Bob's Hub

5:25, #642: Grey Havens Gardening

Here we have a photo of the way things can grow when you properly care for them.  I am posting this photo so that anyone interested can click on it and see an enlarged view so that the effects of prayer, coffee grounds, watering, weeding, and mulching are evident.

5:24, #641: Biblical Timeline

Here is the result of numerous hours of Internet AND Library at Camp Cornelius research.  (I did the latter after all these years of not using the facility for anything other than Inter-Library Loaning due to the fact that my WIFI connection during the afternoon is CRAP because of the amount of student traffic on it; which I can't really complain about, since it IS there for them primarily.)
As in every discussion about the age of the world, the existence of people named in the Bible, and what sources are reliable and/or out of date, I've chosen to choose what suits me and what I feel is the most logical of the alternatives, based on my Providentially directed coincidences that flow through the synapses of my brain.
I'm posting this on this particular site because I could not get a decent copy of the chart to come up on Hub Pages; which I think is one of those 'schemes of the devil that come at you from behind' that certain Puritan writers would discuss when looking at the occult truth talked about in Ephesians 6:10-20 by the Apostle Paul.
Oh, I constructed this timeline to serve as evidence in my argumentation towards the way the megaliths of the world were built as well as why they were popular in the Antediluvian Period and less so in the rest of world history in general.  If you arrived at this blog first, you might want to check out my Hub Pages article which I post under the name of Civil War Bob; which probably comes as no surprise to those of you who are familiar with my world life view!
Vio Con Dios, Amigos!!

5:23, #640 Spiraling Life

I was just sitting at one of the two computers from which I 'work' these days, typing into my computer comments from my spiral notebooks. My brain...which got me up at 4am this morning...grabbed 'spirals' and ran to 'spiraling' and now I'm annoying you with this further dumping of my brains on the Internet.
These days my life is spiraling due to the fact that I suddenly became unemployed after 26 years in what I thought was the perfect job for me as Sexton Bob Sexton at Camp Cornelius. Usually the term 'spiraling' connotes 'out of control' or 'downward' with pictures of a plane spinning in ways that planes are not supposed to spin.
I don't feel quite that discouraged.  'Spiraling upwards' might be the way I perceive things these days...much as I see being 60 as being either 3/4 dead (given the Biblical mandate that we are given 70-80 years of life on average as well as the American Male Life Expectancy these days of 75.5 years) or 3/4 on my Long and Winding Narrow Road to Heaven!!

Another way I've described Life is that you know it will be tough when you spend the first 9 months in a protected environment, are forcibly ejected by someone who claims she loves you, are slapped by a complete stranger, and end up killing time while time is killing you as you await the Grim Reaper to come get you...for some of us, in a chariot of fire!
Well, unlike Elisha holding onto the prophet Elijah's mantle in the above picture, I'm not planning on working any miracles, just continuing a walk that began 31 1/2 years ago when the Lord intruded on my consciousness and drafted me into His army.
Got marching orders for today?  "Don't worry about tomorrow, it will take care of itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own!" (Mt. 6:33, 34)

5:22, #639 Waltzing Matilda with Bob

I have the distinct privilege of being an American citizen as well as being an "Unofficial Aussie," as designated by my 'mates from Down Under' many years ago who probably wish to remain anonymous...unless of course they pipe up as a result of seeing/hearing about this entry.

In any event, we Americans were basically populated from the off-scourings of the British Empire from about 1609 until we got rebellious back in 1776. Once we had established our independence, the Brits had to ship their prison dwelling 'free thinkers' (a phrase from one of me mates) off to Botany Bay and other places of interest on the Land Down Under on the other side of the globe. For those of you out there who believe in Total Depravity, just sort through our various accents, Mate, and ye'll unnerstan' gist where from I come! ;p

So...Bob was a Swaggie who would wander this part of God's green earth thieving as he could 'back in the day'...usually metaphorically, occasionally otherwise. But the sheep...that's the jumbuck...I've now got in me Tucker Bag...that's a bag for carrying food much as Great Grandpappy Jake carried his hardtack and salt pork in on his road to Fredericksburg during our Civil War...is the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world...metaphorically, of course. Although, He does point out His Spirit is within the Old Swaggie in Ezekiel 36:26, 27 these days.

The Squatter and Troopers simply represent the Law that would have dealt out Divine Retribution if I hadn't escaped by jumping 'in the billabong'...that's a water hole for you Yanks... to be submerged in the Water of Life Himself!! Oy, Mate!! Bet some of you were wondering gist how's I was gonna get that in there, aint?!!

