Will he ever shut up?!?!

Yes Folks...I've sunk to a whole new level.  I am using, in vein, the name of my friend Jody, Jody, Jody Ferlaak, Ferlaak, Ferlaak in a pathetic and shameless attempt to direct more traffic to my blog.

You see...Jody Ferlaak operates her inspiring Nitty.Gritty. blog and is one of the fastest growing "Blog Moms" in the blogosphere.  As a result of a post from couple weeks ago, I have noticed that no less than 50% of the hits to my front page have come as referrals from either a Google or Blogspot search for Jody Ferlaak, Chip Ferlaak, or just Ferlaak.  (In case you didn't catch it, that's FERLAAK...F-E-R-L-A-A-K).

(Of course I have no idea why anyone would be searching for Chip.  Certainly not for NCAA bracket advice...Yeah that was low, but you can let him know I said so...LOL).

Of course this has nothing to do with my own creativity, talent or popularity...as so boastfully bragged by Jody, Jody, Jody Ferlaak, Ferlaak, Ferlaak in her 100th (count 'em) post.  As I sit here with a measly 68...even more pathetic when considering Keithrants has been around for a longer period of time.  I guess that's what you net when you compose thought provoking and meaningful e-missives that are applicable to every day life (as Jody Ferlaak does at Nitty.Gritty) as opposed to the political ranting and venomous babblings that my manifold readers (all four of them) have grown accustom to.  (To be honest, I'm surprised I have 4 readers with all the other political blow hards around the blogosphere).

OK...I guess I shouldn't be so hard on myself.  I do manage to pen the occasional deep pontification or comical thought.  Alright..."Deep" may be stretching it...let's go with "Shallow".

Have a GREAT Day!  Now go get your daily Nitty.Gritty. and tell Jody Ferlaak I said Hi!!!
K~

P.S.  You know I'm playing Jody...Happy 100th!!!

It isn't about rebellion.  It isn't about Civil war.  It isn't about insurgency.  It's about the blood-lust of a people who know only violence, hatred and death.  Mark down this date...Friday March 24th, 2006.  I will now finally admit that invading Iraq was a mistake.

HEAR ME CLEARLY:  The U.S. and her allies had EVERY REASON, both morally and legally, to do what was done.  Our mistake was living up to our moral and ethical responsibility, by doing so.

The headline of this post WAS NOT made up.  It is an actual report made in this article from the A.P..  So what is it that these "Freedom Fighters" were trying to accomplish by their jihad on the bakery?  Were they ridding "Allah's Holy Land" from the "Infidels" that preach the "Evil Gospel of all things Glazed"?  Or did Mohammed (Allah bless his great teaching) declare an "intifadah" against jelly and cheese filled danish because they actually brought people some sort of small joy in that God-forsaken part of the world?

I've thought it for a while, but am now growing ever more convinced that not only do these people NOT know how to be free, but they may very well NEED to be ruled by a tyrannical dictator to keep them in check.  If all that you know is fear and are comfortable amongst it, then what else would you recognize as an authority?

As Americans, we must recognize (this is going to sound extremely boastful, but I'm sorry, it's true) that we DO live on a higher moral plane than nearly all other nations...like it or not.  We are free...and in taking our freedoms for granted (as we do everyday) we can not comprehend that there are those who haven't the first clue on how to govern themselves by what is right and wrong.  For this sort of governing comes from our inalienable rights that all of those born in the US have never not known...thus don't think twice about.  Inalienable rights, which are endowed by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Oh...those who don't know the real constitutional history of our republic might not realize that).

There are people (the Iraqi's for one) that are so absolutely addicted to surviving from suckling the government teet, that they don't even know where to start being free.  I read an article last week that was interviewing Iraqi's and asking them about life in their country.  Several made the comment that it was better under Saddam, because their government handouts (their words, not mine) were more reliable then.  The new government and American Military are having a hard time getting their meals to them and (according to one man) under Saddam, he never missed a meal (he was, no doubt, Sunni).  Can you imagine!?!?  A man that would shun freedom to be provided with a daily meal???  I can not, for the life of me, understand this way of thinking?!?!?

It is for this reason that I will concede that we have messed up.  Assuming the same longing for liberty; the same spirit of freedom exists in all men was an awful miscalculation of biblical proportions.  But we are a nation that was at least formed under God, with motto's such as "Give me liberty or give me death".  Our forefathers would puke at such a sight that we now see before us.  Samuel Adams said this of such people: “If ye love wealth, better than liberty; the tranquility of servitude, better than the animating contest of freedom; go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.”.

