time when a court jester told the king he could rule as well as the king. The king took him up on it and made the "fool" king for a day. It was April 1.

One practical joke, among the best, happened in 1957 when staid old BBC broadcasting in England seriously announced on the news that Switzerland had had a bumper spaghetti harvest.
They had eliminated the infamous spaghetti weevil. This was early TV and so they showed a group of Swiss peasants appearing to pick spaghetti from trees. People began to call in and ask if they could grow spaghetti. The callers were told to place a sprig of spaghetti in a can of tomato sauce and hope for the best!

April is a month that usually ushers in Spring. It will be interesting to see if that is so this wacky 2010. Do not put away your heavy coats as yet. I remember we used to say "April showers bring May flowers". The flowers here in South Texas are as pretty as I can remember. A favorite viewing area in Rockport is the old city cemetery. It is a georgous display of all kinds and colors of wild flowers.

Beware today! Someone may be out to fool you. It may even be a mate or best friend. Don't fall for one of their silly schemes. Be ready with one of your own. It is Spring! It is All-Fool's Day!

From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice," Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? " - which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?".

When some of those standing there heard this they said, "He is calling Elijah.". Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him".

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

The END of the story?

No.

Easter......the REST of the story!!!

We had a great home-cooked meal with all the trimings. The egg hunt was underway when I missed Ann. She would never miss this event unless there was a problem. There was. She was sick. She threw up several times and was having chills. We headed for ER. While we waited over there a young lady from our church came in with her mother. She was sick! She is also eight months pregnant. She said a number of her friends had the same thing. They had been together at a shower on Saturday. Ann was there. Laura was a hostess. Emily was there. Last night Laura got sick and threw up all night. She is waiting to see if any of the others come down. A virus came along like a rotten egg and tried to disrupt our Easter family fun. Ann is still at the hospital this Monday morning but feels better. She also had an infection that needed treatment. Hopes to come home later today or tomorrow.

Ever have your fun plans disrupted by weather or accident or sickness or whatever? Sure you have. It happens all the time. Sometimes we can work through or around it. Often we cannot. I experienced these things a lot in ministry. They were not always things disrupting in my life, but in someone else's, and that would bring about a change in what I had planned. We just keep on keeping on. We move to the next red light. It may only be a block. Some of it depends on the way we choose to go. We can leave from home here, and only have one stop light between Rockport and Los Angeles. We have to stay on the Interstate, however. If we choose to take the slower routes where the people are living there might be a hundred stop lights. I am not much of an Interstate driver; in driving or in life.

Butler University came awfully close to a tremendous win and national championship. The shot that would have won it all actually hit the backboard and rim from half court, then harmlessly bounced away as the clock ran out and gave a victory to Duke University.

What do you know about Butler? Possibly, not very much. I have never met a graduate from there. I know it is Indianapolis. Wikipedia says they have fewer than 5,000 students. They also say it costs $41,500. a year for room and board. Most students do get considerable grant money and scholarships. That is still a lot of money. My first year at Ouachita Baptist College cost $640.00 for the year, room and board. I know, that was in the stone age.

BUTLER UNIVERSITY was founded in 1855 by an abolitionist attorney named Ovid Butler. It seems to have a good reputation academically. It certainly has made a name for itself in college basketball. I wish them well in the future. I also wish someone would not quickly steal their youthful coach, with the big dollars, but it will happen.

Yes, the BUTLER almost did it! If he had not missed his last shot the Duke could have been lying,bleeding, on the hardwood while the Butler carried off the loot.Don't fail to read the next chapter!

The college basketball scene closed out last evening with Connecticut illustrating why the women's team there has not lost in two years. It was a bit of an ugly game with neither one able to make points the first half. Stanford continued that problem in the second half. So, we have Connecticut and Duke at the top of the heap for 2009-2010.

Yesterday I wrote about Butler, the small school that battled Duke to the wire. Here is a bit of Duke University history.

