Crux

 The house was empty.  There are all kinds of analogies and maybe a metaphor or two that could be rendered.  

It stood where it has been since 1885, when built.  It had been a house and home to the young man's family.  It was at the end of the old road.  

The world turns.  The young man is older.  His son is the young man now.  And they stood at that old house.    It was empty.

Painted another color and remodeled to accommodate a small restaurant, it was gone but the house remained.  

Early evening shaded the house, with the help of two sycamore trees and a tall pine.  

Father and son had revisited and enjoyed some genealogy at the family cemetery.  History.  They remembered those folks were alive and going about all the aspects of their lives.  They were the present, now past.  

And the house?  Empty?  The Dad's mind was full of memories.  He regaled his son as best he could to make the memories live.  

They marched to the porch and Dad peered inside.

  

There were a couple of lights, presumably for security, and he could see the changes and remember before.  And the overwhelming feeling was still comfort and security.  

Perhaps it was recollections of staying and visiting his GreatGrandma.  She told stories of family long ago.  Anecdotes abounded about his Father and a place gone.  It was found again in her tales of bravery and everyday living.  He also never left without a bag of peanut butter cookies.

 The pair had dinner at a place just a few steps down the alley from the house.  So much new and so many people, the alley faced east and he sometimes watched the sunrise out back.  The view of the ballpark where his bro had played was blocked now.  

After dinner, they cut through the side of the house.  One more view was a message.

The space past the parlor was where Grandma sat and held court.  All day people came now and then to chat.  A light shone over the place where her chair sat.  Empty, it was full of memories and the spirit of love and strength which lived on.  Whatever the fate of the house, those impressions remained.

Content of character the Dad learned from his Dad.  His Dad learned same from Grandma and his Great Aunt and Great Uncle.  Dad has passed it to his kids.  

Just then, a flock of ravens, nested in the pine tree, greeted the Father and Son.  The birds talked to them and the Son gave them some chips.  

We stand at a precioice of change.  Ravens are symbolic of making something from void.

With the teachings of family, we carry on with something miraculous from something monumental.

Gifting 21

 We are bestowed with marvelous gifts.  Life itself bears witness.  

It seems endless what we can do, in spite of greed and control.  And that is the battle.

Medicating symptoms instead of cures is an example.  Health has become yet another avenue of control, for the sick are more easily controlled.  

Real peace  includes self defense, but greed and dominance block it.

The great gift of Freedom is suborned to limit people.  This contest continues today.  

The fallen, in darkness, have forgotten gifts, except the ability to dominate and favors given for subservience.  

Wherever we go from here, we must be free to fulfill our destiny.

Remember, for the free, so are the gifts.

For the dark/enslaved, there is always a price.

Then again, for we who seek Liberty, there is a price.

We have a gift to resist.

Control Redux.

Talked about it before and can't talk about it enough.  It is the crux of our enemies.  Yet, control can be both bad and good.

Controlling due to lack of self is a keystone for collectivists.  It began before when the fallen became so swollen with pride they forgot the Source.  

OTOH self control is paramount for individuals.  We mustn't go off half cocked.  There is a time and place for all behavior connected to Freedom.  Witness the Founders' course of action.  We must balance head and heart.  

Rule of Law in a Constitutional Republic vs rule of men in a democracy/dictatorship.  History hosts our thoughts.  

Thinking implies internalization.  One learns about oneself.  And it plays out among others.  

If people control due to lack of self, they don't have to think.  They don't examine themselves and project their illness on those they seek to control.  

Responsibility is the crux of conscience for Liberty lovers. 

Arrogance

 Someone was heckling the current Occupier.

He bade his security and meager followers to let him speak/rant.  What an a$$ the senile one is.  An embarrassment.  Such arrogance.

The attitude was condescending.  It was 'let the little man rave.  There is nothing he can do'.

Another oddity is wardrobe.

The real President seemed to have one dark blue suit.  I'm sure he had a closetful of the same cut, but the emphasis was 'we are here for the business of restoring the Republic'.

The current criminal has a big sharp dressed wardrobe.  Well, it does not detract from thievery and mental deterioration.  Arrogance.

Deeds, not clothes, make the man.  

There is a lot being done to counter our collectivist enemies.  They know it.  Thus the arrogance.  It is both a facade and their belief they are better than we.  Pride comes before the fall.

It is both the arrogance of ignorance and the ignorance of arrogance.  Actually stupidity.  

We have self assurance.  It enables us to do more than something.

Let the people see perfidy.

It will be replaced with Liberty.

Vulgar

 Not the Vulgar Boatmen rock group.  But a word that, like many, has textured meaning.

It can mean crude, offensive or common, public.  It can delineate from there.  

Comedy is telling.  Something funny to one might not be so to another.

There has always been shall we say, low brow humor.  It can be funny, depending on the attitude.

Previous comedy had been done with innuendo.  Now it's in the face, as it were.

There is a liberal comedienne who makes gross anatomical jokes.  It's disgusting.

There is a livertarian lady who is explicit, yet she invokes laughter.

The difference is simple.

The liberal is demeaning and appeals to dehumanizing behavior.

The libertarian lampoons our sexual behavior.  It mirrors our mistakes but celebrates humanity.

Not everyone's cup of tea, but there it is. 

The culture war builds up or tears down.  Sometimes bluntly.

Don't Wait

 Don't just jump in.  Make sure the time's right.

With all he learned and content of character inherited, there was still a flaw that plagued the man throughout his life.  Reticence.

He and his brother from another mother used to remark that it took so long for one or the other to respond.  They are closer than ever now through spirit.  

His BFAM cautioned against procrastination nonetheless especially when it came to life decisions.  When the man did so, there was success.  When he waited too long, failure stepped in.  

The past is his future.  It is not getting lost in the past, it is a springboard for today and tomorrow.  What have we learned from yesteryear for weal or woe?  All our yesterdays coalesce.  

Make lost opportunity found/NOW opportunity.  Replace some parts with new.  The body survives.  

Remember everything and everyone.  

Carry on.

Hitch.

When his Dad crossed over, he lost not an anchor, but a rudder.  Which way to steer, to go?  

In his senior year of high school, he would sometimes take to the halls and wander, sometimes using the English/History department's office to call friends and family.  The teachers understood his grief and allowed this behavior.

After graduation, he travelled and instead of being a lackey, he moved to a couple of places.  He also took to hitching around the country, seeing sights and working odd jobs.  It was almost like some kind of series, meeting others and exchanging thoughts, grappling with being himself.

There were a lot of different people out there on the road.  Good angels and evil ones, some bad folks and a lot of good ones.  He learned to discern.  As long as he trusted that content of character, he gathered credit to be himself.  When he allowed others to try managing him, he wavered.

He figured there were those who sought Freedom and those who grasped tyranny, even in small ways as well as bigger.

Instead of accepting a pittance and letting others decide for him, he chose the riskier path to pay his own way.  And he hitched.  

He learned of different professions, a variety of jobs which balanced helping others and authority.  And along that seemingly wandering path, he awakened people to their own sense of self worth as he found his.  s.  We can choose to 

Giving up never works.  He has zigged when he should have zagged.  He has passed his knowledge aka content of character, to not just his kids but also many others.  It's free to them, however the cost is high. 

Dark and light, good and evil wend their ways through our lives.  We can see this.  We can choose to do something or nothing.  

We can risk Liberty or sink into the morass of tyranny.

Tolkien said in Lord of the Rings that 'Not all who wander are lost'.

We can hitch, meet others for weal or woe.  

The trip is worth it.