So, how's about y'all come Waltzing Matilda with me and listen for my 'ghost'...that'd be me posts, of course...sing ABOUT me 'Billabong.' Guess what, you more conservative thinkers...no lightning bolt has struck in 31 years of my walking The Edge as I go Walkabout with the Lord!!
Got a light so I can get me billy boiling?

5:21, #638 Dirty Harry and God

Yessereebob...you read the title correctly. Clint Eastwood has forged an acting career on squint eyed characters who dispense theology that most folks completely miss. I mean think about it, "a man's got to know his limitations" is just his reworking of Romans 12:16, "Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion." Who would have thought that Old Dirty had part of a pastor's wisdom? Of course, the classic last line of the 1973 classic, "Magnum Force," sort of forgets about verse 19, "Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord." In fact, the two movies about The Boondock Saints are all about Justice, Retribution, Vengeance, Good and Evil along the same basic lines, except that the Saints are killing non-cops while Old Dirty was up against Bent Coppers, as the Brits would say.

So, What's My Point? Both the Apostle Paul and Old Dirty Harry had a good world life view, I think...from opposite ends of the theological spectrum. Paul knew he was a soldier in the army of the Living God and that he had to wisely assess himself in light of the fact that, even if he could not make things right as Harry, Murph, Conner, and Noah (the Saints and their Da!) thought they could, he had a greater, more effective Righter of Wrongs who would take care of the wicked in His own way and time. When you think it through, this system of Paul's takes a lot of the hassle out of trying to 'make paybacks Hell.' Actually, for those who get paid back in Eternity, that's exactly the case.

Ouch, am I tramping on toes? Think about Hollywood Heroes like Harry and the Saints. They think they are doing right or are doing God's work in cleaning up the evil of this planet, when they are actually just as culpable as the bad guys they're killing! Didja ever feel like praying for Clint Eastwood, Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, and Billy Connolly to come to saving faith? No? Well, if you feel the urge, don't stifle it, Edith!! You might be getting a direction from the Spirit within you.

On the other hand, if you don't have the Spirit within you, you might want to pray for yourself along the lines of "Help, Lord...You're right, I repent, save me..." Or some such thing, just sayin'...

Got Jesus?

5:20, #637 Evolutionarily Speaking Old Coot

I'm a carpenter by trade and by usual way of thinking. When I'm confronted with a conundrum (which is different than a snare or bass drum), I usually ask "How?" not "Why?" I read the January 2012 issue of "Smithsonian" this weekend and thought of some questions regarding their Evolution World Tour. So here are some random thoughts on the whole process of evolution:

What soft billed bird beat its face against a tree to evolve into a woodpecker, given that researchers observe that birds live 3-37 years on a good life span, less usually? [http://www.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/How_Long.html]
Oh, I see in the list "American Coot" 22 years, 4 months; which prompts the pictures of Baby Coots and one Old Coot!! ;p

Next, which one of the ladies of the past, maybe Lucy the famous Australopithecus herself...G'DAY MATE!!...evolved the Ghetto Booty? And...is that Aussie saying REALLY a pick up line, not just a general greeting...Ya know...G'DAY!...MATE??!! This might explain the extinction of some former links in the human chain, I suppose, if Lucy wasn't in the mood! ;p

Did the ancient killer whales (Orca's ancestors) decide to migrate to warm water to regenerate skin tissue because they couldn't find the Nivea cream up in the arctic?

What weasel-ly little weasel decided to be the big bad wolverine...no, not the guy in X-men...who inhabits areas of the planet that require big feet and LOTS of heavy hair? Check out the pics of the two current cousins at Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolverine...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weasels. I wonder if some bully weasel kicked sand in the face of another, who decided to bulk up, change his coat, and get big feet?

Which forward-flying bird in Mr. Peabody's Way Back Machine developed into the 'helicopter' known as the humming bird? Was it a song bird who lost the words, hence the new name?

Was it a Friday night when homo sapiens began "using red pigments, making blades, & eating seafood as early as 164,000 years ago?" (Smithsonian, Jan 2012, p. 39) Well...TGIF!! (Oooops, it CAN'T be T...GEE...I...F if there aint no God and evolution is correct...My Bad!! ;p Sooooo... would it be T N[obody] I F for atheists? Just sayin'...

My last question is a 'Why' one...Why haven't carpenters and Moms with little kids evolved a third arm in the last 164,000 years, given what a handy adaptation it would be? Just curious...
Got Archaeopteryx?