It's origin is traced back to 1838 when Methodist and Quaker families started a small school called Union Institute. Normal College began in 1851. The Methodist Episcopal church kept it operating to train their preachers. It formally became Trinity College in 1859. The school was resettled in Durham in 1892 largely through the generosity of the Duke family who were respected Methodists and prosperous tobacco growers. In 1894 women were accepted "on equal footing" as students. Plans for a university began to grow as the Duke's established an endowment fund of forty million dollars. It was decided to rename the school Duke University as a memorial to this generous family. They had become a school of religion, and in 1931 a school of nursing. They have law, engineering, business and other schools today.

Duke University has about 6300 undergraduate and 4500 graduate students . Their school motto is "Knowledge and Religion". I imagine they will soon add "basketball" to that motto.

I heard from my dear high school friend Dr. Ed Coffman, retired anesthesiologist, and a one-time Duke U attender, having done his residency there. He recalled the architecture as gothic and the stone came from the (where else) Duke quarry at Hillsborough, some 20 miles away. Their basketball arena only holds about 12,000, jam packed. They still have a Theological Seminary but it is no longer Methodist.Braxton Craven was the second president of Duke, about the time it became Trinity. He was a distant kinsman on Ed's mother's side.

Why are they the Blue Devils? During World War I there was a French alpine soldier outfit named the "les Diables Bleus". They won accolades for their courage. They wore blue uniforms with flowing capes and jaunty berets. Irving Berlin wrote a song about them. It spoke of "those Devils. the Blue Devils of France".

After the war Duke, who wore blue and white, began to search for a "catchy name". Various names were presented for a vote. None got a majority so it was tabled. The next year Coach W.W. Card said they needed a name with "blue" in it. Blue Titans, Blue Eagles, Royal Blazes, and Blue Devils were presented. None were accepted by majority SO some campus leaders in 1923 simply decided on Blue Devils. It was presented and it stuck. It's origin is more patriotic and military than religious. Now you know! Thanks Eddie! (He was quite a basketball player for the Fort Smith Grizzlies in his high school days. First team all-state if I remember right!)

When you see the mascot with a blue cape you will know why. My guess is that you will see him again come Fall.

It was the Apostle Paul who wrote; "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?". Omitting the "w" that is where I have been these last several hours. I am having a brief respite this early morning. Hopeful it will last.

Early yesterday afternoon this plague swept upon me. I went, in an hour, from having an enjoyable visit with my friend, James Bell, to not caring whether I lived or died. It was like my body decided to unload everything remotely resembling food or liquid. It came in waves. Soon my stomach muscles felt like I had done about fifty push ups. Ann was doing all she could to resupply me with pans. Let me tell you i retched until there was nothing left. This morning I want my cup of coffee but am fearful this old body will reject it.

Sunday I took Ann to the hospital with similar problems. She stayed a part of three days and that was too short a time for her. She was equally as sick as I have been (hopefully past tense). Now, I am wondering what happens next.

It is always interesting how plans can be quickly adjusted. Things that seemed vitally important really are not. Well, that's where we are this morning. I am getting some signals that all is not well.Have a nice day!

It is scheduled for seven AM Sunday. The stadium used by the Dallas Cowboys for thirty-nine
years is scheduled to become a pile of rubble in minutes with the planting of more than one ton of dynamite in 2200 different holes. The Cowboys won five Superbowls while this place was their home. Billy Graham preached there. They estimate fifty half-second delays in explosions will do the trick. Quite a feat you say? That is NOTHING compared to this one:

"Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body."

It happened as Jesus said it would. They destroyed his life physically as he was crucified. But, in three days he was raised up like a temple rising from rubble; like putting back together the Cowboy stadium in seventy-two hours after the last explosion. Talk about a miracle....there's one for you. It also happened on a Sunday morning. Hmmmm.

