QUARANTINE BLOG # 62

May 31, 2020

If someone is convinced, absolutely convinced, he will stare at solid evidence to the contrary and stubbornly refuse to change his mind.  Sometimes that is good.   Sometimes that is bad.

When Robert Fulton gave the first public demonstration of his new steam-powered ship, one of those people with a made-up mind was standing on the shore.  As he watched the preparations for launch, the man said, “He can’t start her.”

Steam pressure built up in the boilers and Robert Fulton engaged the gears to move the ship.  Still the man said, “He can’t start her.”  When the steamboat began to move under her own power, the man folded his arms and said, “He can’t stop her.”

The man had his ancestors in the crowds who listened to Jesus.  In fact, they are still around today.

A crowd gathered to hear Jesus teach.  “Don’t be anxious about what you will eat,” Jesus said, “or what you will drink, or what you will wear.  The unbelievers are anxious about those things.  Your Father knows you need them.  Trust Him and do not be anxious.”

Someone in the crowd probably folded his arms and said, “How do you expect us not to be anxious?”

Jesus said, “Give priority to the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all of these things, the things you need, will be added to you.  Don’t be anxious about tomorrow.  Tomorrow will take care of itself.  You have enough legitimate trouble today.”

The skeptic says, “That is so easy to say.  It is so hard to believe.”

Jesus told John, “There is coming a day when every tear in every eye will be wiped away.  Death will be totally eradicated.  Sorrow will disappear.  There will be no more crying.  There will be no more pain.”

Everything in my life and yours that makes us anxious, Jesus said, will be completely eliminated.

The skeptic asks, “How can I believe that the day will come when the Lord Himself will wipe every tear out of every eye of everyone who is sorrowful?”

There was a day when a mother was on her way to bury her only child.  Jesus interrupted the funeral procession and restored her son to her, alive and well.  All the tears were wiped from her eyes and the funeral became a party.

The skeptic asks, “How can I believe that death can be eliminated?  I’ve never seen anyone get out of here alive.”

There was a day when Jesus came to the grave of His friend, Lazarus who had been dead four days.  From the testimony of his sisters, we know his body had started to stink and decay.  But Jesus restored Lazarus to life.  If Jesus could do that for one person, for a few years, can He not do it for anyone else and make the new life last for ever?

The skeptic asks, “How can I believe that Jesus can eliminate all sorrow and anguish?”

There was a day when Jesus met a woman who was drawing water from the town’s well at high noon.  She had married and divorced five men and then moved in with lover number six.  She was an outcast among the women and ostracized by the men, until after dark.  But Jesus lifted her sorrow.  With a confidence and a peace she had never known before, she told the men of her town, “Come with me. I have found the Messiah!”

How can Jesus eliminate all crying?  By eliminating every thing that makes us cry.  If He makes the crooked straight, if He replaces injustice with justice, replaces guilt with forgiveness, and replaces death with life – what would you cry over?

How can Jesus eliminate all pain?  The pain may be physical, which is bad.  The pain may be mental, which may be worse.  Think of all the troubled bodies and all the troubled lives that Jesus made whole.  He did it while He was physically here.  He promises He can still do it for all who trust in Him.  Can you believe Him?

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QUARANTINE BLOG # 61*

May 30, 2020

Today I salute the graduates of Columbia Counties high schools for staying the course and seeing the vision through, and particularly our grandson, Luke Henry Herrington.

Luke is an Honor Graduate from Lakeside High School with an Academic Letter.

Luke, they will call the ceremony today “commencement.”  That doesn’t mean the end.  It is just the beginning.  Your future is wide open.  May the Force be with you!

**  Today’s quarantine blog is headlined 61* as a salute to Roger Eugene Maris.  On October 1, 1961, Maris beat Babe Ruth’s single season record of 60 home runs.  Watch it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI9jGRPZNSE

Baseball commissioner Ford Frick said an asterisk should be placed beside of the record because Maris’ season was 162 games, and Ruth’s only 154.  When cheater Mark McGuire hit 70 in 1998 and cheater Barry Bonds hit 73 in 2001 no symbol was put beside of their drug assisted performances.  This blogger suggest that a skull and crossbones – for pirated or stolen – would be appropriate.

