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 |   Exploring the future through the present. One day at a time. |
| The day was Tuesday. It was a lovely day. Sun shining, nary a cloud in the sky. It began as any other. Go to work. Turn on the radio. Sit down with my first cup of coffee and begin tackling all the work that needs to be done for the day. All activity stops when the radio announcer preempts whatever was playing to proclaim that a plane crashed into one of the twin towers in New York City. My first thought was that it was an accident similar to what happened in 1948 when a B-25 bomber crashed into the Empire State Building. I figured while horrifying, it was nothing more than an accident where a pilot wasn't paying attention. For the most part I listened to find out more details, which were scant at best. Until a mere 15 minutes later we hear news that a second plane hit the second tower. It's not very often I could describe a reaction to "my blood running cold." It's a cliche, but in this instance, an apt one. I knew at that moment we were under some kind of attack. This was all on purpose. Not a half an hour later we heard about another plane hitting the Pentagon, and one more unaccounted for, headed for Pennsylvania. I went home for lunch and watched the buildings fall in a dense cloud of black smoke and fire. That image will be burned in my memory forever. As it should be, but more on that later. With all that was happening, my work still needed to be done. After lunch, me and a few others had to go outside to set some property corners in a new residential subdivision. I watched a couple dressed in military gear load up their car. I knew they were called up and would end up who-knew-where to prepare for and begin to fight a war. I feared for them, prayed for them, but also silently thanked them for their willingness to put their life on the line so I would not have to. I also noticed the sky was completely devoid of airplane sounds and contrails when normally we'd see four or five at one time during this time of day. I remember also people wondering why we kept seeing the same footage over and over, and one announcer finally said, "We have a lot more, but we can't show them." What was even more frightening at the time was how there were so few people going into emergency rooms. That meant that people close to the towers were not injured, but killed outright. It's a miracle that fewer than 3000 people were killed including those on the planes. Normally more than 50,000 worked at the World Trade Center. One reason there weren't as many people there was because they simply hadn't gotten to work yet. The reason the Pentagon survived as well as it did is because the plane crashed into the one area that was just renovated with higher-strength windows and structural materials. On October 27, 2001, September 11th was designated "Patriot Day" as a day of remembrance and mourning. On this day, all flags are to be flown at half-staff, and request that all Americans observe a moment of silence to remember those that perished that day beginning at 8:46am Eastern Daylight Time. House Resolution 71 passed the House 407-0 and was signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 18, 2001. On September 9, 2011, President Obama released a proclamation calling September 11 "Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance." The proclamation states in part: ". . . I ask all Americans to join together in serving their communities and neighborhoods in honor of the victims of the September 11 attacks. Today and throughout the year, scores of Americans answer the call to make service a way of life -- from helping the homeless to teaching underserved students to bringing relief to disaster zones. I encourage all Americans to visit Serve.gov, or Servir.gov for Spanish speakers, to learn more about service opportunities across our country." It's the same again this year, because I'm hearing public service announcements on the radio about serving the community on September 11. I'm all for serving communities. Every day of the week, not only on September 11th. What I take issue with is calling Patriot Day also a Day of Service and Remembrance with an emphasis on service. Emphasizing the service part minimizes what happened that day. That day was an attack on our nation. It was an act of war. Acting like it was anything else is a true disservice to everyone who died that day. It's a day to remember that our country is worth protecting, just as those people on Fight 93 did. They didn't sit back and let the terrorists take control over their destiny. They decided that if they would die, they would do it on their terms, and with the hope their actions would save lives of those on the ground the terrorists intended to kill. It's a day to be a Patriot; to say to our enemies, "We will not be terrorized. We will not bow down to you. If you try to destroy us, prepare to face the consequences." It's a day to say, "Let's roll." |
