Here we are, approaching half way through another year but a very different year that those we’ve been used to in the past.
Who would have ever thought we, of all people, would be walking into the bank to get money with a mask on our face?
No matter where we go, thanks to the Coronavirus Pandemic we’ve all become what we can only say, old time bank robber look-a-likes. Is that crazy or what?
Sadly enough, at this point we don’t even know of or when the end to this whole thing will be in sight. Worst yet, we are now concerned as to if there could be a whole new type of Pandemic lurking in our near future that may be just as bad if not even more serious that this one we’re in now.
If you come to my house these days you’ll find an entire closet full of packages of toilet paper. Why? Because I will never be caught without toilet paper again.
I remember when the fear set in and everyone rushed to the grocery stores and wiped out the toilet paper supply making it almost impossible for us to wipe our butts as well. Oh No, I’m never going to go thru that again.
We all still live with all that grocery store debacle in the back of our heads and wonder when and if it will happen again at some point so we try to move on. As best we can we try to be as strong as we can be while still being a bit concerned about our future.
 Winter is not that far away and we wonder if the Coronavirus will make come back and threaten us again while infecting a whole news set of our friends, neighbors and relatives? All we can hope and pray is that we’ve learned enough from this bout to be able to break the chain that allows such a monster to prey on us.
Please, stay safe. Keep your social distancing in place and keep wearing your mask around others until the All Clear is sounded, no matter how long that will be. After all, as they say, we’re all in this together.
Just another Point of View. Prayers. Go Bless, GOD Speed.

They say the greatest gift GOD gave to man was the ability to choose.
What people seem to forget all the time is that even though we are free to choose We Are Not Free from the consequences of our choices.
In fact, I saw an article in the Business Insider recently that said; “Coronavirus didn’t bring the economy down — 40 years of greed and corporate malfeasance did”.
So we have to wonder, all these things that are upon us now like this Pandemic, Th Swarms of Locusts in Africa, the destruction of the Amazon Rain Forest, the disappearing Polar Ice Caps, etc, etc, could this be a result of our own making.
Could it be GOD’s way of telling us, Enough is Enough Already. You guys have to straighten up.
Beyond all that, have we learned our lesson? After this Pandemic starts to clear will it be back to Greed and Malfeasance all over again until next time GOD decides we need another reminder? When and if that comes how many people will have to suffer and even die then before we even start to get the hint? We must start to change before we end up like Sodom and Gomorrah.
It is certainly a scary time. I hope and pray that it all teaches us a lesson. That we learn from the situation and realize we need to be better prepared for something like this when and if it comes again.
Have you got that BIG Stimulus Check Yet. Funny, you know as soon as people get it, no matter what bills they have to pay It Will Be Christmas for sure. They’ll be out buying electronics, jewelry, taking trips, etc.
Sadly, another month or two like this and many Mom and Pop, Family Businesses will be D.O.A. and it will take quite some time before they can even try to make a come back, or not.
Most places like that run on a week to week, month to month existence and this Pandemic is killing them, literally. If they have any employees they were the first to loose their jobs and the family suffered next.
With any luck many of them will be able to put some of their Stimulus Check and / or maybe even get one of those small business loans that the government says are available to restart their small restaurant or retail business.
Just Another Point of View.

I am not a saint in any way, shape or form and I have, in my past, done many things that others might consider deplorable BUT I Never Did Anything to viciously harm or hurt anyone. In fact at a certain point, when I finally “Got It”, I immediately started doing something everyday to correct my past Bad Behavior in hopes that at some point I would be forgiven for it.
After all, I knew, just like you and everyone else knows when we are doing something wrong. I knew, just like everyone else, when I was making the wrong decision But I Did It Anyway. My GOD Given Choice right? Right.
Until I finally realized there were outside forces influencing me to make those Bad Choices. Some of those choices may not seen like such a bad deal but in the larger scheme of thing they were Horrible.
Now, I’ve never really had a huge amount of money and for that I am so grateful. You probably don’t understand that do you? Well, I am the type of person that would just die from being perplexed on a daily basis about making the wrong choices on how to share those blessing. After all, It Is what we’re supposed to do.
I don’t think I could sleep at night in a house worth $10, 50, $80 Million Dollars or more when there are good people close by who can’t even afford a good meal. Knowing that they don’t have a roof to sleep under tonight or that they will continue to be ill and or even die because they just can’t afford to see a doctor or receive basic healthcare. Oh, and here I am sleeping in my $80 Million Dollar home. That would keep me from sleeping at night wondering just how many people I could personally save or even just make feel better with a good meal or a place to sleep at night.
You see every second of every day that would be heavy on my heart and on my soul that I had that much in Blessings and yet Failed to share with my fellow man. When my time came for me to meet my maker just how would I explain that?
YES, Your So Right, we individually can’t cure the world’s problems BUT we certainly are commanded to help those directly around us who genuinely need help. So how on earth could I sleep or even survive in such wealth and opulence knowing there are those around me in such need and such pain?
Just what kind of a Christian does that make me?