**  Password was television’s first successful celebrity-civilian team game show, premiering on October 2, 1961.  Host by Allen Ludden, two teams, each composed of a celebrity player and a studio contestant, attempted to convey mystery words to each other using only single-word clues.  Daily winners would play the Lightning Round which was among the first bonus rounds on a television game.  Later editions of the show were Password Plus, Super Password, and Million Dollar Password.  So far my research has not turned up a million dollar winner in Million Dollar Password.  Extra points if you can identify the two celebrities with Allen Ludden in the photograph.

Another word game from the early 60s was You Don’t Say!  The object was to convey the name of a famous person by giving clues leading to words that sounded like part of the person’s name.  As host Tom Kennedy handed the names to the players he cautioned, “This is what you don’t say.”

A round might play out like this:
Clue #1: A person who can’t hear is... (Deaf)
Clue #2: The fifth letter of the alphabet is... (E)
Clue #3: When you park your boat, you tie it to the ... (Dock)
Deaf + E + Dock = Daffy Duck

**  Kevin Smith is reopening the Liberty Tree Tavern in Elgin, TX (not to be confused with a restaurant by the same name at Walt Disney World Resort).  As he prepared to reopen, Smith  taped a poster to the front door of his bar: “Sorry, no mask allowed.  Please bare with us thru the ridiculous fearful times.”

A town of about 10,000 people, Elgin has reported 53 coronavirus infections and one death.  Smith says the virus does not poses a serious threat, and he does not believe masks are necessary.  “This quarantine, that’s not living, that’s existing,” he said. “Going to the bar, going to the lake, going swimming with your friends, barbecuing, fishing – that’s living.”

That is until you die from something that could have prevented, and your selfishness gave it to someone else.

**  Everyone knows that a “white elephant” is a possession that is useless or troublesome, especially one that is expensive to maintain or difficult to dispose of, but where did that expression originate?  White elephants were once considered sacred creatures in Thailand, and as the story goes, they were also wielded as a subtle form of punishment or revenge.  To accomplish that task, you gave your foe a white elephant.  The beast was expensive to feed and house, and because it was sacred, it could not be killed.  So the recipient would be driven into financial ruin.  I could find no evidence of such an exchange being transacted, but the term still refers to any burdensome possession – pachyderm or otherwise.

**  Attention automobile racing fans!  On this day in 1911 the first Indianapolis 500 race was held.  Ray Harroun drove his single-seater Marmon Wasp to victory.

In 1906, in order to better test automobile top speeds, Indiana automobile dealer Carl Fisher built a private auto testing facility – the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  In 1911, Fisher and his partners decided to focus on one long race per year, as opposed to numerous shorter events, in order to attract more publicity.  Forty cars lined up at the starting line for the first Indy 500 mile race, and almost 7 hours later, Ray Harroun took home the $14,250 first prize, with an average speed of 74.59 mph.

In 1961, A. J. Foyt won the 500 with an average speed of 139 mph.  His winning prize was $117,000.  In this clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eh-9c1Y9vY Foyt and Harroun both appeared on an episode of I’ve Got A Secret.  The 2019 winner, Simon Pagenaud, received $2,525,454.

**  You and I are freed from carrying the burden of all the regrets of the past, of our own needs in the present, and of all the unanswered questions about the future.

You and I have been freed from the stress of thinking that we have to figure it all out on our own.

You and I have been freed from worrying about needing to control things that are actually beyond our control.

You and I have been freed from wondering what may be coming unexpectedly down the road.

You and I have been freed from the weight of finding our own way.

You and I have been freed, as God’s children, from carrying any of these burdens.

