Go figure

While I'm on the subject of Sunday worship, something has troubled me the last few weeks.

It's the news out of the hills of West Virginia that a pentacostal holiness preacher died from a rattlesnake bite.

Seems Pastor Mack Wolford, 44, was handling the snake during a May 27 church service when the creature bit him on the thigh.

Pastor Wolford was a true believer in the Word of God, and he took seriously what Jesus said--as recorded in the Book of Mark in the New Testament:

"They shall take up serpents; and if they drink of any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them."

Wolford, like other snake-handling preachers, asserted that Christians should handle poisonous snakes as a test of their belief in God. Snake handling is thus a testimony of their faith in the Almighty.

Guess the snake had not read the Bible.

Another thing: Pastor Wolford died the same way as his dad did. He definitely knew the risk, but held the serpent anyway. He recalled in an interview with a Washington journalist, for example, that his father lived 10 and one-half hours after being bitten: "And when he got bit, he said he wanted to die in the church. Three hours after he was bitten his kidneys shut down. After a while, your heart stops."

Horrible way to check out, I'd say.

Handling a rattlesnake as a testimony of your faith?

Sorry but I don't buy it. Seems more like a testimony of your stupidity.

God never meant for us to put our lives in jeopardy.

Stay away from rattlesnakes!

Parenting

It's Sunday, a day or rest and reflection and worship. I went to church this morning, and heard a good sermon from Pastor Mike Lowery of Impact Community Church in Rock Hill.

He spoke of the correct way to be a parent--always a challenge. I came away from his message with this: We never quite finish being a parent. We raise our kids and they come back to us or move back in. And even if they don't move back in, they always need us--even till our 80s or 90s. They look to us for wisdom, guidance and support--always.

And we always need kids or to be around kids. They help keep us young and unselfish.

Never thought of it that way, but seems very much on target. Thanks, Mike.

Jazzy stuff at Snucks grocery store in St. Louis

Hey there.

Been awhile since the old guy posted, but I've just returned from a trip to St. Louis, Mo., where I visited by oldest daughter and her family.

Definitely a memorable time in the Midwest, what with the 107-degree temperatures on three or four straight days, and keeping up with my two granddaughters. One is 15 months old, and I call her "Rolley Polley." The other is two-and-a-half years old. She's my "Rang Tang."

Well, we stayed busy the entire time, and the old guy had a grand time with Rolley Polley and Rang Tang.

We read.

We played with toys.

We swam.

We rollicked in the swings.

We played under a big fountain in a park.

We bottle-fed goats.

We road trains and trams and saw exotic animals from Africa and the islands off the coast of South America. (The biggest turtle I've ever seen poked along and posed for our cameras.)

We sang and we danced.

We bounced around, here and there, throughout St. Louis, and I learned how to fasten and unfasten both of them, in fairly quick order, in their car seats. (No easy thing in such torrid heat!)

We ate like kings and queens throughout my stay. (Daughter knows how to cook.)

Rolley Polley and Rang Tang got their food all over the place--in their hair, all over themselves and any furniture or floor within range.

When they napped, we napped. (The only time you get rest when you have such live wires in the house! Daughter says having a 2-year-old is like having a blender without a lid.)

One highlight of my stay was a visit to Schnucks grocery store. Well, we're sitting there in the dining area devouring our food, and I hear this soft, smoothe jazz. It seemed to be coming from the produce section, about 40 feet from our table.

And there they were, a three-person band making music next to the cantelopes. This is something you don't see in a grocery store in South Carolina. But in laid-back

Missouri, folks do their shopping at Schnucks and get entertained.

Below is a clip of the bongo player in that band. Take it away, produce rhythm master!

Guess who's celebrating a birthday today?

Yes, it's my 64th.

I've come a long way since being born naked, squabbling and hungry.

Came into the world at a hospital at Eglin Field Air Force Base in Florida.

(Still today squabbling and hungry.)

Has been a good day (so far.)

Cooked hamburgers and hot dogs on the new grill I recently bought my Mom.

Swapped lies and dessert with guests, who cheerfully warbled "Happy Birthday" to the old guy.

Went for a swim. What better way to cool off on a 100+ degree day in Elizabethton, Tenn.?

To help mark my 64th birthday, here's a fitting song from the Beatles, titled (what else?) "When I'm 64."

Turn your sound up and enjoy and dream of turning 64; if you're lucky, you, too, will hit this milestone (or it'll hit you).



Catchy opening words to this song from the 60s:

"When I get older, losing my hair,
Many years from now,

Will you still be sending me a valentine?
Birthday greetings, bottle of wine?

