Category: Uncategorized

Doctor John Henry Holliday

Wyatt’s Friend…

Doc Holliday …

I am enjoying a trilogy of novels- ‘Southern Son: the Saga of Doc Holliday.’ They are a great read. I share with Doc the love of dentistry, Florida history, Georgia History, New Mexico, Colorado and the West…I used to love the drinking and wild-life too…But by God’s Grace that is part of my past….

As a boy the only books I can remember reading were about Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson.  I rarely sat still long enough to read and if I did the book had to be exciting and true stories.  While at Emory I developed a love for reading.  Then back in the nineties I saw ‘Tombstone’, the movie.  It has become a favorite movie which I repeatedly watch, Doc Holliday being my favorite character.  I discovered that Doc Holliday and Zane Gray were both graduates of the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine.  Here we have two dentist of western lore, one a famous gunfighter/psuedo-lawman and the other a storyteller/author.

My curiosity was piqued.  Next I found and follow Doc Holliday on FaceBook.  Then I was reminded that he was from Georgia was related to Margaret Mitchell, author of “Gone With The Wind.”  Doc was supposedly the inspiration for one of the main characters in “Gone.”  All this I found because of author, Victoria Wilcox (http://victoriawilcoxbooks.com).   Victoria being a writer married to a practicing Georgia dentist.  All this fed my growing curiosity.

The “Southern Son Sagas” as historical novels are reported to be very accurate.  Victoria has done extensive research over many years to compile her material for these books.  Doctor John Henry Holliday was a rich and complicated man.  He possessed most of the human traits that I can relate to both good and bad.  He like all of us exhibits the character of both sinner and saint.  Good guy and bad, Doc’s life adventure sure has captured me….

Dr. Crawford Long, a Georgia physician and friend of the Holliday family, was the first to use ether as a general anesthetic.  Dr. Long may have participated in the surgical repair of John Henry Holliday’s cleft lip.  His lip was repaired in his infancy while his sister (older) died because her cleft palate was not or could not be repaired.  She subsequently died of malnutrition being unable to nurse or feed properly.  Dr. Long is still revered in Georgia medical circles.

A Scene From Tombstone…

Doc and Johnny Ringo met long before Tombstone Arizona according to the novels…

Recommended Reading….

WATER…
By, in or near water I find peace and serenity. Water has always been a spiritual place for me. Where I am always in the NOW…I suppose that is why water is such an integral part of the Christian Faith and other spiritual traditions as well. I miss moments like this photo of a favorite western Carolina river…I found Grace often in and on the waters of this country and other place around the world…
Living moment to moment is where I find happiness, contentment and serenity. ‘Being Present’ some call it. I use many different tools to bring myself back to ‘now.’ I read this this morning: “The present is the only time in which any duty can be done or any Grace received.” – CS Lewis. Simply put others say to ‘do the next right thing or just put one foot in front of the other.’…Keep it simple…DKS

Saint Joan of Arc

Saint Joan of Arc

Remember it was CHRIST and Christianity that brought women out from the background into the foreground and even brought them to the foot of the Cross…

This was a thought I had this morning after my RPMs (readings, prayers and meditations).  Then I came upon this video and felt compelled to share it….

PS I suppose it was St. Mary Magdalen that inspired this thought….

DKS

Saint Mary Magdalen…

Saint Mary Magdalen

Revisiting Saint Mary Magdalen:

Saint Mary Magdalen…… I can identify with St. Mary.  She was a rich party girl and I was a rich arrogant party boy.  She was under the control of seven demons, demigods that rendered her powerless.  I too was powerless over small gods that were destroying me.  My story is long but I remember when I was broken and cried out ‘Lord Help me’….

CS Lewis wrote in “Membership” (in the Body of Christ) this tribute to St. Mary Magdalen:

“It is nice to be still under the care of St. Mary Magdalen…The allegorical sense of her great action dawned on me the other day.  The precious alabaster box which one must break over the Holy Feet is one’s heart.  Easier said than done.  And contents become perfume only when broken.  While they are safe inside they are like sewage.  All very alarming.”

Earlier I posted:

St. Mary Magdalen has always been a favorite biblical character of mine.  She was one of Jesus’ inner circle and the first to see the Risen Lord.  Her redemption from a ‘rich party woman’ (some say worse) with seven demon possessions to one closest to Christ give hope to us all…I enjoy the group ‘Cry Cry Cry’ so I share this….

(This I first saw during Lent.  I reviewed it today and will soon be reading about the other Mary.)

DKS

May all the Mothers out there have a Blessed Day….

May all the Mothers out there have a Blessed Day….Mom love to garden. Here are her hydrangeas…

….This video was inspired by Mom’s Hydrangeas at the Sapphire house. She loved their house in the North Carolina mountains.  Her flowers were gorgeous every year! This video I made in 2011.

Jan is visiting her Mom who will be ninety five this summer….

Silence in the face of evil is evil itself.