Why?  Peter tells us, “For you know that you were not redeemed from your useless spiritually unproductive way of life ... with perishable things like silver and gold, but you were actually purchased with precious blood, like that of a sacrificial lamb unblemished and spotless, the priceless blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19 – Amplified Bible).

You and I have been bought with a price, so our lives are under new ownership and new management.  Bought with the priceless blood of Christ, God has covered our past with His grace.  Bought with the priceless blood of Christ, we don’t belong to ourselves anymore.  Bought with the priceless blood of Christ, God’s grace has welcomed us to His rest and peace.  Bought with the priceless blood of Christ, why are we not trusting Him more?

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QUARANTINE BLOG # 60

May 29, 2020

Twenty-One was the quiz show that toppled The $64,000 Question, and almost erased quiz shows from television.  Two contestants entered isolation booths and donned pairs of headphones.  They could not see or hear each other or the audience, and in the isolation booth they did not know what their competitor had scored.  The game was played in rounds, with each challenger selecting a question worth from 1 to 11 points.  Higher-value questions were more difficult, and questions often had several parts.  The goal was to earn a total of 21 points.

The initial broadcast of Twenty-One was played honestly, with no manipulation of the game by the producers.  That broadcast was, in the words of producer Dan Enright, “a dismal failure.”  The first two contestants ended with a score of 0-0.   When the show’s sponsor threatened to pull out, Twenty-One became rigged, contestants were given the answers and told when to lose.

Charles Van Doren, a college professor, was introduced on Twenty-One on November 28, 1956, as a challenger to then-champion Herbert Stempel.  Van Doren and Stempel  played to a series of four 21–21 games, with audience interest building with each passing week and each new game, until finally the clean-cut, “All American Boy” newcomer was able to outlast his opponent (Stempel was told to dress in rumpled suits and the air conditioning was turned off in his booth so he would sweat, appearing to struggle for the answers.

Van Doren’s victory began one of the longest and most storied runs of any champion in the history of television game shows.  His popularity soared as a result of his success on Twenty-One, earning him a place on the cover of Time magazine.  He was finally beaten on March 11, 1957 – a run of almost 4 months.  Longer than Jeopardy! champ Ken Jennings, but then Ken didn’t cheat.

Grumbling contestants and awakened consciences led to a federal investigation which almost eliminated game shows from television.  The disappearance of the quiz shows gave rise to television’s next big phenomenon – Westerns.

None of the people directly involved in rigging any of the quiz shows faced any penalty more severe than suspended sentences, but many hosts and producers found themselves frozen out of television for many years.  Van Doren, who died last April,  was not required to return the $128,000 he won, but he was fired from his $50,000 a year job with NBC the day after he testified, and from his position as professor at Columbia University the day of his testimony.  There is a great article in The New Yorker written by Charles Van Doren – he tells his own story: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/07/28/all-the-answers

In 1999, an attempt was made to revive The $64,000 Question as The $640,000 Question, but that project was abandoned in favor of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?  That show became popular featuring Regis Philbin’s monochrome shirts and ties and the three lifelines.

👉 A patient was treated at Augusta’s Doctor’s Hospital in the emergency room who showed no signs or symptoms of COVID-19.  While being treated, the patient began to show symptoms consistent with the virus.  The patient was then isolated, tested and found to be positive for coronavirus.  At that point, the hospital began testing anyone who had contact with the patient.  Nine team members tested positive, and are under home quarantine for 14 days.

👉  Walt Disney World has announced plans to reopen July 11.  Disney World visitors will undergo a temperature check and be required to wear face masks.  The parks will provide masks to people who do not bring their own.  Social distancing markers will be visible throughout the theme parks.  Disney’s cast members will enforce the rules, including the mask requirement, as part of a “social distancing squad.”  Park capacity will also be limited, and not all attractions will reopen immediately.  I did not learn if park fees will be lower because of reduced attractions.