 As we get older the years just seen to start flying by. And when we get to a certain point things on our bodies just seem to stop wanting to cooperate as well as they did when we were seventeen.
   I have Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, a Fatty Liver, Liver disease plus a few underlying conditions lurking around in the background that I don’t even know about.
   It seems the older we get the less and less we get to see people it seemed we used to see every day or at least every week. All of the sudden we start to realize that people whom once so readily called us their friend start to disappear. It all of the sudden becomes abundantly clear that we were never their close friend after all. Most of those people were just there because where we were in life at the time.
   As I slowly ease into my 65th year on this earth I awaken to the fact that those whom I can truly call my friends I can now count on one hand. Some are as needy as can be and others are far less pretentious, keeping a distance but truly being there when I need their help the most. Either way I am grateful for each and every one of you.
   I am even more grateful that somewhere along the way I found a partner who loves and cares about me for who I really am. One that stands by me in spite of the fact that I tend to be an ass at times. One who I know ill be there at my bedside when I’m ill just as much as be there by my side when I am victorious in life as well. Finding such a person is a GOD Send in itself.
   There are so many things I have learned along the way and perhaps the most important is that sometimes GOD uses us to reach other people. At times when things are turbulent, we may wonder, why is GOD testing me this way but, we must learn to not be so selfish and realize that GOD may just be using us to test someone else.
   If along the way my light has changed Even One person’s life for the better, Even if by accident I have opened their eyes and their path to salvation, I thank GOD for giving me that opportunity.
   Until our final breath, we must strive to be there for our loved ones, our family, and our friends as GOD intended.
May we all live long, healthy lives and as always GOD Bless and GOD Speed.
Just another Point of View.

It was the 5th Century and the pagans knew how to celebrate.
In mid February the Romans would throw a huge festival that celebrated the ringing in of a brand new spring and fertility rites and the pairing of women with men by lottery. What? It was feast of Lupercalia.
As was customary in those days our friends the Romans celebrated by getting drunk and being naked. If you can believe this, during the festival, young women would allow themselves to be hit by men in belief that this would make them more fertile.
There was a match making lottery as well in which men would draw a number from a jar and be coupled, if you will, with a young women for the duration of the festival and may longer.
Some believe that St Valentine was a priest from Rome in the third century AD.
According to the BBC’s Newsround, “Emperor Claudius II had banned marriage because he thought married men were bad soldiers. Valentine felt this was unfair, so he broke the rules and arranged marriages in secret.
When Claudius found out, Valentine was thrown in jail and sentenced to death.
There, he fell in love with the jailer’s daughter and when he was taken to be killed on 14 February he sent her a love letter signed “from your Valentine”. Other stories of the day’s origin abound but regardless, at the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I, replaced Lupercalia with St. Valentine’s Day.
Now it’s all about notes of love, flowers, chocolates and if your luck a little hoochie woochie.
Long live St Valentine and the celebration in his honor. Just Another Point Of View.