If I'd been out to quarter to three,
Would you lock the door?

Will you still need me,
Will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty four?

Won't ever forget my Dad

Tomorrow will be my first Father’s Day ever without my Dad.

We lost him in late January earlier this year, just a few days shy of his 91st birthday. I blogged about him a few days after we laid him to rest.

I miss you, Dad.

Last night I tried to remember some of his favorite sayings. Here are a few:

1. “Not a bit a’ danger.”

2. “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!”

3. “You think rasslin’ on TV is fake. Lemme see you climb into the ring with one of those guys!”

4. “None of these preachers today want to talk about the stuff that really matters. Things like divorce, adultery, living in sin…”

5. “The young people call it ‘having a relationship with someone.’ They can call it want anything they want to, but it’s just plain ole shacking up.”

6. “I think the stupidest expression I’ve ever heard is: ‘It is that.’ What the heck does that mean?”

7. “Man who sleeps with a dog lies down with fleas.”

8. “Man who flies upside down has crack up.”

9. “You don’t know what work is. Why, when I was a boy I hoed corn on a hill in the hot sun for ten cents an hour.”

10. “I don’t want to hear about anybody’s stupid medicine. That’s all people wanna talk about.”

11. “People’s dying that’s not ever died before.”

12. “Whenever you want to spend your hard-earned money, ask yourself: Do I want this? Or do I need this? Don’t buy it unless you actually need it.”

13. “People are digging their grave with a fork and spoon.”

14. “You can’t really get away with anything in this life. My grandparents and parents used to tell me: ‘Be sure your sins will find you out.’”

15. “Those stupid people on their cell phones in Wal-Mart. . . You get behind one of those fat women waiting in line at the cash register and she’s yakking away, staying stupid stuff like: ‘Where you at?’”

16. “Anybody can have a birthday? What’s the big deal about a birthday?”

17. “I’m hungry. When do we eat? What’s the holdup?”

18. “Why do all these stupid people think they have to have a present for Christmas? Why, when I was a boy, we’d be lucky to get an orange or apple and piece of stick candy. And some kids didn’t even get that.”

19. "People ask me if a dog or a snake or a cat will bite. I always point to the animal's teeth and say, "Whaddya think those are for?!'"


Dad, you were truly a cantankerous, one-of-a-kind character. Will never forget after a lot of blood, sweat and tears, I finally was awarded my Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. You couldn't have been prouder. And when I received my degree, I made a copy of it for you. You framed it and hung it on your den wall, boasting to everyone that you had earned your Ph.D. from Iowa. And who was to know any different? After all, we had the same name!

We love you and miss you. It’s just not the same at the old home place in Tennessee any more. But Mom and the rest of us are trying to keep our spirits up, and we are putting one foot in front of the other (taking one day at a time).

Because what else can we do?

A happy posthumous Father’s Day to you, Dad.

Remembering Gene Pitney

Lots of you have never heard of Gene Pitney, but he's in the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame.

Before there was the British invasion, there was G.P.

He was born in 1941 and died in 2006. He was once called the world's greatest male vocalist.

Lately some of his songs seem to be coming back to me. I remember listening to him while I was a lowly airman in the USAF (late 60s.) Maybe I'm trying to revisit my youth?



The guy could definitely warble.

Pitney songs that will live forever include:

1. 24 hrs. from Tulsa

2. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

3. It Hurts To Be In Love

4. Town Without Pity

5. Only Love Can Break A Heart

Turn your sound up and click on the hotlinks for each song. Relive the Pitney magic.

The 60+ crowd misses you, Gene.

How to make sense of this?

Just heard about this tragedy in the mountains of N.C. near Boone. How could this have happened? Everyone in that church is now being tested. How strong is their Christian faith?

Here's the story:


Young girl killed by tombstone at church

Published: June 11, 2012 at 1:12 PM

DEEP GAP, N.C., June 11 (UPI) -- A 4-year-old North Carolina girl died after a tombstone at a church cemetery fell on top of her, officials said.

The girl, Peyton Townsend, was killed Friday night, just before she was to attend a vacation Bible school study at Mount Paran Church in Deep Gap, WSOC-TV, Charlotte, reported.

Pastor Rick Cornejo said several children were running around in the church backyard Friday before Bible study.

The girl was standing on a headstone when a massive cross fell on top of her, crushing her, Cornejo said.

Church members said they are in shock.

"There's no more smiling or thinking of good things after this," said church member Seth Miller. "You're just thinking, 'oh my God, someone died here.'"