The Coyote Story

(When Good becomes Evil or When Beauty become Ugly)

Please read this story before watching the short video…

It was usually in the morning or right before dusk that the coyote trotted through our yard.  Either she came from the woods behind our house heading to the swamp across the road or she was heading the other way.  If I saw her out of my office window I would stop my yoga or what ever I was doing, then hurry to the family room to watch her pass by.  She had a busy spirit moving swift and smoothly through the gap in our hedge back into the oak hammock.  Often the coyote paused to check out our fig tree for ripe fruit, plucking the low figs and even standing on her hind legs to reach the higher fruit.  What a pleasure it was to watch her come and go.  On one occasion she paused long enough for me to photograph her.  When I got a good look I was stunned by her beauty and colors.  Not just grays browns and whites but unexpected colors God sprinkles on his wild creatures.  The coyote was good and a pleasure to watch.

Skye, our Golden Retrieve, loved the figs too.  It was late in the morning as I look out the family room window to see the coyote and Skye facing each other a couple yards apart behind the fig tree.  When Skye turned her back, the coyote would stealth-fully creep within a foot of Skye’s rear end.  Skye sensed this.  She would swing around causing the coyote to leap back a several feet.  I realized that Skye thought she had a new playmate.  While the coyote, wild as she was, had darker intentions.  Quite naturally the coyote figured Skye would make a fine feast.  Although the coyote was out weighed by twenty pounds, Skye was no match.  The coyote knew that.  I knew it too.

I quickly went to my office pick up Grandpa’s 22 WRF (similar to a magnum) rifle with a couple shells.  Out the back pool door I slipped. The coyote was still sizing Skye up waiting for an opportunity to attack.  Skye was still oblivious to the menace facing her.  I crept to a spot on the pool deck where the plumbago bush hid me from view.  The coyote must have sensed that I was there.  She walked out from the cover of the bush looking straight at me.  I prayed that the Lord would make my aim true and my shot sure and deadly.  After a slow deep breath I focused on her chest and pulled the trigger.  She leap straight in the air whipped her head around, landed and disappeared through the hedge.  Figuring I had missed I waited several minutes before checking.  Hoping I would find blood and a blood trail, I walked to where she was when I shot.  Little or no blood.  I began tracking where she had dashed.  I kept looking for blood.  Through the viburnum hedge then into the woods a few feet, I looked ahead.  There she lay under the oaks.  I approached and could see that she was dead.  The bullet had entered her left chest exiting on the right side, passing through her heart and lungs.  The entrance wound was almost invisible behind her left shoulder.  The exit wound which is visible in the photo, indicated that the bullet passed through her heart and lungs.  She did indeed die quickly, probably with little pain.  She had run by nerve and muscle reflex only about thirty yards.

I loaded her on to the bed of my riding mower, drove down our road to an open field.  There I laid her in a clearing to let mother nature’s critters take care of her.  After several months I returned to find all that remained of her was her skeleton.  I took her skull home, cleaned it up and kept it.  Notice in the photo of the skull that her right upper canine (tooth) is cracked and fractured.  If coyotes are like humans that would have been painful.

At first I welcomed seeing her and I admired her beauty and wildness.  But when she became a threat I had to protect Skye.  I am Grateful that my shot was true…Skye lived two more years after this incident.

It is a bit uncanny how Lexi, our new dog, looks like a hybrid of the coyote and Skye…

A period of Healing…

We all go through times in our lives when we need to be healed either physically, mentally or spiritually, or more usually all of three. For me that becomes a case of learning balance. It becomes an exercise in not just acting or doing but in resting and waiting. I am a doer. Relaxing, letting go and resting are part of healing also.
As I recover from surgery which thank God was successful, I am mixing physical discipline with prayer and meditation. My yoga training and practice have become an interregnal part of my healing. As I work out physically or I am meditating I often recite my main mantra: on the inhale I pray ‘come Holy Spirit’ and on the exhale ‘cleanse and heal me.’
This morning I came across this video. Please take the time to read the lyrics since their message is healing. At least to me…

Lyrics:

Healing unto me, and freely to you from Sol Omnipotens (unlimited power).

Yellow, yellow… For the entire world also.

Yellow, yellow…Wings of joy. Warmth of day.

Sun of dawn, yellow wings, flame by day, from our Lord.

Jesus

Healing to me, and freely to you from Sol Omnipotens (unlimited power).

Yellow…Wings of Joy. Warmth of Day,

Sun of Dawn..O Sun of Yellow,

The Son of Righteousness,

Son of Morning Light,

Shine high and below!

Shine Aeonion (Eternal)!

Shine now, O Great I AM!

Shine now, O He Who Was!

Shine now, O Great to Come!

Now we are Free!

One the One now whom he was to be!

And the One by whom we now do all see.

Healing unto me;

Healing to you now freely from Sol:

Yellow, Yellow

For all the world also.

Yellow…

Live on

Rays below,

Come now, wings of Joy,

Warmth of Day, Sun of Dawn;

The Sun of yellow, yellow.

Flame by Day

From Our Lord

Jesus, Jesus.

True Sun of Liberty, healing you free.