After visiting Laura for her birthday in Goliad, Ann and I took a side trip on to Yoakam, and then a back road to Victoria. The wildflowers have outdone themselves this year! Yellows have won out. Bluebonnets, usually the star of the show, were there, but not in great numbers. One hardly misses them as the eyes gaze upon a plethora of reds, yellows, pinks, blues, orange, green,white, and many many colors in between.In some cases there were acres of untouched beauties gently blowing in the South Texas wind.

As I looked upon this wonder of God's creation I kept thinking of a children's hymn of long ago:

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings.

The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer rain,
The ripe fruits in the garden,
He made them every one.

He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty,
Who has made all things well.

Cecil F. Alexander 1848

It is kind of amazing. After a unanimous vote this evening at First Baptist Church, Taft, I will begin Sunday as interim pastor. This will be the THIRD time I have been called to the church. The FIRST time was in the spring of 1962. I was being given an early discharge after being recalled for the Cuban missile crisis with the 49th Armored Division. I came to the church as minister of music/education/youth. In most churches today these are separate positions. We had three and one-half enjoyable and productive years before moving to Calvary, Lufkin. The SECOND time was in 1983, I think. This time I came as pastor. The church had just undergone a pastor leaving and taking more than a hundred members a few blocks to start a new church. It no longer exists. Now, I am going back as an INTERIM pastor. It will not be a full-time position. I will preach Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. The church is older and much smaller than when I first served it. I am older and much larger. Such is life.

I will be grateful for your prayers and encouragement in this new assignment the Lord has given me. It is not an easy task at this point in time, but one I am excited to take on. I will have to sharpen my study and skills, and re-tune my ears to listen. Many of my earlier friends there are gone. Some do remain. I also look forward to making new friends in and out of the church. There it is. Back to work at seventy-seven. Is the THIRD time the charm?

Rain showers are coming in from the Gulf and with them are the birds. When these migrating birds hit rain showers and thunder storms it exhausts them and they stop at the first landing places where there is nourishment and fresh water. They are all around; in back yards and cemeteries, and birding centers awaiting them. Today, one group of birders saw more than twenty different kinds of warblers! That is a great day.

I am going out Saturday morning with our three girls from last years championship Roadrunner Team. We are warming up for our official run at repeating which comes for us next Saturday. They will wear me down but it will be fun. Rain is in the forecast, and could wash us out, but we shall see.

Several months ago I volunteered to write a one-act monologue on Connie Hagar, the famous Rockport birder of a time long past. It was at our Aransas Bird and Nature Club planning meeting. We were hosting the Texas Ornithological Society meet in mid-April. Finding someone to memorize and present this piece was a chore. I came up with the best possible person. She was Jennifer Edwards, drama teacher at Ingleside High School. Last night (Saturday) was the presentation to about 150 members and guests. It was superb! Jennifer was simply great. I could not have been more pleased. To discover more about this remarkable woman she portrayed simply type in ConnieHagar.com. That should do it. Our information came from the book by Kay McCracken.

Today I preached for the first time as Interim Pastor at Taft. It was kinda' neat, runny nose and all. Laura and her family were there. She and James married in this church. The congregation is very small. There is much to do, but I will do what I can to prepare them for a pastor in the future.

This Saturday our Roadrunners birding team of Olivia Smith, Savannah Rozacky, and Emily Duprie, will seek to defend their first place finish from last year against teams of their age, from the entire gulf coast of Texas. Last year these kids won by identifying eighty-seven different birds in an eight hour period. They can have NO help. I have to approve or reject their call. Yesterday, in a trial run of five hours these three super-good girls came up with ninety-four species. Our goal is ONE HUNDRED different birds in eight hours. It will be a REAL challenge. There are over 600 birds in the state. They are not all here, however. Some are here only in winter. Others like to hide. Our favorite bird yesterday was the crazy-looking least bittern. He likes to stretch up in reeds and look like a reed. He is good at it. Birds are fun.

They are called Beyond Jordan, and they were beyond belief! These three young women who have been singing together for four years have an incredible sound and style. As I listened to them Sunday evening, and marveled at what I was hearing, I realized that mixed into their music was three important ingredients: Unison, Harmony, and Dissonance. Their music is all done acappella, with only the soft sound of a pitchpipe to get them started on the right key.