As a new year rapidly approaches many of us take a moment to reflect on the past year and how our life is going. Is everything ok? Are we doing enough to help others and to help ourselves for that matter?
It all reminds me of the old story about a bar of iron. By itself it may be worth as much as FIVE DOLLARS.
If you take a bar of iron and turn it into horseshoes, it’s worth increases to $12.
If you take that very same bar of virtually worthless iron and use it to make needles, it’s worth goes up to $3500 Dollars.
Oddly enough, if you take that bar of iron and make it into balance springs for watches it’s value shoots up to $300,000 Dollars.
So the point of the story is, Your Value, Our Value is determined by what we are able to make of ourselves.
Just as an almost worthless Bar of Iron that may cost as little as $5 can somehow or another turn itself into an item worth a Quarter of a Million Dollars.
We Too can make something extremely valuable of our lives as well.
So use every day to mold that Bar of Iron we call our life into something that will make it and the lives of those around you the very best that it can be.
Just Another Point of View.
Happy New Year, best of wishes and Blessing.

No matter who you are I’m sure at one time or another you’ve heard the phrase, “Money is the root of all evil” but did you know that the actual saying is “The Love of Money is the root of all evil”. Stop and give it some though and you may wonder, is that indeed the Truth?
   Two of the greatest Falsehoods in modern day Christianity are the Prosperity Gospel and the Poverty Gospel.
   If we do a little research we’ll find that the Bible does not condemn wealth and neither should we. The Bible does not uphold poverty either as the pathway to righteousness so, Nor should we.
   In fact in Hebrews 11, you can read of heroes and martyrs, rich and poor, who made up the fabric of what we’ve come to know as Christianity and it’s history.
   What made them distinctive was not their wealth, but how they obediently used their blessings and opportunities to further the work of GOD on earth.
   If we have to do is look hard enough and we’ll see that clearly, the problem is not being rich or wealthy. The issue exists with the attitude towards wealth in our hearts.  
   Remember GOD gave us the Ten Commandment? Let me direct you to number 10 which is a law against coveting.  
   We should have NO animosity towards anyone who has been entrusted with greater possessions than us. When it comes to material things and earthly wealth, GOD never condemns it or the wealthy but warns that SIN enters the equation when money becomes the ultimate goal. When the love of money becomes our main objective and pursuit in life.
   In Matthew 6:24, JESUS points out “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve GOD and money.”
   Something we should all never forget, Clergy and lay people alike is that JESUS himself talks about how hard it is for the rich to remain untangled by the trappings of their wealth saying, “For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of GOD.”
Rich or poor, we all have the same responsibility: To avoid wasting our lives on things that won’t last into eternity and to be good and faithful stewards to those around us who have less than us.
Happy Holidays and GOD Speed.

Preface: I Am Not A Doctor or Medical Professional. All Medical info posted herein has been given to me by a Doctor or Medical Professional.

It’s been an eye opening year for me healthy wise. Early in the year I found out by accident that I was having Kidney issues after applying to do a Fatty Liver Study. Just recently they did confirm my Liver Enzymes were Up and told me it could be a precursor to cirrhosis.
On top of the fact that I already suffer from Diabetes and High Blood Pressure I am now a walking Time Bomb. Needless to say I have immediately embarked on a plan to learn all I can about how to control and possibly reverse my diagnosis if possible. Prior to finding all this out I had wanted to embark on a KETO Diet. After an eye opening talk with my Kidney and Liver Doctors they nixed that idea telling me that a High Meat Protein Diet over taxes the function of both the Kidneys and the Liver and not in a good way. They suggested I eat a more plant based diet and told me there were plenty of veggies that were as high in protein if not higher than meat. The difference being that plant based protein did not tax the Kidneys or Liver the same way Meat Protein does.
There is a wealth of information on line to help us live a healthier life BUT we can’t just talk the talk WE MUST Walk the Walk as well in order for any of it to do us any good.
So it’s obvious we all need protein to live but what many of us do not know is that there are plenty of vegetables that ares high if not higher in protein thank meat. Watercress is a cruciferous plant that grows in water and has a high protein content.
One cup (34 grams) of chopped Watercress contains 0.8 grams of protein and 100% of your RDI of vitamin K. Spinach is one of the most nutrient-dense leafy green vegetables you can eat. Protein accounts for 30% of its calories and it contains all the essential amino acids. A 1-cup (30-gram) serving provides 1 gram of protein and 181% of the RDI for vitamin K.
Among others are Alfalfa sprouts, Chinese cabbage, Asparagus, Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Cauliflower and quite a few others.
Yes, it is a huge struggle, more so for us that love to eat than others but if we plan to live a longer and healthier life It Is Something We Must Learn To Do. Think about a healthy Plant Based Diet. Just Another Point of View.

