* 10. You are still in church more than ten minutes after the priest says, “Let us depart in peace.”

* 9. You forget to change your clock in the spring at Daylight Savings Time, show up an hour late, but the service is still going on…

* 8. …but there are people in your community who still can’t get to church on time when the clock gets set back an hour in the fall.

* 7. You consider an hour long church service to be “short.”

* 6. You buy chocolate bunnies on sale (after Western Easter).

* 5. When someone says, “Let us pray…” you reflexively stand up.

* 4. You went to church four or more times in a week.

* 3. Your priest is married…

* 2. …and your vocabulary includes at least three words that describe the wife of a priest.

And the number one sign you might be Orthodox is…

* 1. You say a prayer before you pray.

Copied from: Three Saints Russian Orthodox Church Website

Image via Wikipedia

In: The Christmas Hope: A To-Do List for a Better World by John W. Whitehead which was published on December 19, 2011, the author said in part: “Stop acting entitled and start being empowered. We have moved into the Age of Entitlement, where more and more people feel entitled to certain benefits without having to work for them. There’s nothing wrong with helping those less fortunate, but as my parents taught me, there’s a lot to be said for an honest day’s work.”

Excuse me! I am nearly 70 years old. I did my “honest day’s work” every work day of my adult (and teen) life, and paid into Social Security for over 55 years. And I did my “honest day’s work” every work day for the past 45 years, and paid into Medicare every single paycheck. The monies that I and millions of other seniors have PAID, (which were TAKEN from our “honest day’s wages,”) were supposed to be put into a Trust Fund that would not be used for anything except it’s purposes: to provide a bit of security for seniors and some medical care.

I was not given any choice. I HAD to pay into these Trust Funds. The money was TAKEN from me with each paycheck I EARNED. Thus, I EARNED Social Security and I EARNED Medicare.

The RESPONSIBILITY for ensuring those Trust Funds would be available in perpetuity was that of the Congress. But our elected officials BETRAYED the citizens of the US by dipping into these Trust Funds for all kinds of programs to benefit their respective constituencies. This has been a Generational Betrayal.

Even more than that, it has been a SEVERAL GENERATION betrayal!

Had the U.S. of Government not put it’s big hands into the mess, I could have put that money into my own Trust Fund. Perhaps stocks, or bonds or a mixture, or even just a savings account. The fund I could have built would have kept me well into my 80′s. And if it didn’t, I would have only myself to blame, and would have to go live with my children – as generations before Social Security did. By providing the mirage of old age security and independence, and of medical care, 3 generations have simply paid into Social Security and relied upon it. Now, it’s pretty much gone.

As to Medicare, it’s the same story. The fund I could have built, or the private medical policy I could have had, was taken from me. The money I would have used for that was taken by the U.S. of Government and theoretically INVESTED in a Medicare Trust Fund. But Congress plundered Medicare just as it did Social Security. So, now, 2 generations have paid into Medicare and relied upon it to be there. Now, it’s pretty much gone. There is a regulation being written (but not yet approved, thank goodness) that would prevent payments for cancer treatment for people over age 75.

With average life-spans now in the 80′s rather than the 60′s (as it was in the 30′s), it is even more important to CONSERVE the monies entrusted to the Trust Funds by the people rather than PLUNDERING them.

I think we (privately, not a Congressional committee) should investigate, and those who plundered the funds (the congressmen, senators and even presidents, not to mention all the bureaucrats) and demand they provide the missing monies from their own funds – after all, they were paid out of the monies they plundered.

In the meantime, although I am nearly 70, although I am disabled by Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia, I will have to work at whatever jobs I can into my even older age, and I will have to depend upon my children to help me – when they should be helping their children through college and setting up their own nest eggs. Himself and I probably will end up having to live with one of them. Somehow, that doesn’t appeal to us. But our tiny little fund, that was all we could afford to set aside and that has been devastated by the financial downturn (fueled by the U.S. of Government programs of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae), will not last very long.

I’m ready to declare a new revolution – one which demands that our elected officials deal HONESTLY and FAIRLY with their electorate.

As far as raising money for the bare necessities of government (the military, a few ambassadors, the Supreme Court, and the President) – I’m for the FAIR TAX!! And long may it serve us!

Related articles

• Social security: It’s more broken than you think (finance.fortune.cnn.com)
• Liar! Liar! David Brooks Bids to Win Politifact Truthiness Award (my.firedoglake.com)

On one of the Holiest days of the year for Christians around the world, Islamists try to bomb out Christians. They have destroyed several Churches and have killed in excess of 27 people. The bombs went off during services for Christmas.

Pagans Kill Christians in Pliska circa 800AD Image via Wikipedia

It is very difficult to love people who are trying to kill us and destroy our Churches, but we must try. But remember, loving them does not mean we should not bring them to justice for the deeds they have committed.

Lord, have mercy! News like this makes it hard to remember that on Christmas we celebrate the Birthday of the King of Kings.