The unison singing was amazing! They sounded like a single voice. They were perfectly in tune with each other. The trio would then add a harmonic voice to give the sound of a duet, followed by the third voice with three-part harmony, beautifully blended. At times the harmony would be replaced by a dissonant sound; notes so close to each other, and yet not the same. Then, the dissonance would fade into harmony once again.

I realized after thinking about what I had heard they had given us a message about life and how it can and should be. Church life, family life, couple life.. Sometimes we are in unison. Everyone in perfect tune with each other. After awhile we realize more is needed, so different notes are heard.They are in tune but not alike. Harmony is a good and enjoyable quality. Dissonant sounds appear. Our harmony is gone. Dissonance can be good and healthy when held in check. It can be disasterous when it becomes harsh and grating with no resolve coming. It is okay to have those times of dissonance, but they should always have plans to be resolved. When resolve comes and harmony or unison occurs once again, it is a wonderful feeling. Unison, harmony, dissonance; they can all go together and still produce a sweet song, but you gotta' keep singing.

She was a Youth Minister to young nurse trainees at Lilly Jolly school of nursing, as well as First Baptist Church, Houston. She was a matchmaker who encouraged Ann and I to get together. She was the Maid of Honor at our wedding in December of 1957. She became appointed as a Foreign Missionary to Hong Kong, where Kathryn taught in the school there. She would come home from the mission field to become a teacher at Lamar University. She was an attractive and joyful woman who never married. In retirement years Kathryn and her sister bought an RV and traveled the country. She was an active member at First Baptist Church, Garland. She went to be with the Lord this last Friday evening with no warning. Services for Kathryn White will be Thursday. I must tell you this special story:

Bob Highgate and I had just arrived in Houston in January of 57'. Neither had a job. We had enough money to rent an apartment, but not enough to pay for the utilities to be turned on. After visiting FBC Houston on Sunday where our names were taken in Sunday School, we had a visit on Monday evening. The visitors were Ann Maurer, A young man she was dating, and Kathryn White. They thought we were going out. We had our coats on. That was because it was COLD with no heat. We were invited to an after visitation fellowship at Chuck and Marge Caldwell's home. There would be refreshments. Yes, we would go. Bob and I spent much of our time in the kitchen that evening. They brought us back to our apartment and as Kathryn ( meeting us for the first time) shook my hand she squeezed something into it. In the apartment I discovered she had given me a ten dollar bill! This dear woman had recognized we had problems. Soon we both had work and I finally had a chance to have a date with Ann. The rest is history. Never underestimate what an act of kindness and generosity can do for a person in need. Kathryn White...and extraordinary servant of the Lord.

Slavery has been abolished. In it's place we have draft night in the NFL. There is a huge difference however. The slaves walk away with the money. Some are not chosen and have to readjust their lives to living outside a spotlight. That takes some doing for star-studded athletes. Anxious fans are hoping they will rake in some superstar that will turn their team around. What often happens is some little known college player becomes a great in the pros.

I read a scouting report on those projected to be drafted in the first round. All their flaws, real or imagined, are exposed by these scouts. You would think NONE of them are going to make it, except maybe Ndamukong Suh of Nebraska and Sam Bradford of Oklahoma! They work and slave and star and make All-American; then, when it comes time for the Big Arena and big money they just aren't all that good. (So the gurus say)

We all have felt this at one time or another. We reach for a higher star and fall ungracefully back to reality. We quickly forget those who didn't make it to a higher level. How many vice-presidential candidates who lost can you name? How many vice presidents?