| I had an online conversation with someone named Nick on Yahoo news yesterday with regard to gun violence. He said that he's more than willing to abolish the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution as a way to eliminate gun violence. His thinking with the rash of mass shootings lately, gun violence is on an exponential rise and guns need to be taken away. I tried to argue with him several ways: Taking away guns will not eliminate gun violence. There is a lot of evidence to support this; the cities and states with the highest rates of crime also have the most stringent gun laws. I also asked him to think like a criminal. If there is a chance your prospective victim is armed, you'd think twice before attacking. Gun proliferation is not the singular cause of gun violence. It's the evil in man's heart not the gun in a person's hand that is the cause. Do we blame the fist for committing assault? If we give up a means of protecting ourselves and our communities, the chances of becoming victims becomes greater. So I have to ask a question. If guns are the root cause of violence, why have we not seen a single instance of mass killings at gun shows, gun/outdoor shops, NRA conventions, or at shooting ranges? No. They've all happened at places where people were more likely to be unarmed as armed. If we're really interested in saving lives, let's outlaw cars, knives, baseball bats, steel-toed boots, fists, martial arts, boxing, pillows, shovels, matches, gasoline, alcohol, bicycle chains, and ice-picks to name a few. We should also look at the main reason we have the 2nd Amendment in the first place. It wasn't merely for self-defense, but defending against a tyrannical government. A government is less likely to suppress its populace if they have a physical means of saying, "No." I fear for my country when I run into people like Nick. They are more than willing to give up freedom for the naive and fleeting belief that our safety is someone else's responsibility. I have to ask one who believes guns should be outlawed: If someone threatens you or your family with a gun, how do you defend yourself? |
| Don't take it personal though. It's not you. It's me. I enjoyed keeping up with and hang out (virtually speaking), with my friends and family. We've even planned special events through you. I've been able to share some of my favorite conversations with and photographs of my son. Admittedly, the constant status updates about the mundane daily happenings in someone's life gets a little tiresome. There's only so much I can read about an uncomfortable bowel movement before I get an attack of the yawns. Still, that's better than the political graphics constantly splattered all over my page of late. Granted, I have used some of them in previous blog entries, so they haven't been a total waste. One I wrote in my paper journal, but have been too lazy to re-write in my blog. Mostly because I have some research to do on it yet. What drove me away was a graphic that said, in short, if you don't have a vagina, you have no right to have an opinion on reproductive rights. You should therefore shut up. The tone of it bordered on vagina-worship. "Look at me! I have a vagina! I'm special because I have a vagina and you don't! I get to say whatever I want and you can't because I have a VAGINA!" All that because Republican representative Todd Akin made an astoundingly idiotic comment about how women who've been "legitimately raped" can't become pregnant. This is what I wanted to scream at my computer: Why is having one suddenly so important that women now have more valid opinions simply because of "an accident of DNA" than one who doesn't? Does the First Amendment now only apply to women? Should they no longer seek paternity tests and alimony? After all, based on what they're screaming, men have no right to opine on the rearing of their children. They can't, because they don't have that oh-so-special body part. Oh, and I guess it doesn't take both a man and a woman to make a child. A woman can do that all by herself. Perhaps I should sue my biology teacher, sex-ed teacher and even my parents for getting such a basic thing as the cause of pregnancy all wrong. That particular rant over. When I visit you, Facebook, I don't want to be slapped in the face with graphics telling me that I hate women, don't want them to have any freedoms, am homophobic, hate blacks, immigrants, poor people, and am a "bitter-clinger", mind-numbed robot hypocrite, all because I vote Conservative, love Jesus and believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God. That constant, knee-jerk anger every time I log in is not good for me, not when all I want to do is keep up with my friends and family and share a funny story or photo. I hope you understand, Facebook, and I promise to return after the election. I may even appreciate people discussing their bowel movements without yawning or stupefied drooling. Andra |