I will concede that a right-good number of so-called "Americans" are actually identical to this fashion of Iraqi, though they would neither admit nor recognize that they are.  I know that there are many that may take me as a blow hard, thinking this is easy for me to say, living a life of relative comfort and ease.  That being the case, I would accuse them of being the former in which I described.  For them to say such a thing would reveal that they do not posses this same spirit of which I speak.

So where do we go from here?  Notta' freakin' clue.  Can you imagine...a people who are liberated, then complain that captivity was more secure?  Sound familiar?  The Isrealites?  Food falling from heaven was not enough to create contentment among these people...they complained to Moses that life was better back in Egypt (yeah, when they were slaves) then under the freedom God had provided (you see there Islamofascists of the world, you have more in common with the Jewish people than you thought).  Well we are not God and do not have the benefit of unlimited love, patience and resources.

So what do we do now?  Only one thing...pray with all our might, that the minority in Iraq will be strong enough to endure and pick up the slack from the pathetic majority.  After all, the American Revolution was only supported by a minority of the population (which was the catalyst for Sam Adams statement above).  Yeah, that sounds harsh...They (and maybe you) would be sure to say, "But you are the ones that came and did this to us!".  And for that my response is: Yep, we're sorry...we never should have came here.  We never imagined the vast majority of you would be the bunch of pathetic losers that you turned out to be.  Our bad there.  But you're going to have to accept the responsibility of allowing yourselves to fall as far into the pathetic abyss as you did.
 
Sorry W...I support you, but I'm also a realist.  We can not be eternal optimists here.  We need an aggressive plan to end this thing and leave these people to their own assured self destruction.  They ruined it for everybody...forget the spread of democracy, leave these people alone.  Let's get the job done, get the boys home, line 'em up on the border and revert back to the isolationism that were best at.  Next time when Tyrants rise, we send in a 3 dozen Seal lightning force and take them out.  No more grandiose ideas of doing the right thing...because we are the last people on earth that believe in doing it.  Screw the rest.

K~

Yep...the creeping crud has reared its ugly head once again. Now, it's gone viral...which has finally gotten me on an antibiotic, so maybe we'll kill this thing once and for all.

Sara was snotting and hacking pretty bad for the past week, but appears to be on the upswing now. Bethany, has her usual snot and cough going, as her pre-school friends continue to just pass it around on a regular basis. The true miracle is our little "Miracle", Deb remains healthy as a horse (though with no physical resemblance of said animal). I told her that's ok...our house can survive with me sick, but we'd surely parish if she became ill. (Re: the "Miracle" reference, for those who don't know..."Miracle" was Deb's maiden name).

So it's officially lent...which has nearly lost all of its (specialness?) since I left the Catholic Church some 13 years ago. Don't get me wrong, I do not regret nor think even slightly wrong of my decisions of faith that I have made. With all the major faults I have with the Catholic Church, I can honestly say there are some things they do leaps and bounds better than protestant and non-denominational churches I've been involved with. Lent is one such thing.

Although the (at the time) mandated tradition of fasting from meat on Fridays during lent was one such seemingly hypocritical point that helped me leave Catholicism...after maturing and growing, both spiritually and mentally, I miss the kind of attention and pageantry things like lent and the run up to Christmas held. They may have been man-made rituals...but they were Reverent and Special and did help you focus more on Christ during those times.

Sometimes I feel the protestant, reformation and restoration movements are so afraid of "looking Catholic" that they go too far the other way...so that these special times lack the intensity, retrospection and reverence that should be felt with their observances.

Now my problem with a lot of the catholic mandated rituals is that if you asked 10 Catholics why they don't eat meat on Fridays during lent, 8 of them would say "because I'm catholic". Most don't (I know I didn't, the household I was raised in didn't, all of my catholic friends and acquaintances didn't) understand or "get" the significance of the "fast". Therefore it merely becomes a "religious" thing to do (see old post on "religious people").