Paul gave a bit of sage advice: "I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. I know how to be abased and I know how to abound....I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." All things through Christ. That is the key. It is not all things. It is that done through Christ. Tim Tebow, Heisman Trophy winner from Florida is not projected to go in the first round. This young man, son of a missionary family, and outspoken in his faith in Christ worries some of these NFL owners. It is not that he cannot play. He has proven that. They just.......uh "A vocal born-again quarterback? Is that what we need right now?" " We could trade for Roethlisberger of the Steelers since he is suspended for the first six games next fall for activities that almost sent him to jail." Can you imagine if Tebow were drafted now by Pittsburgh to replace Roethlisberger? There would be a howl from the fans. We can gauge where we are morally in this country by watching all these events unfold. Don't worry about Tebow. He has his priorities straight. I think they will stay that way.

Saturday morning at about 6:30 our defending Coastal Birding champs, the Rockport Roadrunners,will hit the road for eight straight hours of birding fun. It is unpredictable where the birds will be. There were many last Saturday but the weather has changed. My team members,
Emily Duprie, Savannah Rozacky, and Olivia Smith will find the birds if they are there. They are good. We will begin at Port Aransas. From there we will go down North Padre Island, then over to Corpus Christi and Blucher Park. From Blucher we will go back to Rockport and then on to beyond Beeville for some ranch country birds. Gayle Rozacky will be our driver. Valerie Smith will be our tabulator. Our goal is high. We want to find one hundred species in those eight hours. Last year we won with eighty-seven, but we expect tougher competition this year. We only won by one bird last year.
Speaking of birds, I added a "lifer" today.( That is a bird I have never seen before.) Where was it?
In the parking lot of HEB Rockport!! The world famous birding tour guide, Victor Emmanuel, was getting gas at HEB yesterday. He heard the call of a tropical kingbird. A brief search led him to an oak tree left in the parking lot. The bird was building a nest high in the tree. I wish all lifers were that easy! "Uncommon and local in southeastern Arizona and Rio Grande Valley in Texas". Since we aren't in either of those places we are lucky to get the bird in a grocery store parking lot.

Our three young Roadrunners had an incredible day! These girls spotted and identified ONE HUNDRED TWENTY FIVE SPECIES of birds in their eight hour time frame. We traveled more than a hundred miles to twelve different locations to get that many. The one we enjoyed most was a yellow-headed blackbird. With two minutes left to go the girls saw TWO WILD TURKEYS! A neat way to end. I am exhausted as they are but it was worth every minute. We won't know until next Sunday where we placed. There were nine teams in our division ranging from Beaumont to Brownsville. It was quite a day.

Here in Rockport the last several days we have enjoyed a beautiful show from little blue birds that aren't bluebirds. They are indigo buntings. They aren't blue buntings tho' they are blue! A true blue bunting is a rare bird in Texas. I saw one a few years ago in the Rio Grande Valley at Bentson Park. That blue bunting is a bit smaller than the indigo buntings we are having here. Bluebirds are not often seen in Rockport. In migration a few of them sometimes stop at the RV Park near the bridge across Aransas Bay heading north to Tivoli. Please read this confusing statement again.

The spacing of a word or part of a word changes the meaning. It is a reminder how our words can easily be misunderstood. They can change meaning by the location of a space or by the way we say it." I saw a BLUE bird today." " I saw a bluebird today." " The BLUE bird was not a bluebird for a bluebird is not completely blue. It has a little bit of rust color on it's breast."

Is it any wonder we get in trouble by what we say or how we say it? Even the wrong emphasis on a word can cause problems. Communication is tricky. It can be dangerous to relationships. The writer of Proverbs said: "A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver". That is NIV. In KJV he says: "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." The Amplified Bible says: "A word fitly spoken and in due season is like apples of gold in a setting of silver." The Living Bible states: "Timely advice is as lovely as golden apples in a silver basket." Confused? Which is right and which is wrong? Each is right in it's own way. Right? Write!

" I can see clearly now......" You know that song don't you? Well, we can see clearly now through the once patch of woods that hid our home and view from highway 35 North. What we see are cars and trucks stopping for a traffic light...then sitting....then going again. Hour after hour it happens. Now I don't sit out there watching hour after hour, but every time I look that way I can see the same old thing.