👉  The tort lawyers are out in force again.  This time the target is Zantac (ranitidine), a once popular treatment for heartburn, acid indigestion, sour stomach, and Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease.  In April the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requested manufacturers to  withdraw all prescription and over-the-counter ranitidine drugs from the market because of a contaminant in the manufacturing process that has been linked to cancer.   Zantaclawsuitanswers.com says just fill out an online form and see if you qualify for enormous financial compensation.

I am not making light of the potential impact the drug may have on the health of any individual – I took Zantac daily for 3 years.  I do get very upset at the ambulance chasers who tell you how much money they are making for you – one call, that’s all – and no where in the fine print of their TV ads do they tell viewers that they take between 33% and 50% of whatever award you may receive.

Regular blog readers may remember my earlier account of being put in a class-action suit because of an eBay purchase, and receiving an award of 3 cents.  Actually, it was 47 cents, but at the time it cost 44 cents to mail a letter, and they subtracted the price of the stamp from my bounteous compensation.  I’m glad that wasn’t today – I’d owe them 8 cents.  I guess I am being naive to think companies would confess their mistakes and justly compensate sufferers, but there has to be a better way than class action law suits!

👉  On this day in 1953, at 11:30 a.m. Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa of Nepal, become the first explorers to reach the summit of Mount Everest.  The first recorded attempt to climb Everest was made in 1921 by a British expedition.  A storm forced them to abort that ascent, but one the mountaineers, George Leigh Mallory, gave us a classic reason for doing something.  When later asked by a journalist why he wanted to climb Everest, he said, “Because it’s there.”

Setting up a series of camps at stops along the ascent to become acclimated, Hillary’s expedition moved up the mountain in April and May 1953.  On May 29, Tenzing and Hillary, after a freezing, sleepless night, reached the South Summit by 9 a.m.  Wedging himself in a crack in the face, Hillary inched himself up, threw down a rope, and Tenzing followed.  At about 11:30 a.m., the two climbers arrived at the top of the world.


👉  These are dark times.

In Minneapolis, rioters are burning and looting over the death of George Floyd who tragically and senselessly and needlessly died while in police custody with one officer’s knee on Floyd’s neck.

In Iran, 14-year-old Romina Ashrafi Romina Ashraf was beheaded by her father in an “honor killing” because she eloped with an older man.

In the United States the number of reported coronavirus cases is approaching 2 million and more than 100,000 of us have died because of it.  No matter what the violence, not matter how people are dying, the dark times seem only to continue, never to abate.  I love the words of Daniel 2:22: “God knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him.”

If you are experiencing dark times, God is there in the darkness with you, and it isn’t dark to Him.  He holds both you, your mysteries, your questions in His gracious hands.  Because He does, you can find rest even when darkness has entered your door.

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QUARANTINE BLOG # 59

May 28, 2020

The $64,000 Question had its roots in the CBS radio quiz show, Take It or Leave It. After answering a question correctly, the contestant had the choice to “take” the prize or “leave it” in favor of a chance at the next question. The first question was worth one dollar, and the value doubled each successive question, up to the seventh and final question worth $64.

Television contestants chose a specific category and would then be asked questions only in that category, earning money which doubled as the questions became more difficult ($64, $128, $256, $512; then $1,000, $2,000, $4,000, $8,000, $16,000, $32,000, and finally $64,000).

One winner was psychologist Dr. Joyce Brothers; her category was boxing.  She was the only female contestant who won the $64,000.  Participants were not allowed to be quizzed on topics of their expertise or profession.  The producers said Brothers should be given a topic on “something that she shouldn’t know about, like football or were horse racing or boxing.”

Brothers’ husband was a great fan of boxing, so she chose that sport and memorized a 20-volume boxing encyclopedia, and years worth of Ring Magazine.  In the congressional hearings dealing which later dealt with quiz show fraud, she was cleared of any wrong-doing (more about those hearings tomorrow).