Related articles

• In Nigeria’s North, Deadly Clashes With an Islamist Group – New York Times (nytimes.com)
• Blasts Rock Nigerian Churches, Kill at Least 25 (newser.com)
• Bomb in Nigerian Church Causes Deaths at Christmas (nytimes.com)
• You: Nigeria clashes kill at least 68, say officials (guardian.co.uk)
• Nigerian church bombed during Christmas prayers (guardian.co.uk)
• Nigeria church bombing kills at least 25 (cbc.ca)
• “Nigerian Taliban” church bombings kill scores (cbsnews.com)
• Explosion rips through church near Nigeria capital (mysanantonio.com)
• -Nigeria: Muslim Attacks on Christians Continue -45 Killed (answersforthefaith.com)
• -Nigeria: Islamists Kill 150 Christians (answersforthefaith.com)

Image via Wikipedia

The latest word from the National Academies Presson vaccine side effects is Adverse Effects of Vaccines: Evidence and Causality. I haven’t finished reading it, yet, but it’s really looking good.

It is available for reading online, for downloading as a free PDF file (not to be given to others) or for purchase. I download the PDFs and pull them into my Kindle for easy handling and reading.

I hope this finds all two of my readers <smile!> happy and prosperous!

Related articles

• Vaccine Adverse Effects: IOM report releases Aug. 25 (eurekalert.org)
• Study Finds No Link Between Vaccinations and Autism or Type 1 Diabetes (treehugger.com)
• Editorial: Safety Report on Vaccines (nytimes.com)

I’ve discovered image websites – they let you share their images on websites and social media sites. I’ll be adding one from time to time to add interest and “pretties” to these posts. This one came from http://www.spicecomments.com/ . I don’t like everything they have, but some of it is lovely!

My teen years were tumultuous. I’m afraid I majored in “drinking and frat parties” the first 3 years I was in college. The best thing that ever happened to me was that I came down with a major case of infectious mononucleosis and I had to drop out of college for a year. By that time I was able to focus on school, and buckle down. I still have nightmares of that quarter when I had mono. I had skipped so many classes I had no idea when tests would be, and no idea where the final would be. In my dreams I still wander from building to building trying to find my final and then trying to make heads or tails of the questions when I hadn’t been to class all quarter!

It took me a lot of time before I finally got it through my head that I needed to be a human being. Momma used to say that the very day I turned 21, I turned into a different person. I was able to focus and to begin making the kinds of grades I was really capable of making. My grades continued to pull up in my Master’s program – despite losing 1/2 of a quarter to a raging kidney infection and having to retake one class.

I thank God that I did “turn around” and become the kind of person I was capable of becoming. I hope and pray that at the end of Momma’s life I was the “gift from God” that my name meant.

Bonus: If someone lets you down or betrays you, how do you learn to forgive? And can you possibly learn to trust them again? Why or why not?

This topic is a very personal one for each individual. There are some things that may lead to totally losing trust and never recovering it.

For me, it is first important to truly forgive the people who have done the things that caused me to lose trust in them. For that, I go to Confession and discuss the item with my spiritual father. Releasing all anger and hurt are important. I pray for those who have used me so poorly that I have lost trust in them, daily – sometimes hourly. Every time I think about them, or the things they have done, I pray for them. As C.S. Lewis said, praying for them doesn’t change God, it changes me.

When I can, I sit down with the person I no longer trust and tell them, calmly, that I don’t believe I can trust them and exactly why. Then I ask him what he thinks he needs to do to regain my trust. In general, it involves not doing untrustworthy things, and to remain constant in this.

It takes time to regain trust. There has to be shared time without untrustworthy deeds occurring again. I will admit that I do tend to “test” the people who have lost my trust. Starting small, I give them opportunities to be trustworthy. If it was telling a secret or gossiping, I may drop a small “bomb” in a topic that won’t particularly hurt me or my family members. Then, if the person keeps that confidential, I will, perhaps, do the same thing several more times. These are tests of trustworthiness. I feel justified in doing this because I like being able to trust people, but I need to be sure a person who has breached that trust in the past has regained his trustworthiness.

If it isn’t something like gossip or breaching secrets, if it is something the person has done rather than said, I have to go through all the things I mentioned earlier, Confession, prayer, forgiveness, and then talking to the person. In this instance, it requires a long time – years – to be able to trust the person. He has to prove trustworthiness over a long period of time.

I’ve experienced this in the past. Some people, although I have forgiven them for what they did, I can never trust – because they continue to exhibit the same behaviors. I may have forgiven, I may love, but I don’t trust them. Forgiveness and trust and love are very different from each other.

I wish all the ability to regain trust and the ability to learn to trust again.

Related Articles

• How Do You Recover Lost Trust? (niconica.wordpress.com)
• Back From Betrayal – An Airtight Formula (psychologytoday.com)
• Can a man lose faith in Christ and then regain faith in Christ? (ptl2010.wordpress.com)
• To cultivate a forgiving heart (fatherstephen.wordpress.com)

My disease will always be with me in one way or another. But now, it’s NOT about me! My oldest son has just been diagnosed with cancer. A bad cancer (as if any cancer is “good”). So it IS about him! We will be fighting for him over the next several months to years. Any personal problems are of secondary importance compared to his needs.