The reverse is also true: We can now see our home well before we arrive. It used to be we had to be on seventh street to see 306. Now we can see it from Highway 35. I don't like that very much either. I can't do anything about seeing 35, but I can do something about seeing our home from 35 if I wish. I can turn a couple of blocks early, go down sixth, then come up to my house from behind it.

I'm not going to do that. I will keep coming and going just the way I have. We will make do with what has worked for us in the past.

We do that about many more events than how to get to and from where we live. Life has a way of putting new adjustments on us quite often. Some of them, (like sugar-salt free diets) aren't really much fun. We evaluate and decide if it is worth the hassle to readjust the foods we eat. We do it in our activities. Is it really worth expending our last little drop of energy to do this task?

That's when priorities come in to play. David of Biblical times was a multi-talented man. He was a leader, a warrior, a singer and song-writer. He was a tough but gentle man. He was, in fact, a man after God's own heart. Reflecting one day on all he could do he prioritized what was most important. It is found in Psalm 27:4 "One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple...."

In this hectic stop and go traffic world, what is most important to you?

You may or may not have noted Franklin Graham had his invitation to speak at the National Day of Prayer at the Pentagon withdrawn for May 6. He had made some statements about Islam that did not set well with the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, as well as the Secular Coalition for America. These two extremist groups caused the pentagon brass to "wimp out". One group spokesman, Mike Weinstein, called Graham hideously Islamaphobic. I have decided I have that disease also.

Is Islam a loving, peaceful, religion. To some it may be. To many it is not. It's teachings are not consistent. What I share with you comes from "How To Convert To Islam and Become A Muslim".

These are quotes from the Holy Quran: "the only religion in the sight of God is Islam" "If anyone desires a religion other than Islam, never will it be accepted of him; and in the hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost theirselves in Hellfire" "I testify that there is no true god but Allah and that Muhammad is a prophet of God."

"We did not send the messenger before you without revealing to him: none has the right to be worshipped except I, therefore worship me" (This is an explanation accompanying the Quran quote:) "This conveys that all forms of worship, whether it be praying,fasting,invoking,seeking refuge in,and offering an animal in sacrifice must be directed to God and God alone. Directing ANY FORM OF WORSHIP to other than God, whether it be an angel, a messenger, JESUS, Muhammad, a saint, an idol, the sun, the moon, a tree, is seen as a contradiction to the fundamental message of Islam and is an unforgivable sin."

These are all rather mild statements. There are others than are more harsh.

I do not usually deal with stuff like this but it stuck in my craw when I read this in Stars and Stripes, the soldier's newspaper.

Christianity will survive. God will win out. Jesus will be exalted, but NOT without a battle.

It was twenty-plus years ago that I sat on a sandy piece of land with Mayor Herb Grebe from Taft, and guests from all over, to dedicate 576 prime acres to the Navy for Homeport. Big ships like a carrier would be there. Mine Sweepers came. They went obsolete. In the Base Realignment of 2005 the power moguls came through and said, "Close it!". Multiple millions had been sunk in converting this sand into a classy Naval Base. Nice permanent buildings sit quietly vacant now.

Today the base closes. Another town, Ingleside, that looked for this venture as a boon saw it as a bust. Better times may be ahead...or may not. That is in the decision making of the Port of Corpus Christi. They are receiving the properties at 11:00 A.M. Friday, April 30. They are a divided group, as most political entities in South Texas. We hope they would do a good job with this.

Towns and cities across the country have experienced such closures again and again. Some have found themselves much better off after the military leaves. There is stability and long-range views we don't have when bases are involved. Beeville has done well since the closure there. My home town of Fort Smith, Arkansas, recovered nicely from seeing Camp Chaffee close. We need bases and we need the military for sure. We also need long-range responsible planning that seems to be missing with the Brass Hats.

Anchors aweigh, my boys! Anchors aweigh! Farewell to Texas joys, you sail at noon today!