In this clip, Joyce Brothers decides whether or not she will risk her $8,000 to play for $16,000: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqhxN9a8OCg Her appearance is at the 12 minute mark.  It is interesting to watch how the game played, complete with questions being delivered to the host from a bank vault, and the contestant in an isolation booth (for no reason I can see except the dramatic impact).  Host Hal March tells the third contestant that if he goes for the $64,000 he can have an expert in the booth – better than “phone a friend.”  This is also an interesting look back at the 1950s.  The women in the audience are wearing hats, and the men are wearing suits and ties.

Three years after it became one of the most popular programs on television, The $64,000 Question was gone from the airwaves, replaced by a new show, Twenty-One.  Tune in tomorrow for the  conclusion of this story.

👉  On this day in 1957, National League owners voted unanimously to allow the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers to move to San Francisco and Los Angeles.  From 1950-1957, the Dodgers had won five NL pennants and one World Championship.  They regularly packed all 32,000 seats at Ebbets Field.  Their owner, Walter O’Malley, still wanted to move his team west, where the city of Los Angeles had agreed to build him the new stadium that Brooklyn would not.

The Giants did not win games like the Dodgers nor draw fans like their crosstown rivals, so owner Horace Stoneman relocated to San Francisco.  On their final day at the Polo Grounds, Giants PR man Garry Schumacher said, “If all the people who will claim in the future that they were here today had actually turned out, we wouldn’t have to be moving in the first place.”  This accompanying

photograph was published by the New York Daily News on September 30, 1957.  The Giants last game was against the Pirates, and the Bucs won 9-1.

👉  Here is one from our “The More Things Change, the More They Remain the Same Department.”  Following the lead of the Dodgers and the Giants, from 1991 through 1997, the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Braves, and Texas Rangers all held their cities hostage and won new stadiums.  And that doesn’t count favorable subsidies and tax breaks given to other teams.  With the reports of leagues making billions of dollars, let them build their own stadiums.

👉  Here’s one from our “You’ve Got To Be Kidding Me! Department.”  In a report from CBSNews released yesterday, only about half of Americans say they would get a COVID-19 vaccine if the scientists working furiously to create one succeed.  One surveyee said, “I am not an anti-vaxxer, but to get a COVID-19 vaccine within a year or two ... causes me to fear that it won’t be widely tested as to side effects.  Dr. Francis Collins, who directs the National Institutes of Health, declares safety is the top priority.  The NIH is creating a master plan for testing the leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates in tens of thousands of people, to prove whether they really work and if they’re safe.  When the vaccine is ready, my sleeve will be rolled up.

👉  If you are a Scrabble player, here is the ultimate game board.  It measures 80 inches wide by 59 inches high and sells for only $1895.  But wait!  If you are a member of restorationhardware.com you can get it for the low, low price of $1421.  This wall-mounted version has everything its tabletop predecessors have, including a fabric bag for the letter tiles.  Strong magnets keep the letters in their squares, and a built-in chalkboard lets you keep track of the score.

👉  A family was on its way to the mall when the three year old said, “Daddy, if God made everything, did He make light poles?” 

We humans have a deep desire to know and to understand.  We are all archaeologists who dig into the mounds of our lives trying to make sense of things.  But sometimes our wonderings go too far, and we put ourselves ill-at-ease trying to figure everything out instead of trusting God.

At times like that, and at times like these, the Psalmist gives an answer where otherwise we might find none: “Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.  My victory and honor come from God alone.  He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me” (Psalm 62:5-7 New Living Translation).

In moments when you wish you knew what you can’t know, there is rest to be found.  There is One who knows.  He loves you and rules over what you don’t understand.  Trust as much as you know about you to as much as you know about Him.  That I can understand.

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QUARANTINE BLOG # 58

May 27, 2020

Please be in prayer for Pat McCorkle.  Several years ago she had radical surgery for cancer, but it has returned.  She is meeting this week with doctors who will devise a treatment.  Pray that God will use their skill and wisdom for Pat’s complete healing.