Happy October and rapidly approaching Día de Muertos or Day of The Dead.
You would think with a daunting name like Day of The Dead you would think the
Dia De Los Muertos would be a day of horror or fright But No.
The spooky celebration originated in Aztec tradition deep in central and southern Mexico.
Celebrated on November 1 and now combined in many places with Halloween. A tradition that honors the dead with festivals and lively celebrations these days typically in most of Mexico and Latin American.
According to National Geographic, “Assured that the dead would be insulted by mourning or sadness, Dia de los Muertos celebrates the lives of the deceased with food, drink, parties, and activities the dead enjoyed in life. Dia de los Muertos recognizes death as a natural part of the human experience, a continuum with birth, childhood, and growing up to become a contributing member of the community. On Dia de los Muertos, the dead are also a part of the community, awakened from their eternal sleep to share celebrations with their loved ones.”
Belief is that at midnight on October 31, the souls of all deceased children come down from heaven and reunite with their families on November 1, and the souls of deceased adults come visit on November 2.
Believers make colorful altars in their homes in honor of their deceased and the altars are decorated with flowers, candles, their loved one’s favorite food and Pan de Muerto, a Pan Dulce, a slightly sweet bread specifically made for this occasion.
Dia de Los Muertos is a time honored tradition that has been celebrated for 3000 years now.
Not even the arrival of the Spaniards in the 16th Century who thought the tradition was sacrilegious was able to extinguish it.
So this year think about inviting people to your house for Pan de Muerto, Go to the cemetery where you can eat rich food, drink Tequila or Mezcal, and have a celebration. Don’t forget to leave your door open because a stranger may just bring a spirit of one of your loved ones along.
Feliz Dia de Los Muertos Amigos.

Is the solution to the mass shootings going on these days as easy as “Open Carry”?
After carrying a sidearm, as a law enforcement officer myself for quite a few years, I often wonder if the solution is really that simple?
If we give everyone the opportunity to “Open Carry” a Side Arm (with special training and certification of course), several things will happen. First, It Will Be So much easier to SEE who has a gun. Second, as crass as it may sound, the BAD and Stupid Ones Will Kill Themselves Off right away.
I totally agree that No One needs an assault weapon. I also believe that “The Right To Bear Arms” as written into the constitution came at a time that our government still thought there was a real threat of being overthrown by another governments militia and therefore provided the average citizen like you and me the right to arm ourselves and our households to prevent such a take over. Those days, however, are long gone.
The need to amend and clarify that part of the constitution has been needed for a long time now because NOW it is being used by gun fanatics way beyond it’s intended purpose.
I was born and raised in Texas. Texas the land where cowboys roam on horses and everyone carried a shotgun or deer rifle in the gun rack in their truck for years without any issue at all.
For all my youth and into my adult life I NEVER saw anyone take one of those shotguns or deer rifles and start shooting people at random until recent years. We need to Pin Point the root cause of that and go from there.
The problem in America today is that there is little or No Respect for the Law and others and their property. These days everyone believes they can get away with anything they want until they get caught and then they believe they can just argue their way out of it.
When confronted by The Law they have No Respect for their Authority and start talking back to the officers and disputing their command from the get go.
Yes, your right, there are way too many Police Officers that take their authority way to far these days and that is part of the problem. Some many officers these days believe that They Are Martial Law and In Total Control No Matter Where They Arrive. Nothing Could be Further From the Truth. State constitutions clearly define the law and authority of a police officer BUT many of them purposely go beyond what the law allows and abuse their authority.
Both of the last two paragraphs define what has led to us to the situation that we are in today. Politicians believe that Gun Control will cure the entire problem. WRONG.
Several things need to happen to correct all this. Police need to Stop Abusing Their Authority and Citizens need to to start Respecting The Law, Others and Others Property. PERIOD.
Yes, OUTLAW AND STOP the sale of assault weapons. Strictly control their ownership and possession and Immediately start seizing assault weapons not in compliance.
Yes, even allow Open Carry so that the average citizen can protect themselves.
Just Another Point of View.