Today my soul aches. It's 9/11. That alone brings reflection and solace.

But that's not why I ache, at least not in the way you might think. At lunch time I was listening to the radio, and as part of the coverage of the 9/11 events, I heard the voice of the President of the United States speaking about the tragedy. I had to wince to keep listening. Later after lunch, on the way back to the office, I heard another news report with his voice, again giving a speech on the tragedy. This time I had to turn off the radio.

That hurt. I couldn't listen to that man, who is supposed to be the leader of our great nation speak that way. I've grown to know him as a very dishonest man, who does not believe in the same country that I do. Not only does America have enemies from without, but the enemies from within are no longer minor annoyances, but have risen to power and are wielding that power in unspeakable ways.

The hurt that I felt 11 years ago today, was succored by a sense of common purpose among the great citizens of our nation ... And we healed.

The hurt that I feel today ... It will be a difficult road ahead.

Here goes nothing

Ok - so here are some thoughts. Probably more random than I'd like, but I guess a blog isn't necessarily well organized - seems like it should be a little off the cuff, which is definitely how this is going to come out since I'm not practiced.

The older I get, the more my religious beliefs are infused into every aspect of my life. That's a good thing. What keeps things on the surface for me is that it is so obvious to me the war that is going on in our blessed U. S. of A. It's a war over things like religious freedom, sectarianism, homosexuality, conservatism vs liberalism, morality, etc, etc, etc. It's amazing to me just how bold and unabashed the proprietors of Satan's messages and methods have become.

Is it just me, or has this nation taken turn for the worst in the last year or so? It sure seems that the tone of many a discussion has become very derisive. This election season is quite animated. There isn't much coming from the Democratic Party yet, as it seems there are no challengers to President Obama, but the Republicans have really been busy trying to vie for the candidacy. Even though I'm backing Romney and feel pretty good about him, it seems like we don't have as strong a candidate which I would hope. At first I was quite confident that everyone in the nation could see that Obama needed to be replaced. Then I began to understand just how many people were leaning left regardless of Obama's failings, and would vote for him no matter what. The divide between conservatives and liberals is becoming wider and wider. The vitriol harsher and harsher. And yet, I firmly believe there are many good people out there that stand for the right, and aren't sucked into the bickering ways of the media, but choose to live good lives, and don't bother anyone. This is a good thing, but the fact remains that if we hide our head in the sand, we will some day pull our head out and find our beloved land has become a wasteland. At some level, we do need to be involved.

I should learn how to form more concrete ideas, and organize them into paragraphs for the benefit of my readers... hello, is anyone there? Well, I'm here and as far as my thoughts go, that is enough!

A journey always begins with a first step

What do you think of my blog url: how-eye-c-it.blogspot.com? how-I -see-it was taken, so I thought I'd be a little cute. I'm not much of a blogger, but the older I get, the more I think I have a few things to share. I really don't talk much, but there is too much bad data out there, and I'd like to do my part to set the record straight.

I find that there is a lot of fighting going on in news commentaries. I've made it a somewhat morbid hobby to read some of it and see what people are saying. I see the minions of the evil one sharpening their attacks against truth more and more each day. I fight the urge to join the conversation so that I can defend some principles I believe in. But at the same time, I am not sure I trust myself to not be drawn into a less than christ-like back and forth. That would be quite easy, as 90% of what I read is quite base and offensive. I know that there is a way to present the truth which stays above the fray. But I wouldn't say I'm practiced in it. Perhaps here, I'll do some practicing!

I'm not sure if this effort will have much of a life, but we'll give it a go. If you find yourself following what I say, well... I hope it provides you some benefit, along with what it gives me.

Hey - update: My daughter just gave me a belated valentine's gift. She's quite special!