👉  I had my annual check up by my allergist yesterday (small potatoes compared to Pat’s health crisis).  I was his last patient before lunchtime so he had time to just sit and talk.  I told him about our last cruise and the hurried trip home.  He asked me what I am doing to maintain my sanity.  I told him about the Quarantine Blog.  He told me he and his daughter have put together 10 jigsaw puzzles and he is currently jig sawed out.

And of course we talked about the pandemic.  Regular readers of this blog know I have been urging caution about opening things up.  I said to the doctor, and still say, we are going too fast!  And people aren’t doing things to keep us all safe.

One for instance:  At Lowe’s Saturday, Bonnie and I were among the 10% or so who were wearing masks, and most of that percentage was made up of the workers – we were there because the ceiling fan in the Lego Room was dying.  The parking lot at Lowe’s was slammed.  We drove around looking for a parking spot like it was Christmas at the Mall.

Back to the doctor visit.  This trained physician agrees with me.  And we both said if safety isn’t practiced, we are setting ourselves up for a serious relapse.  You’ve seen this clip before:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfy5QU_QbII

👉  In other news, I bought gas yesterday for the first time since March 20.  My Hyundai Sonata (nicknamed “Frank”  – Frank Sonata) gets great gas mileage, but this has happened because of great sitting still mileage.  With my Kroger discount, I paid $1.05 per gallon.  The last time it was this low was 1989.  Adjusted for inflation that would be $2.19 today.  Still cheap.

👉  Baseball is mentioned in the Bible – Genesis 1:1 – “In the big inning.”  Other references may be found in the Prodigal Son’s home run, and Gideon rattling the pitchers.  If it turns out that those three citations are all new baseball you see this year, you may want to thank me.

As things look, this season may join the 1994-1995 strike which started on August 12 and wiped out the entire post season, the 1981 strike which canceled 713 games, and the

1972 strike which canceled 86 games.  Some New York Yankee fans, think that there was a strike in 1960, but the rest of us know the Pirates from Pittsburgh defeated the New Yorkers.

Those first three strikes were about money.

Money, money, money.  Must be funny in the rich man’s world.  Money, money, money.  Always sunny in the rich man’s world.  You can listen to the complete Abba  song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETxmCCsMoD0

Atlanta Brave great Chipper Jones thinks there may not be a season in 2020.  Players and owners have agreed over safety matters in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.  The stumbling block is – wait for it – money.

“In all honesty, I’m a little less optimistic than I was say, 10 days, two weeks ago, having listened to some key players come out and speak out on it.  It’s made me a little less optimistic that they continue to squabble over dollars and cents, salaries, revenue sharing, all that kind of stuff.”  Jones was quoted on DK Pittsburgh Sports from a link to CBS Sports Radio.

👉  It’s a fair guess that all of you are familiar with “America’s Game” hosted by Pat and Vanna.  But before Wheel of Fortune there was another word game, Number Please.  Two contestants competed to solve two puzzle – his or her own, and the opponents.  Each player had a row with spaces on each row covered by numbers 1 through 20.  Contestants alternated choosing a number not yet revealed in their own puzzle, with each number revealing either a letter or a space.

Each puzzle described a prize, and the first contestant who thought that he could solve both rows rang in.  If the contestant was correct, he or she won both prizes.  Initially the competition was one and done, but the format was changed to best-of-three, and winners stayed until they were defeated.

The show was hosted by Bud Collyer, one of America’s first major television game show stars.  He was also famous in the roles of Clark Kent/Superman on radio and in animated cartoons.  Every Superman episode featured a scene in which Clark Kent changed into his Superman costume, an effect which Collyer conveyed by shifting voices while speaking the phrase “This is (or “looks like”) a job for Superman!” his voice always dropping when becoming Superman.  Here’s one of the Superman cartoons from 1942: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW1JQhLfyqc

Beat The Clock was another game show which starred Bud Collyer.  Couples were featured in a race against the clock to perform silly, sometimes messy, tasks, called “problems.” Here’s an early commercial featuring Collyer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsBv5W8salg

Beat The Clock started on the radio as Time’s A-Wastin’ in 1948, changed its name to Beat The Time in 1949, and finally Beat The Clock when it went to TV in 1950.  The shows wrapped up with Collyer giving his famous sign-off: “Next time may be your time to beat the clock.”