Fresh Eyes…

Fresh Eyes…

Years ago Kathy, my receptionist, would be the last of my employees to leave the office after all the patients had been seen and our work completed.  She would stick her head in the lab where I was still working and say, “Dr. Smith in the morning you will have fresh eyes.”  She was right.  I have a hard time knowing when to quit.  ‘Taking it easy’ is hard for me.  I tend to have two speeds: full throttle and stop.  This trait can be successful and productive but it has a down side too.  Unfortunately, we lost Kathy far too soon but I still remember what she told me.

In this age of electronic gadgets and when multitasking is the norm, it is healthy for me to ‘slow down,’ ‘take it easy’ and looked at the world with a quiet mind.  Yoga has helped me to ‘be present’ in the moment.  Exercising the habit of taking one moment at a time, gives me fresh eyes.  Then I do see things, people and circumstances more clearly.  I am still learning…Lord help me.

The Greatness of God…

The Greatness of God

This morning I read this again about the ‘Greatness of the Universe’ and the ‘Awesomeness’ of our Creator.  It reminded me of a video I had created a few years ago about the same subject.  When you consider the vastness of the universe, it’s orderliness, majesty, solemnity, all of which Einstein (and others) helped us to understand.  And on the other hand the randomness, seemly disorderliness and chaos of the subatomic world, you can’t help but be awed!  How it all works together! In this video I tried to capture the sense of solemnity and awe….

(This video contains both my own photos and those I collected from the internet plus those taken by the Hubble Telescope.)

DKS

Thanksgiving 2015

The more things change the more they stay the same…

The Smith, Ely and Hockett clans gathered together in Charlotte to celebrate Jarrett’s birthday and Thanksgiving.  As you will see a time for fun, games and feasting…

DKS

EMMANUEL…

EMMANUEL..

“Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!”  Psalm 66:20 NIV

Some of us have been given second chances or maybe even multiple chances to ‘begin again’ or be ‘reborn’ into our True Selves.  As a Christian I believe that is possible because of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.  We will celebrate His Birth in three days.  CS Lewis writes about this nearly universal myth of a god coming to earth, since most all spiritual beliefs contain this common myth.  Lewis writes: “Now as myth transcends thought, Incarnation transcends myth.  The heart of Christianity is a myth which is also fact.  The old myth of the Dying God, without ceasing to be myth, comes down from heaven of legend and imagination to the earth in history.  It happens – at a particular date, in a particular place, followed by definable historical consequences.  We pass from a Balder or an Osiris, dying nobody knows when or where, to a historical Person crucified (it is all in order) under Pontius Pilate…Christians also need to be reminded…that what became Fact was a Myth, that it carries with it into the world of fact all the properties of a myth.  God is more than a god, not less;  Christ is more than Balder, not less.  We must not be ashamed of the mythical radiance resting on our theology.  We must not be nervous about ‘parallels’ and ‘Pagan Christs’:  they ought to be there – it would be a stumbling block if they were not.”

Here is Sugarland’s version of the classic Christmas Hymn…
(The group has Atlanta roots.)

Photo from Hubble

DKS

Thy Will be Done…

Thy Will be Done…

“How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.”  Psalms 36:7-9 NKJV

Todays’ meditation reading from  “The Business of Heaven – Daily Readings” by CS Lewis is a favorite of mine.  Reminding me, again, that in the end it is all about the choices we make.

“The Teacher explains our power to choose:

‘There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.”  All that are in Hell, choose it.  Without that self-choice there could be no Hell.  No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it.  Those who seek find.  To those who knock it is opened.”

Oh Lord, I pray that this would be my thought and meditation just for today…

Later:
Doesn’t this seems to fit the idea of ‘Letting Go and Letting God’s Will be Done?’

DKS

Serendipitous Moments…

There are those Serendipitous Moments in life that really are special gifts or blessings.  This is about such a moment…

“The Fishing Pond”

Over Halloween Weekend we decided to go fishing in Charlotte…The Park by Danny’s office has a fishing pond that is stocked with fish.  Danny, David, Grace and I took our fishing gear to try our luck.  Across the pond a Great Blue Heron watched us.  The great bird watched us and seeing that we were having better luck than he was, he joined us, presenting a surprise close-up photo op.  He was rewarded with a couple of nice bream…Then he left and we did too….

To Be Free…

I heard this beautiful song this morning during my yoga practice and it would not leave my head. As I see it, to be FREE we must surrender because it is in the letting go that we become free to become who we are meant to be and see what we are meant see….

Letting Go and Seeing with different eyes…

(This video is also on the Miscellaneous Videos Page)

Free to see with a new set of eyes:

This video I made in 2010. The photos were taken over the years. Some feature Amy and Erin with their friends years ago. The Western part of North Carolina, where our house was, has some of the most spectacular waterfalls east of the Rockies. The reason for this huge number of waterfalls is because where North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina meet is the Blue Ridge Escarpment. Here the mountains drop off sharply to the foothills. This creates the perfect terrain for waterfalls. We have seen many of the falls over the years. The music is by Enya. I really enjoyed making this video: syncing the music, words and photos was fun…enJOY More of God’s wonders!