| When the Aurora shooting first happened, I wasn’t surprised at the wellspring of prayers and expressions of horror on Facebook and other social sites. It was nice to see that it took about 48 hours before the baser part of our nature surfaced. There were the expected calls for more gun control, but one person surprised me by saying her first thought was whether or not the victims had health care. Now I was going to give the commenter a hard time about it, but that would be a bit hypocritical on my part. My thought – once I got passed the incomprehensibility that someone could commit such a heinous act – was not much better. I wondered how long it would take before people started politicizing and placing blame on everyone except the person who actually pulled the trigger. The purpose of this entry is not to disseminate what happened in Aurora, or why. I want to instead concentrate on the healthcare comment noted above, and how God expects us as both a country and individuals when faced with the poor and hurting. I prefer to look at the world and its problems through a Biblical perspective. I’m no scholar, so it’s possible the more scholarly may find problems with my analyses. By the same token, the Bible wasn’t written by or for the scholarly, but for you and me, so I don’t think I’m too far from what God meant. In looking up scripture with regard to giving to the poor, it shouldn’t come as a surprise I found many. I want to focus on but a few: “But if there are any poor Israelites in your towns when you arrive in the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward them.” ~ Deuteronomy 15: 7 “Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to poverty will be cursed.” ~ Proverbs 28:27 “Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.” ~ Isaiah 58: 7 “John replied, ‘If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry.” ~ Luke 3:11 Some argue it’s anti-Christian to fight against higher taxes in order to help the poor and needy, and they could easily use the scriptural passages above to bolster their point. I maintain that is our duty as individuals and communities to dig into our own pockets and pound the concrete to help the needy. Read carefully the scriptures above. Notice how each one is talking directly to us. Nowhere is it mentioned that we must depend on (or pay through taxes) our government to do it. When we decide that our taxes are supposed to help the poor, it too easily becomes an excuse to not accept the responsibility God gave us. We can simply sit in our easy chairs and vegetate in front of the television or computer and say to ourselves, “I don’t need to help my neighbor. My government is doing it for me.” I don’t have all the statistics, but I do know we’ve spent billions of dollars “on the poor” and they are still with us. I remember hearing on the Paul Harvey radio show about twenty years ago that for every five dollars given to the government that was meant to help the poor, the poor received one dollar. I doubt it’s improved over the last twenty years. The lady who lamented over the possible lack of insurance for the Aurora victims, I have an answer to the problem with the following news articles: Aurora Blood Banks Booked Solid (http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_21128567/aurora-theater-shootings-bloo... ) Children’s Hospital to Give Free Care to Aurora Theatre Shooting Victims (http://www.denverpost.com/theatershooting/ci_21158943/childrens-give-free-care-a... ) Aurora Victims Relief Fund Raises Near $2 Million as of July 24 ( http://www.registercitizen.com/articles/2012/07/25/news/doc501003dca5ae336688869... ) with Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures to donate a large but unspecified amount. Those are just three I found after a 2 minute search, and I’m sure there are many others, others we may never even hear about. Yet, these are perfect examples of people meeting Christ’s mandate to care for those who need it. And not one of those acts was mandated by our government. As an aside I found this scripture: “When this offering is given to the Lord to purify your lives, making you right with him, the rich must not give more than the specified amount, and the poor must not give less.” ~ Exodus 30:14. The offering in this case pertains to maintaining the Tabernacle, but with all the calls for the “Rich to pay their ‘fair’ share,” lately, I thought it ironically appropriate. |
| If anyone knows where that line came from, it only proves how old you are. Truthfully (as if I lie to my own blog), I am a bit surprised. For the last several months, I’ve felt God pulling me to research publishers and agents and get my query letter written. I fought him a bit, like I always do. Part of it was lack of confidence. I haven’t written anything in a while (legal descriptions for my job not included), and I feel woefully out of practice. Nevertheless, I finally gave in to God’s urgings and spent a few days researching. In a word: Ugh. My novel is not in a genre largely accepted by CBA or ABA publishers. That’s the challenge I accepted when writing a Christian Science Fiction book; I knew it would be a hard sell from the beginning. Still, I found one agent and one publisher possibility. Not a lot, but it’s better than nothing. I admit to teeth-gritting-until-I-got-a-headache frustration when researching publishers/agents and so many said “no science fiction.” It’s enough to make a person throw up the hands and go Indie. I have thought long and hard about the possibility. After all, I did publish “A Reason to Hope” through Amazon. Truth is, I simply don’t want to spend so much money and time doing it all myself. The next step was to tackle the query letter — my one true writing fear. How does one