Revivals and reincarnations appeared over the years called The New Beat The Clock and The All-New Beat The Clock and The All-New All-Star Beat The Clock.  Oh, the hard work that was put into Sabrina when she asked how the writers came up with the words to “Yes, We Have No Bananas.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQBfqXWeA3A Boggie said, “Oh they are clever aren’t they.”

coming up with those names!  It reminds me of Humphrey Bogart’s remark to Audrey Hepburn in the movie

👉  In March I took all my financial information to my CPA to prepare our tax returns.  Before that, I took my car to my mechanic for a tune up.  Last year when my furnace went out, I called a heating and cooling company who sent out a technician to get it working again.

We’re used to having professionals take care of things that we can’t.  But this coronavirus is different.  There is as yet no medical researcher with a cure for this pandemic.  There is as yet no doctor we can go to get an immunization vaccine.  The best the government can do is recommend we limit contact with each other.  We’re feeling vulnerable and helpless and frightened.

Jesus’ disciples felt like that one day on the sea of Galilee when a furious storm came up so quickly the disciples had no time to make it to shore.  Before they knew it, the rain was blowing sideways, the waves were crashing into and over their boat, threatening to sink it.  They were helpless.

But Jesus was also on that boat, and He addressed the storm as if it was an unruly child, and said, “Quiet!  Be Still!”  Suddenly, the wind stopped blowing, the rain stopped falling, the waves stopped churning, and the once wildly rocking boat glided calmly along the glassy surface of the sea.

Jesus has power you and I do not have.  In this health crisis, which makes us feel so small and weak and helpless, He is with us.  He promised that when He said, “I am with you always to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

No matter how helpless you may feel, you are never helpless with Jesus by your side.

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QUARANTINE BLOG # 57

May 26, 2020

I did not forget, but with a salute to Memorial Day and the men and women who gave their lives for our freedom, and the other pieces in yesterday’s blog, I decided to wait until today to salute an important event that happened 43 years ago yesterday.  It is appropriate to be a day late because the movie had been out almost 3 months before I saw the original Star Wars.

👉  Three games shows that I enjoyed watching on our small, black and white TV at 117 Shenandoah Avenue, when we received only 2 stations and half of them was KDKA in Pittsburgh (and the other half was WJAC in Johnstown) were very similar, yet different enough to make them all enjoyable: What’s My Line? plus I’ve Got A Secret, and To Tell The Truth.

What’s My Line? was a panel game show that premiered on the CBS in 1950.  The original version ran until 1967.  Celebrity panelists Dorothy Kilgallen, Arlene Francis, and Bennett Cerf, and a rotating guest panelist questioned contestants to determine their occupation.  Each week a celebrity “mystery guest” would participate while the panel was blindfolded.  Moderator John Charles Daly would ask guests to, “Enter and sign in please.”

Panelists questioned the guests with “yes” or “no” questions, with each “no” being worth $5 to the guest.  The show popularized the phrase, “Is it bigger than a breadbox?”  Steve Allen first posed it on January 18, 1953.  The maximum payout a guest could win was $50 to ensure the game was played only for enjoyment, and that there could never be even the appearance of impropriety.

What’s My Line? was known for its attention to manners and class.  The men on the panel wore black suits with bow ties, while the ladies wore formal gowns and often gloves.  Daly addressed the panelists using their surnames, and guests were always addressed as “Miss,” “Mrs,” or “Mr.”

The 876th and final CBS telecast of What’s My Line? aired on September 3, 1967.   CBS canceled the show because of low overall viewership, even as the show continued to turn a profit with its low production costs.  Several syndicated versions appeared from 1968-1975.  In 2000, a pilot was shot with hopes of reviving the series,  but CBS turned it down in favor of the reality show Survivor.