Tribulations…

‘The Problem of Pain’ by CS Lewis is only one of a myriad of books written to deal with life’s misfortunes and perceived injustices. Why do bad things happen to good people? Yet it is also universally accepted that lasting lessons are learned only with effort and difficulty. Difficult times have been my greatest teachers. It can be observed in your own life and that of others: that painful events, tragedies and what seems to be misfortune often turn out to be stepping stones up to plateaus of higher wisdom.

The real problem is to have Faith and preserver in spite of what appears to be insurmountable obstacles. That is the true RUB. It may be easy to say for instance that, “This too shall pass.” But our hearts cry out, “I don’t want to do this. I can’t take this. It’s not fair.” Still we know that all spiritual beliefs and practices tell us that difficulties and obstacles in our way serve to strengthen us when we confront them with courage and determination. In these moments we cry out for help:

O Lord, I pray that I may accept everything that comes my way as a part of life.  I pray that I may make use of it in helping other people.-Anonymous

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?”
Matthew 6:25-27 NKJV

Today I will listen for the Heartbeat of God in His creation and His creatures.

Here from this morning’s readings are CS Lewis’ thoughts on:

‘The Necessity of Tribulation’
“I am progressing along the path of life in my ordinary contentedly fallen and godless condition, absorbed in a merry meeting with my friends for the morrow or a bit of work that tickles my vanity today, a holiday or a new book, when suddenly a stab of abdominal pain that threatens serious disease, or a headline in the newspapers that threatens us all with destruction, sends this whole pack of cards tumbling down. At first I am overwhelmed, and all my little happinesses look like broken toys. Then, slowly and reluctantly, bit by bit, I try to bring myself into the frame of mind that I should be in at all times. I remind myself that all these toys were never intended to possess my heart, that my true good is in another world and my only real treasure is Christ. And perhaps, by God’s Grace, I succeed, and for a day or two become a creature consciously dependent on God and drawing its strength from the right sources. But the moment the threat is withdrawn, my whole nature leaps back to the toys: I am anxious, God forgive me, to banish from my mind the only thing that supported me under the threat because it is now associated with the misery of those few days thus the terrible necessity of the tribulation is only too clear. God has had me for but forty-eight hours and then ONLY by dint of taking everything else away from me. Let Him but sheathe that sword for a moment and I behave like a puppy when the hated bath is over – I shake myself as dry as I can and race off to reacquire my comfortable dirtiness, if not in the nearest manure heap, at least in the nearest flower bed. And that is why tribulations cannot cease until God either sees us as remade or sees that our remaking is now hopeless.”

Finally:

“I have seen great beauty of spirit in some who were great sufferers. I have seen men, for the most part, grow better not worse with advancing years, and I have seen the last illness produce treasures of fortitude and meekness from most unpromising subjects…” CS Lewis

Lord, help us to bear our crosses and help others to carry their’s with Grateful Hearts…

Then Came Lexi…

We lost Skye in January just days shy of her thirteenth birthday.  She was special. We knew she was irreplaceable.  Should we get another dog?  If so what breed?  We had owned a Cock-a-poo (Henri), English Setters (Annie and Nicky), another Golden (Daisy) and a Scottish Terrier (MacDougal).  And Erin had owned two Golden Retrievers.  We would not get another Golden we decided.  What then?  And should we get a puppy or rescue a dog. We decided to wait until fall.

Waiting didn’t happen!  Soon we began to look for Golden-Doodle puppies since friends had them and liked them.  On the other hand rescued dogs were appealing.  Abner, Erin and Danny’s Golden, was a rescue dog.  I shoot sporting clays with a friend (Richard) who has a rescued Blue-Heeler (Sugar).  Both these rescue dogs were smart and eager to please.  It was obvious Sugar and Abner knew they had been saved.

Well, to shorten the story (only slightly), South Lake Animal League had an abandoned litter of puppies, eight in all.  The bitch was a Golden and the sire was an Australian Shepard.  The pups were about twelve weeks old.  We look at them on their website.  We were smitten.  We drove to Groveland to check them out.  Alexis was one of the females.  We wanted a female.  After playing with her and holding her, it was a done deal.

We brought her home, Lexi, our little compromise, a rescue puppy.  We shortened her name from Alexis to Lexi.  We studied the book, The Art of Raising a Puppy by the Monks of New Skete, got the crate out, the bowls, toys and other doggie paraphernalia….Oops, we had forgotten about house training.  However, that soon  passed and she has proven to be easy to train.  The Golden Retriever in her comes out most of the day, calm and laid back.  But around four or five o’clock the wild Aussie shows up.  I have failed to wear this part of her out.  All in all she is a wonderful new addition.  Here is how the first few months have gone…ENJOY!

Remembering Skye Once More…

(Here are thoughts on a reading from this morning.)

They say life is about the choices we make.  We are free to make wise choices or foolish ones.  In all spiritual beliefs it is universally held that the paths we choose determines how our life goes.  We Christians call this ‘Free Will.’