boil a book down to a single page and make it sound interesting? After all, it took me almost five years just to come up with a title that I thought sounded good. Because work was slow today, and it being a Friday, I decided to go home early and attempt writing a query letter. Less than an hour later, it was done, and to be quite honest, I like how it turned out. Part of it was I let go. I shut out the internal editor and those horrific voices pounding at the back of my head telling me what a talentless fraud I am. A little prayer helped, too. That’s the awesome thing about God. Sometimes it takes but a small step toward him and his goal for us, and he smooths out the trail ahead. A little praise is in order. The work is not done, though. Not only does the agent I’m submitting to first require a query letter and synopsis, but a chapter-by-chapter outline. That shouldn’t take but a few days. Once it’s written I will set it aside for a while. A fresh eye always results in finding sometimes glaring mistakes. Then comes the most difficult part: sending it off. Once that’s done, it’s out of my hands and success or failure depends how well I sell my book through the . . . Don’t you hate it when you forget the absolute perfect word? I just did that! Dang it. Anyway, to get back on track . . . It’s the simple act of placing 26 letters in the right order that will either pique their interest and ask for more or they will send a terse email saying, “Thanks but no thanks.” But one cannot succeed without first taking risks. |
| And no the title has nothing to do with politics. I don't even want to get started on politics, because it would end up being a book. Not so much about Republican/Democrat, liberal/conservative ideology, but how to see it all from a biblical perspective. It's something I want to tackle, but not just yet. More research to be done, and picking a topic alone will take some time. In trying to find an old entry (from my original blog) pertaining to my biological father, I found something unexpected: Inspiration. As conceited as it might sound, in reading through old entries I discovered them to be quite well-written. Surprisingly so. When did that happen? Is it still even possible to write that well again since I've not written much in the last six months or so? I can always tell when my relationship with God is strong and when it needs a bit of attention. I write when I'm close to him, not so much when I've strayed a ways. Even now typing these words is halting at best. I'm out of practice, which is expected. One way to rectify that is to write, even if it's a nonsensical and unimportant description of a rain cloud. Call this entry a testing of the waters. My big toe only. Perhaps tomorrow I may submerge my foot all the way to my ankle . . . or not. Don't want to get too hasty. Another reason I need to write in this journal is to remember. In reading over previous entries, I was reminded of important happenings, things that I had completely forgotten about. I know as I grow older, I will forget more. I must write while things are still fresh in my mind, or they will be lost forever. |
| My mom and I had a conversation today about religion and faith, specifically about whether or not a person is going to Heaven. She's Catholic, so she sees things from a Catholic perspective. As a Protestant myself -- well you get the rest. We both agree that no one can guess if another person is going to Heaven. That's a given, because no one can know the relationship anyone else shares with God, if any. That's part of why we are to reach out to others about Jesus and explain the reason behind his life and his death. Where our views take a turn is whether or not a person can be assured of his or her own salvation. A Catholic can't ever know whether or not they'll get to Heaven, because to think that is to assume they know the mind of God. No one can know the mind of God, and to assume that is beyond arrogance. To get answers to difficult questions about faith such as this one, I turn to Scripture. The New Testament states multiple times that when we turn to Christ and ask for forgiveness of our sins, we are saved. One of Jesus' last statements was when one of the thieves asked to be remembered when he entered the his Kingdom, and Jesus promised him he would enter paradise that very day. That being the case, for a Christian to state without a doubt that they will see God's face in Heaven when he/she dies is not assuming to know God's mind. It's taking him at his word. Isn't that the very definition of faith? I shudder to think that my devotion to God and laying my sins at Jesus' feet is all for naught. Where is the hope in not being assured I will enter God's Kingdom no matter where my heart is, what I say or what I do? I could be wrong, but the way my mom explained salvation (or lack thereof) makes God seem almost capricious and he is anything but. He's a God who always keeps his promises, and he promised that whoever believes in him should not parish, but have everlasting life. |