Now, with that said, I must admit that I love my catholic brethren, because of this: You can't swing a cat in this town with out hitting an all you can eat fish fry or sea food buffet on Fridays during lent! While I am "chief of the sinners" when it comes to taking full advantage of the AYCE Buffet...what's the point of not eating meat on Fridays, when you go to "Big Boy" for dinner and have to remember to wear your "stretchy pants" because you're about to gorge yourself on deep fried goodness. Some fast, eh? Like the Muslims, who "fast" during the daylight hours of Ramadan, then feast once the sun goes down. What's the (spiritual) point?

Now...fasting is not only scriptural, it's a commandment, necessary for spiritual growth, recommended to get response to prayer, exemplified for us by Jesus, and required for a whole other host of reasons. I won't go into defining the spiritual fast, I think we all know about that...simply said, it doesn't have to mean abstaining from food, period. It can be certain foods, it can be certain things, it can be certain activities. Either way, the point should be to "Fast" or abstain from something that will, as a result, help you to focus more on God.

I think our worship minister at church hit the nail on the head. If you can't literally find something that has obviously taken the place of Christ in your life, is there something that is keeping you from spending as much time in study or prayer as you should? Where are there "Time and Attention Stealers" and "Energy Grabbers" in your life that you could thin out. OK...right now we're all (myself included) saying, "Alright God, relieve me of my Children for a couple hours a day and I'll find the time". That's the typical response we get in our culture. But under deep examination, I'm sure we can all find something that we "chose" to do that steals our time, attention and energy.

For me, I have already found in a very short time, one such thing is T.V. I have a three page rationalization for you to read if you're interested...but I doubt it. It's all a bunch of crap anyway. For lent I am attempting to do this: 1. Limit myself to 2 hours of TV per day (2 HOURS! Not a BIG sacrifice here!) and 2. When given the choice/control, only Christian music.

After much inspection, I have noticed when we are at home, that freakin' T.V. is on from 6 am to 11 pm. THAT'S 17 HOURS!!! Now mind you, collectively between the three of us (Sara's not interested yet), there's probably only someone watching for a little more than half that time...but that's still disgusting. And when I'm not at home, I'm listening to music...in the car, at work. Until now, 10-20 percent of that may have been Christian music (it didn't use to be that way...but it has become that way...that I need/want to change).

What I have found in the first week (a lot of this is "duh"):

1. Wow...THAT is a LOT of noise! Pretty hard to hear that "Still, Small Voice" with all that noise, eh?

2. I watch TOO MUCH T.V. - Even at two hours a day, I can easily fill that time with the "couple of shows I watch"...i.e. CSI, Medium, American Idol, Survivor, Criminal Minds, My Name is Earl, The Office. That's eight hours a week right there. Thank God for TIVO, that I can record some shows on one night and watch them on another so that I don't miss anything (sarcastic tone applied there, but it does beg the question...what's the spiritual point to the fast again?).

3. I DO have time to read! I have been complaining that I've had 4 books started for the last year and a half, and haven't had time to finish them. In the past week, I've read a novel and nearly the whole Book of Acts...all with very limited effort.

4. I DO have time to enjoy the Christian radio shows I used to listen to! I've heard no less than 6 excellent sermons/studies, and a couple hours of thought provoking Christian talk radio.

Now, some early observations:
1. Have I just replaced the "Secular Noise" with "Christian Noise"?

Yes...but at least it’s heading in the right direction.

2. If yes above, is that necessarily improving your intimate walk with God?

No...but ditto.

At least my mind/ears are filled with thoughts/sounds that reference Christ rather than: "Bid $1 you IDIOT!" or, "Come on Dr. Phil, call him out for the loser that he is!" or, "I wish someone would just turn Iran into a glass parking lot already"...etc, etc.

I guess I see it as someone weaning themselves off tobacco or alcohol dependence. When I quit smoking cigarettes in 1996, I would smoke an occasional cigar to get me through the temptation or back slide (note of confession- I did smoke cigarettes again, but it wasn't because of the cigar connection). Providing this step in the right direction leads to sustainable and meaningful change, does that mean it is right, or worth it, to give it a go?

Anyhow...That's my thoughts at the moment. What do you think? Did ya' give up anything for lent? (Unless it's something you want to keep between you and God) What was it? Care to share? Can we keep each other accountable? Comment or e-mail accepted!

K~

With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person, which almost went unnoticed last week.

Larry LaPrise, the man that wrote "The Hokey Pokey" died peacefully at the age of 93. The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in...And then the trouble started.


Yes Tim...that was funny.