It seems ironic that a God who love mankind so much to create us in His image would make this so, that we could choose to harm ourselves.  But He did and why I ask myself!  After all there we were in the Garden (Eden) with the whole world to enjoy.  Yet God gave us a choice (this is my interpretation) that we may enjoy everything in the Garden (the world) but we are not to eat from the ‘Tree in the Middle of the Garden.’  That tree has been called: the tree of knowledge or the tree of good and evil.  There we made are first unwise choice.  We (Adam and Eve) thought eating from the tree would make us like gods. Pride had raised its ugly head in the form of a snake (serpent).  The serpent (with a naturally forked tongue) was a smooth talker.  Eve and Adam were easily convinced that this  (to eat of the fruit)   was a ‘wise choice.’  Oops!  That was the beginning…

Here is part of CS Lewis’ discussion of ‘Free Will’:

“Some people think they can imagine a creature which was free but  had no possibility of going wrong;  I cannot.  If a thing is free to be good it is also free to be bad.  And free will has made evil possible.  Why, then, did God give them free will?  Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes any love or goodness or joy worth having.  A world of automata – of creatures that worked like machines – would hardly be worth creating.  The happiness which God designs for His creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other in an ecstasy of love and delight, compared with which the most rapturous love between and man and a woman on this earth is mere milk and water.  And for that they must be free.”

In a sense our choices are simple.  We are to make our choices to be in harmony with His Will for us.  How do we do that?  When asked what was the most important law (commandment), Jesus said that we were to love God with all our hearts, minds and souls.  What else they ask Him, He said that we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  In such choices the paths of our life lead to joy, peace, contentment and harmony with all creation.  We travel this path of our choosing taking one step at a time, one choice at a time, one day at a time…

That’s my humble opinion….

This photo, called ‘Fairfield Lake Hike’, reminds me the wonderful Octobers we spent at the Mountain House…

I have not posted recently on our site because I lacked the motivation.  Plus I have not felt well…

A Road to Freedom…

A Road to Freedom…

This video below is timely for me.  The third story (A Road to Freedom) was what I needed to see and hear.  This is my fourteenth year of living with RA. This has been a difficult year with many flares.  This Thursday during my early morning clay shooting I became sick with RA symptoms.  I left, came home, laid on the couch for the rest of the day because that was all I could do.  The same thing happened yesterday.  This is out of character.  So this is not me, defeated and laying on the couch. Those who know me realize that I can’t sit still.  RA was winning.  Besides long before RA I had become an exercise nut (as a dear friend like to  say).  Now I was immobile.

What to do?  Try a new biological drug? Orencia is the second biologic drug that I have been on.  From about 2005 until 2009 I had been on Humira.  It had worked well.  Then in 09 I had to have my gallbladder removed.  That required me to stop my RA meds.  Since I was off my meds for the surgery, with my rheumatologist guidance we tried a holistic treatment that year. It failed and I was once again in pain, exhausted and filled with malaise.  So here I am again at a crossroad.  What is the right way?  I prayed for God’s guidance.  I plan to talk with my doctor.

The third video  ‘A Road to Freedom’ reminded me of how I took control of the RA in 2010.  In hind sight I concluded that it wasn’t just the Orencia but the combination of that drug and the new discipline of yoga that brought me relief.  During this difficult year my yoga discipline has been terrible.  I suppose the ‘thrill was gone’ and yoga had lost its charm.  Yoga was unlike the aerobic exercises (biking and swimming) I had done for decades.  There was no immediate adrenalin rush.  Yet I knew yoga was a better fitness program for me.  SO this morning I will begin anew.  Hopefully this is a new turning point.

This post has been a catharsis for me and maybe it will help someone else with a chronic illness.  If this is an answer to prayer then, “God give me the strength to do the right thing.”

Update:

The Next Day: I am too tough and stubborn to stay down for long! Yesterday, I rededicated myself to my daily workout routines. I had been lazy for most of this year. I paid the price. Pain is a great motivator as we all know. Also, I plan to move my appointment with the rheumatologist to something sooner than next month. It may be time to try a new med (biologic)…There is an answer to this. God has always shown me the way…I need to be patient with myself as the answer is revealed.

Click Link to view…

http://immersive.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/d/LBLN/living-with-ra-gay/index.html?ap=818

Looking Back…

Looking Back…

Before I begin, I confess that I agree with CS Lewis when he says that nothing new is said.  Only that the same Truths are expressed in different ways.  So what I write here is what I have learned and heard from others…

Hind sight is perfect…If I had known then what I know now…  Oh, so that’s how it is going to turn out… Live and Learn… Oh, now I see… These are some of the things people say about looking back over their life.  They say these things if they have learned from experience!

