Christmas Day 2008

On this Christmas Day, when our country is so divided by secularism, separation of Church and state and other divisive sentiments, I have decided to reprint the following article. This essay was adapted from a sermon by Dr James Allan Francis in “The Real Jesus and Other Sermons” © 1926 by the Judson Press of Philadelphia (pp 123-124 titled “Arise Sir Knight!”). A similar version was published by syndicated columnist Jim Bishop one Christmas morning in his weekly column. I believe that it brings the true meaning of Christmas into focus for many people, both Christians and non-Christians. May you have a very happy and blessed Christmas this year.

One Solitary Life

There is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.

He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself...

While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. While He was dying His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth – His coat. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen long centuries have come and gone, and today He is a centerpiece of the human race and leader of the column of progress.

I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life.

End Of The Trail?

OK, the Feds, after a lengthy investigation, have apparently bagged Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich for conspiring to sell the appointment to fill the seat of President-Elect Barrack Obama. From all news accounts, it appears to be a dead bang case against Governor Blagojevich and, presumably, he will not be the governor of Illinois much longer. But is that the end of the trail??

Rod Blagojevich is a product of Chicago machine politics. He is just one of a long line of politicians who have risen to power through this corrupt system only to fall from grace and wind up disgraced and imprisoned. It is the nature of this particular beast. The type of patronage that is part and parcel of Chicago politics in general is the soil that sprouts so many corrupt politicians. People like Tony Resko provide the fertilizer to help the growth in the form of cash and shady deals. When they get caught, as they often do, it turns into a fishing derby, with every fisherman trying to catch ever larger fish. Tony Resko started talking and what he had to say was at least part of the reason for the investigation of Governor Blagojevich. Now it will be Gov. B's turn to flip and flop and maybe turn in someone bigger to cut himself a favorable deal with the Feds.

So far, there has been plenty of speculation concerning Rahm Emmanuel, the soon-to-be White House Chief of Staff, and even some speculation concerning President-Elect Obama. Such speculation may have no basis in fact and I hope it does not, for the sake of our country. Any legitimate trail that leads into the Obama White House would be absolutely disastrous for this country, for many reasons. However, one fact that is undeniable, even to the most ardent Obamaniac, is the fact that Barack Obama is a product of the same Chicago machine politics that have produced such politicians as Rod Blagojevich and former Illinois Representative Dan Rostenkowski. Rostendowski, who was convicted of mail fraud in 1996 and served 15 months in prison before being pardoned by President Bill Clinton, was the former Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

I sincerely hope that this trail ends at Governor Blagojevich's doorstep. However, as the old saying goes, "If you lay down with dogs, don't be surprised if you get fleas!" Is anyone in Wahington feeling itchy??

To Bailout Or Not To Bailout...That Is The Question

AIG--$152,500,000,000 (152.5 billion dollars)

Citigroup--$20,000,000,000 (20 billion dollars) plus a U. S. Government guarantee on $306,000,000,000 (306 billion dollars) worth of "toxic assets."

Now, the big three automakers (Ford, GM and Chrysler) have their hands out looking for a combined $34,000,000,000 (34 billion dollars) bailout, courtesy of YOU, the American taxpayer!

Our representatives and senators in Congress have already OK'd the AIG and Citigroup bailout. For better or worse, that money is gone, or at least committed and will soon be gone. However, that is not the case with the auto bailout....not yet, anyway.

The aforementioned members of Congress, who vote on these matters, are supposed to be YOUR representatives in the government. You voted them into their office and they are SUPPOSED to represent YOUR interests and be YOUR voice for how YOUR tax dollars are being spent. That is how a representive government is SUPPOSED to work. BUT IS IT???

A CNN News poll released today states that 70% of the respondents feel that it is unfair to the taxpayers of the United States to give a bailout to the automakers. 61% stated that they are flat out opposed to this bailout. So, between 60 and 70 of every 100 citizens are not in favor of a bailout for the big three automakers.

So now, YOUR representatives and YOUR senators, the men and women that YOU elected to represent your wishes, have to decide whom they will represent. Will they bow to the pressure of the big labor unions and big business interests, who want this bailout to make up for their own greed and their mistakes OR will they keep faith with the people who elected them, THE TAXPAYERS, and vote according to the majority of them.

Now is the time for you, the citizen, to contact your representatives in Congress and let them know how YOU feel about the spending of YOUR tax dollars on these continuing bailouts!

CALL CONGRESS TODAY! MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!