As we batten down our own hatches and prepare for the storm around him, we are each, in our own ways, assessing our own problems and determining how to set them aside for the duration. Teens and preteens in the family will be doing )some faster growing up. (A number of the grownups may be doing some needed growing up, too – I hope!).

Chemo, radiation, Interleukin II, Autologous immune vaccines, Interferon - these will become our new vocabulary. Trips to offices, infusion centers, hospitals will accord possibilities to visit and talk with each other. With his wife needing to work full-time, we other family members will have to pony up to the bar and help provide driver services  – for the long-term.

Taking part in fundraising, helping to find clinical trials for him, helping to keep his spirits up – these have to become our priorities.

No matter how much we are hurting, he is hurting more. No matter how upset we are, he is more upset. No matter how worried we are about finances, he is more worried. As a doctor friend said to me,

“He needs treatment NOW. Go for it. Worry about paying for it later. Treatment now, bankruptcy later – if necessary.”

His cancer, while among the worst possible cancers, does have a 60% 5-year survival rate with aggressive treatment with some of the newer clinical trial drugs. We need to seek them out and get him into them – no matter the sacrifices involved.

Nothing like a crisis to get your priorities straight!

How to make a face with out moving a muscle-The day before surgery

by Jay on Sunday, February 20, 2011 at 3:07pm

Hello to my Friends, Family, and Loves,

It is Sunday Feb 20th, 2011. I sit here at the computer watching the very last scene of “Pirate of the Caribbean At Worlds End”. I am not sure that I am or will ever be fully ready for what is to happen tomorrow.

Tomorrow, at 0800hr I am to undergo a Perotidectomy, on the left of my face, with full sacrifice of the main nerve bundle that enters the Perotid Gland and the five facial nerve branches that come out of the Perotid Gland. (The Perotid Gland is one of the Salivary Glands that is located just inside the back of the jaw line under the ear)

After the removal of the encapsulated Tumor, I will immediately undergo a nerve graft to try and reattach the severed nerves that control the left eye closure and left side of the mouth closure. I will have a sling suspension that will over correct the eye corner and the mouth corner, on the left side, to help with the closure of both. I will also have a small gold weight put in my eyelid to help with the closure of my eye.

I will be on the operating table anywhere from 6 to 10 hours, depending on the complexities of the nerve graft. It can take upwards of 2 years to determine if the nerve graft worked fully. I have 1/3 chance of a good result (meaning that I can close my eye and mouth and have most of the control of those muscles) , there is a 1/3 chance of a fair result (meaning that the possibility of syncopation of the eye and mouth moving at the same time when I try to move them, or very weak movement of those muscles), and finally a 1/3 chance of a poor/failure result (meaning that nothing works and I have no control of my face on the left side).

I am optimistic that all will go very well and I will be able to move my eye lid and mouth. But I HAVE to be very realistic and understand that I could have one of the other results. I am fearful and worried but hopeful at the same time.

I had thought that I was not a vain person…however with all that is happening, I have found that I am worried that people will treat me in a fearful, shunning, and push away manner.

I cried for one day to get over the fact that I was going to lose my looks (homely as I am). It really is a kill joy when one thinks of oneself as a somewhat handsome faced person and now have to become use to a new face that is not the same or as nice as before. I have found that I am vain and I am upset that I am so shallow, that I put so much stock in my looks and think that I am so attractive that I am going to lose friends over this… and it hits me that I am now acting as though my friends are shallow and only view me because of my looks, for that I apologize and humbly ask forgiveness.

My best friend in the whole world, y’all know her as my wife Sheryl, MW, friend, and tower of amazing patients and love. She told me to expect her to react in an alarmed manner, and I asked that it be my shoulder that she cry on and know that I love her and care for her and that all will be ok.

One of our dearest friends, Mikey aka KyngLlama, asked me what reaction he should have for me? 1: point at me and laugh or 2: treat me with kids gloves. I told him that he IS to point his finger at me fall on the floor and laugh until his ribs hurt. He said “oh good, ’cause the kids glove version was the same anyway”. It is nice to know that no matter what, I am loved and maybe even respected a little by our friends and family.

I still need to pack my bag for a possible three day stay at the hospital… super hero jammies and soft t-shirts and socks. Easy list to complete.

I look forward to those who come to visit me at the hospital and at home, after the surgery. Please do not be alarmed at my appearance, my smile will be very lopsided, but know that I am genuinely glad to see you and appreciate the effort you made to stop by for a moment. For those who can not make it in person, know that I am glad and grateful for your thoughts, prayers, and well wishes.

I go into this with high hopes but realistic thoughts.

God Bless and Keep each and everyone of you.

I wish I could be with him at the hospital, but my right knee “blew up” and I’m not safe to drive the 25 miles to the hospital. So, I shall simply pray from here and request the prayers of others. I am saying the Akathist to the Mother of God, Healer of Cancer. (You will have to scroll down a bit.)

Even if you don’t see this post until later, please pray anyway. Our God is not constrained by time nor place, so prayers tomorrow – or even next year – will be effective today!