When I was younger I listened to sage advise only when it suited me.  Only when the supposed outcome I wanted fit the advice I was given. As a result like most of us, I learned mostly by trial and error.  I ran off the road into the ditch often.  We all seem to have to learn our ‘own’ lessons.  Today, I watch young folks do the same as I did.  While watching them a lesson I have learned recently is: unless I am asked, ‘offering my advice or opinion seldom is heeded.’  I too was (am still am) stubborn and hard headed.  ‘A bulldog,’ I have been called.  I still live on the edge according to those close to me.  “No risk,no reward,” I say. As a result one lesson that I am continuing to learn: ‘Balance.’  Or what used to be called ‘moderation.’  To this day I struggle for balance.  I am getting better…

Recently we visited Amy and her family in Atlanta.  One of the reasons for the trip was the celebration of my ‘Emory’s College of Arts and Sciences 50th Reunion.’  Emory’s demographics have changed since I was there. Emory in the sixties was an elite regional university which had only become coed in 1958.  Students were drawn mostly from the South (although I had fraternity brothers from Finland).  This years class had students from all 50 states and over twenty foreign countries.  Our class of 1965 we decided was about 600 graduates.  The class of 2015 was double that.  This years applications for entrance to the college were over 21,000.

The campus was recognizable but huge by comparison to the sixties.  It sprawls over hundreds of acres.  Emory has tried hard to keep the ‘woodsy’ feel.  The Georgia pink marble that the main quadrangle’s buildings were constructed with slowly was less and less incorporated in to the architecture of new buildings.  I was told that the North Georgia marble is no longer available.  It is still a breathtakingly beautiful campus.  The Quad has all of its original charm.  Changed but good change, I suppose…

Not just during ‘Dooley’s Frolics’ but through out the year Emory brought wonderful diverse talent to the campus ranging from: Andre Segovia, Julian Bream, Josh White, Bob Dylan, Ian & Sylvia, Ray Charles and on and on.  Ronnie Milsap was an Emory student when I was the Sig Social Chairman.  He lived in McTyre Hall a block from the Sigma Chi House.  He was a friend back then before he became famous.  Back then it was obvious that he was Blessed with talent and often hung at the Sig House around our piano.  We Sigs loved to sing…

ENJOY a LOOK BACK:

In Contrast This Years Commencement:

Class of 1965: 50-year Reunion and Corpus Cordis Aureum

I felt like reposting this too…
A few days ago I posted “Focus.” Focus is needed in ‘Clays’. I am still learning to shoot like these guys (of course I will never be this good). Yoga, breathing, instinct and intuition all help with focus and as a result better shooting. I have a new post-it I put on my dashboard that reminds me to: See, Feel and Trust. The learning curve is quite bumpy sometimes…

In 2010 I began doing yoga regularly to help with my RA after a bad year.  The following year I was enticed by friends at St. James Episcopal Church to come ‘Shoot Sporting Clays’.  So I began.  I have grown to love this new hobby or sport.  The yoga helps with focus and concentration which is a big part of being successful at Clays. They say that the difference between men and boys is the size of their toys.  I would also add that when asked why I love shooting clay, I say,  “What could be more fun to a boy than shooting guns and breaking things.”  It is instant gratification!

DKS

These guys are the best!

I felt like reposting this…

This was one of my original post (November).  I go back to this post myself often for inspiration and centering.  Finding our True Self is a daily, life long journey.  I can make it a struggle.  When in fact it is all about surrendering, about letting go,,,

CS Lewis wrote often about our two selves.  In fact I believe that is the basis for his ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ series.  The small self which is willful, selfish and self absorbed.  While the true ‘Self’ surrenders to God’s Will for it, willing to become a Child of God.  Lewis writes that we live in the ‘Shadowlands’.  That in these ‘Shadowlands’, our true ‘Self’ is afforded glimpses of Heaven or the true Reality.  Decades ago, having been defeated, I began attempting to ‘surrender’ my self daily to God’s Will for me. DKS

These videos represent the surrender I try to make daily:

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:11-12 NIV)

Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke 17:20-21 NIV)

DKS

Some of western North Carolina’s beauty…!

 This video is a few years old but still captures the beauty of the mountains….

For decades April meant traveling to the house in the North Carolina Mountains. We sold the house in two thousand and thirteen. We were blessed with wonderful times and memories. It will be missed.
This video is already on the miscellaneous videos page of our site but I took a fresh look today. Then I re-posted it.
I hope you enjoy another look at those western North Carolina mountains as we saw them….

DKS

Sweet Surrender…

Focus…

This morning on my bike (Airdyne) this was my view.  The water droplets became my focus.  In the discipline of yoga we strive to focus.  My eyes begin the process of focusing.  Then my breath and my body follow.  Hopefully my yoga sequence becomes a body, mind and spirit exercise or discipline of focusing on the here and now.  Living in the moment.

Trying to carry this yoga discipline into my life in general is a moment to moment task.  If I continue to let go and be in the moment, life unfolds as it is supposed to.  When I try to control my environment, eventually chaos and discomfort result.  It is a ‘sweet surrender’ as John Denver sings about.  Surrendering by Letting Go and Letting God show the Way. This song became an anthem to me and a favorite biking song.  John and I had mutual friends (Bill’s).

Life can be a pleasant trip down a river.  Or it can be a struggle against the current.  It is a choice.