| What am I doing? Wracking my brain for an idea for Nanowrimo. Do I want to write fantasy? Another science fiction based on an existing character? An alternate reality? Try my hand at suspense or even -- gulp -- historical? Maybe I'll simply use the writing.com story app and see what it gives me. I know what I really need to do: Stop worrying. The more I fret over whether or not I can come up with a story, the less likely I'll come up with one. After all, my first novel began with a single word: Redemption. My second was based on a simple theme: the importance of duty. Oh! I know! You can help me. Give me a word or theme, and I'll write a book based on it. Sorry, no prizes. On second thought, if I succeed I'll send you a copy of the finished book. Eiither electronic or hardcopy I haven't decided yet (after all the idea is less than a minute old). Sound like a deal? |
| Spam. We all get it, and it seems blogs are the target of choice. Spammers know that most internet traffic goes to blogs, so it's only reasonable that's where they go. Luckily many blog hosting sites have tools available to keep spam from building up, either in our email boxes or as comments. My WordPress blog actually puts all the spam in a folder which I have to clean out every once in a while. The last time I logged in was three days ago, and I just removed 128 spam comments. Should I take that as a compliment? Do they plant their little poops for my readers to step through, because they think their chances are good someone will go to their sites? My ego would like to think so. My more logical brain center puts things in a different perspective: Spammers send out little bot programs to plant spam comments. They sneak around the internet 24/7 and when they find a blog without CAPTCHAs, they leave their little presents. It's nothing personal, and it certainly isn't because I'm popular. I'm just easy to reach. So much for success *rolls eyes*. There ain't nothing more profound to add to this entry (I know bad grammar, but it's my blog and I can do what I want. So there). I'd apologize, but I'm not sorry. I just felt like writing, and this is what I came up with. Oh! I do want to add that four interviews I did with Ashford Radio are now available for your listening pleasure (as my ego giggles and my logic center scoffs) on my website at http://www.almarquardt.com/interviews . All but the first one focus on writing. I'm doing another on Saturday at 9am CDT if you want to listen in ( http://www.ashfordradio.com ). It'll center on writing again, with some discussion on copyrights. I believe they will also give out a phone number you can call if you want to talk to me live. |
Nada  commented on my earlier “It’s Time” entry:Faith is in your heart and soul, you don’t have to shout it out loud for it to be known. As long as I have known you it has been a struggle for you at times, but each time you come through. I remember when you wanted a baby so badly…and now you have Thomas. Seriously the good deeds you do in your life speak volumes about how your faith is evident. Don’t worry. Profound thought with much truth. It also made me think about what faith is. How is faith defined? Turning to my Bible’s concordance, I found passages such as “. . .faith even as small as a mustard seed . . .”, “. . . Daughter, your faith has made you . . .”, and “. . . hold up the shield of faith . . .” Faith is an act, that much is certain. Without acting with that faith, miracles cannot happen. We cannot hear God’s voice, and without it we soon despair that God is even there, let alone hears us. Okay. How does one gain faith? What actions are required to gain a mustard seed’s worth of faith? Included in my concordance is a “See also”. One of them was the word trust. Ah. Now things are getting a little clearer. Let’s bring things a little down to earth, and look at some things we put our trust into. We trust that the sun will rise in the morning. Nah. Too abstract. For most of us, we trust our spouse that he/she will not stray, and will comfort or protect us when we need. How is that trust gained? Through building a relationship. Trust and faith in God comes through building a relationship with him similar to that as with our spouse. There is a saying I’ve heard multiple times: “If God seems far away, guess who moved.” When I struggle with my faith, it’s usually because I allowed my relationship with God stagnate. I become complacent in my life, and no longer talk to him and give him even an hour’s worth of my time. It’s not about going to church (although it helps) or reading the Bible (although it helps). Those are outward consequences of my desire to actively seek God’s company. The more I give him my undivided attention, the more my faith grows from barely the size of a hydrogen atom to the size of a mustard seed. I can’t expect my relationship with my husband to remain strong if I don’t talk to him about the things that matter, and the things that don’t, or even share moments of silence where holding hands is more than enough. Nor can I expect my relationship with God to grow if I don’t spend time nurturing it. Thankfully God is everlasting and unchanging. I always know where to find him — since he didn’t move — and I know he will always welcome me back home. All I need to remember is to always treasure that about him, and not take it for granted. |
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