After all it is once again how we see things.  Choosing to focus on the beauty that surrounds me, focusing on that is the True Reality…

DKS

You occasionally see references to a Harvard Health Study in health related articles.  The study focuses on life style choices as they relate to health.  The study began in the late 1960’s with medical, dental, veterinary and  nursing students.  It still continues.  Participants fill out annual surveys related to life style issues.  That is diet, exercise, and life choices that might effect health.  Participants receive the study’s News Letter each year.  Here is this years:

(Double Click on the PDF link below)

(Adobe Reader required Mac or PC)

The Harvard Health Study

This is the Week when Yahweh changed everything for us….

I’m not sure about Bono on this?

(But who can know another’s heart?)

What do you think?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=221&v=ZlKDG8TGJWM

Psalm 40

Bono sings:

I will wait for You O Lord
Cause You have filled my heart with joy
You lift me higher and higher
You’re my one and only desire

You put a new song in my mouth
A hymn of praise to You
All I wanna do when I wake up
Is spend my day with You
You put a new song in my mouth
A hymn of praise to You
I put my feet on the Rock Lord
I put my trust in You
Sing a new song
Sing a new song

We’ve been called to be in this world and not of it. Bono and the band have always been very open about their struggles and failings as men, but have also been very vocal about their faith in Jesus Christ.

I can’t add anything to this….It is enough….

DKS

Happy Anniversary Obamacare!

Happy Anniversary Obamacare!

Five years ago today B. HUSSEIN Obama succeeded in cramming Obamacare down the democrat congress’ throat. No republican voted for it. They were too smart. Since its passage Obamacare has been an unmitigated disaster. Many millions lost their health insurance, with which they were happy. There are more uninsured now than before it became ’law.’   (Remember Obama promised that under his ‘plan’ everyone would be covered for health insurance. ‘No more uninsured americans,’ he promised. ) The results have been the opposite. The premiums generally cost the individual more than before or more than promised. The deductibles are outrageously high.  With such high deductibles why have insurance at all except for catastrophic accidents or illnesses. The American public realizes what a fraud the law is.

Then ask the doctors what ‘Obamacare’ has meant to them. First, their time is stolen from the patients. More paperwork robbing them from time they used to spend with the patient. Time wasted entering data into a national computer system which has limited benefits and risks breaching patient confidentiality, a violation of the HIPPA Act. Second, unnecessary control by bureaucrats in Washington making decisions that should be between the doctor and patient. Those bureaucrats probably have no medical expertise. They are money crunchers. They care about the cost and not the patients’ wellbeing. These are the two obvious complaints I hear from the medical community.

Obamacare was a fraud and is a fraud. B. HUSSEIN Obama is a slick talker. He promises and he lies. I agree with Clint, who said that Obama is a ‘Hoax.’ The American public was duped. They are wiser now. The media is showing signs of wising up too. Can this be undone? I have my doubts.  Will Obama realize his mistake? I don’t believe that can happen either.  When I was a young man in school we called people like Obama ‘arrogant pricks.’ It still fits….

Obamacare was one of his first disaster! He keeps creating more….

DKS

“Explore daily the will of God.”-CG Jung

  Exploring God’s Will

The other morning my readings all seemed to focus on ‘God’s Will’ for us.  Self reliance, determination, perseverance, and desire (my Dad’s favorite personal attribute) those were and still sometimes are my driving forces.  All these are characteristics of a type ‘A’ personality. Driven or as my son-in-law described me, “You are like a ‘bulldog’, grabbing hold and not letting go.”  It was my way or the highway, as they say.  All this can lead to success in the material sense.  I suppose it did. (Is this human nature?)

Those of us who are like this appear to be happy and successful.  Appearances can be deceiving.  After all humans are: body, mind, soul and spirit.  We are created in God image yet we wear masks.  Our masks are hiding who we are.  Putting on a good show succeeds only in fooling ourselves.  Scripture (not just the Bible) tells us we can only ‘see in the mirror dimly.’  As CS Lewis tells us that we live in the ‘Shadowlands’.  Modern physics confirms that indeed we see only a small part of the total reality.  So we wear masks.  I believe through these masks we see the world not as it really is but as we like it to be.

What is our ‘True Self’ and how do we find it?  To be a seeker of our real Self, Jung has it right.  ‘We must daily explore the Will of God.’  Self-centered efforts for physical needs, wants and desires may satisfy our body, usually only temporarily, but there still remains a hole in our soul.  The seeking our souls have always yearned for is a spiritual quest not a material (physical) one.  A journey led by the spirit, using all our being: body, mind and soul.  At times there are glimpses of the true reality.  We see the world, its creature and people differently as God sees them and created them.  We have moments of clarity in spite of our masks.

It is our will, self will, that blinds us to the Truth.  For today I pray, “Lord help me to know, see, and do Your Will.”

DKS

Footprints in the Sand

Footprints in the Sand

One night I had a dream…
I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord, and
Across the sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand;
One belonged to me, and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of my life flashed before us,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that many times along the path of my life,
There was only one set of footprints.
I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in my life
This really bothered me, and I questioned the Lord about it.
“Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,
You would walk with me all the way;
But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life,
There is only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why in times when I
needed you the most, you should leave me.
The Lord replied, “My precious, precious
child. I love you, and I would never,
never leave you during your times of
trial and suffering.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you.”

Three decades ago I made a decision to turn my life around. This poster was on the wall in my private office in my building. I knew I needed Divine intervention.  I had cried out, “Lord help me!”  But I had little or no faith and didn’t know what to do or how to proceed. Friends who had had similar experiences told me about this poem.  So I bought a ‘Footprints’ poster and put it where I would see it everyday.

The poem is a reminder that God is always present ready to help.  My struggle could be His struggle, my burdens His.  Looking back over time I saw that He had helped me through turbulent periods.  Some of the chaos and turbulence  was of my own creation.  Yet He brought me through it.

Then I began to be Grateful, Thankful for all He had done and was doing.  Finally I surrendered and began to trust in Him.  I tried to give up my willfulness.  I sought His will and not mine.  Believing that His Way would lead to a better life.  Looking back I see that it has been an ‘easier softer Way.’

The Way, the Narrow Path, or the Road Less Travelled  has been difficult at times. Yet each obstacle that came in my path has been surmounted with His help.  Over the years there have been miracles, disease, deaths, careers ended, life in general but with His help I have only grown richer, stronger and wiser.

So I must remember ‘from where my help comes.’  He is there and I am Thankful…

DKS

A Celebration of Skye

Skye was special.  She looked you in the eye and held your gaze.  She connected.  She was gentle with children and everything.  She never had an accident, ever.  Yet she could be a bully with Toby, Abner and other dogs.  She was the only female in a litter of seven so she learned to be tough. She was the only dog I have owned that caught squirrels.  She caught at least two.  One day she came around the corner of the garage with the tail of a squirrel hanging out of her mouth.  I let her finish her meal.  The second time I witnessed her grab another poor squirrel in our back yard.  I yelled, “Drop!”  She did.  The squirrel ran for his life.  After that the squirrels lost their taste, I suppose.  She tried less.  Yard lizards never had a chance.  Skye was disappointed when they quit ‘playing’.  Despite being tough, when we got her the little daughters of the breed called her ‘Miss Prissy’.

Then there was the coyote who came to our back yard to eat figs from our tree, Skye’s fig  tree.  One day the coyote and Skye were facing each other off.  Skye meant to play.  The coyote had other thoughts in mind.  After all she was wild and had to find food where ever she could.  I put and end to that scene.

The Good Lord blessed us with Skye for nearly thirteen years.  We will get another dog.  We always do.  Probably not another Golden since Skye seems irreplaceable.  Her remains are in a cedar box on our mantle for the time being.  Eventually I will put her under the ‘Stage-horn Fern’ that hangs from our oak in the front yard with a ball and a toy.  That was her favorite spot to lay.  When I sat on the porch she was there or in the bushes by the porch. This has been a catharsis for me.  This video….

I agree with JRR Tolkien who said something like, “God created dogs to teach us how to LOVE.”  Skye certainly made that easy…

DKS

Not exactly a Divine Dance but this fits this metaphor…

Each morning, before dawn, I get up early, get a cup of coffee and do my RPMs (readings, prayers and meditations).  Skye used to join me.  I miss her.  I have done this since 1985 when my life needed to change direction.  This morning I read (re-read actually) this from CS Lewis that contains two metaphors, which I can easily visualize, about living life according to God’s will for us.  One: that life is a Divine Dance we are asked to join.  Two: that the Good News (God’s Love for us) is a Good Infection that we catch and spread to others.

Here is the reading:

“A Good Infection”  (The Divine Dance)

“And now what does it all matter?  It matters more than anything else in the world.  The whole dance, or drama, or pattern of this three-Personal Life (in God Himself) is to be played out in each one of us: or (putting it the other way round) each of us has got to enter the pattern, take his place in the dance.  There is no other way to happiness for which we were made.  Good things as well as bad, you know, are caught by kind of infection.  If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire: if you want to be wet you must get into the water.  If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them.  They are not a sort of prize which God could, if He chose, just hand out to anyone.  They are a great fountain of energy and beauty spurting up at the very center of reality.  If you are close to it, the spray will wet you: if you are not you will remain dry.  Once a man (or woman) is united to God, how could he not live forever?  Once a man is separated from God, what can he do but wither and die?”

Of course as we join the Dance, we immediately realize that we are all like Hobbits with big hairy feet.  That is, we are a bit clumsy and step on toes occasionally.  We may not be good dancers but we are invited to join the celebration anyway.  (Actually I consider myself a good dancer…;)

Later:

Here are more of CS Lewis’ thoughts on the ‘good infection’:

“Remember what I said about ‘good infection’.  One of our own race (Jesus) has this new life: if we get close to Him we shall catch it from Him.

Of course you can express this in all sorts of different ways.  You can say that Christ died for our sins.  You may say that the Father has forgiven us because Christ has done for us what we ought to have done.  You may say that we are washed in the blood of the Lamb. You may say that Christ has deafen death.  They are all true.”

To be caught up in the ‘Divine Dance’ or catch the ‘Divine Infection’ we must surrender to God’s Grace and move closer to Him.

DKS