In 1952 CBS introduced I’ve Got a Secret which was a spin-off of What’s My Line?

Instead of celebrity panelists trying to determine a contestant’s occupation, the panel tries to determine a contestant’s “secret” which was something unusual, amazing, embarrassing or humorous about the contestant.


 To Tell the Truth featured four celebrity panelists who were presented with a team of three challengers, and had to identify the “central character” whose unusual occupation or experience was read out by the show’s host.  That person only had been sworn to tell the truth.  The “impostor” element set TTTT apart from What’s My Line? and I’ve Got a Secret.  At the end of questioning, panelists voted for the person they believed to be the central character, and then the host asked, “Will the real [person’s name] please stand up?”

The original show ran from 1956 to 1978 with syndicated versions appearing through 2018.  A revival series was scheduled to debut next month, but that entry date is now uncertain.  The three characters below will not be appearing.

👉  The London Review of Books, reports that on a Presidential visit to a farm, Mrs. Calvin Coolidge asked her guide how many times each day the rooster sought out the company of a hen.  “Dozens of times,” was the reply.  “Tell that to the President,” Mrs. Coolidge requested.  When the President passed the pens and was told about the rooster, he asked, “Same hen every time?”  “Oh no, Mr. President.  A different one each time.”  The President nodded slowly and then said, “Tell that to Mrs. Coolidge.”

👉  An eponym is a word that’s based on a person’s name.  For example, Braille, the language of raised dots that blind people can use to read, was invented by Louis Braille.  Scientific terms like Fahrenheit, Celsius, pasteurize, ampere, ohm, volt, and watt, all are named after famous scientists.

Adolphe Sax was a Belgian instrument maker who made flutes and clarinets.  He created a new instrument which looked like a combination of those two instruments, and it was dubbed the “Saxophone.”

Leotard, the form-fitting stretchy outfit worn by athletes like gymnasts and ice skaters, comes from Jules Leotard, a 19th century trapeze artist.

Joseph Guillotin proposed on October 10, 1789, the use of a device to carry out death penalties in France, one that would be a less painful method of execution.  Although he really did not invent the guillotine, and in fact opposed the death penalty, his name became an eponym for it.

👉  On this day in 1897, Dracula crawled out of his coffin and onto bookshelves.  Bram Stoker wrote the story of a vampire who made his way from Transylvania – a region of Romania – to Yorkshire, England.  The Count preyed on innocents there to get the blood he needed to live.  Dracula enjoyed moderate success, but when Stoker died in 1912 none of his obituaries even mentioned the book.  Sales began to take off in the 1920s, when the novel was adapted for Broadway.  Dracula took its lofty place in literature and film in 1931 when Bela Lugosi first donned the black cape, recreating his Broadway roll.  You can see the original trailer at this link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoaMw91MC9k Dozens of vampire-themed movies, television shows and literature have followed, but Lugosi, with his exotic accent, remains the quintessential Count Dracula.  Bela Lugosi was buried in one of Dracula’s capes – it was his widow’s idea, not his, but she said he would have approved.

👉  One upside over these weeks is that we’ve had extra time to think and reflect.  One downside over these weeks is that we’ve had extra time to think and reflect.

Hectic lifestyles before COVID-19 helped keep at bay things that haunt us.  But when the frantic pace stops, when the rapid routine grinds to a halt, when the familiar distractions have vanished, suddenly we may be confronted some hard truths we have managed to avoid.  Perhaps it’s an old regret from the past.  Perhaps it’s a sinful weakness that has been hiding in plain sight for a long time.

But God can use these difficult moments. Through them, He can remind us that our greatest need is not a hectic lifestyle bursting with distractions, but that our greatest need is Jesus.  On our behalf, He carried our every failure to the cross.  And to assure us that He has kept His promise to cover us in His forgiveness, Jesus has risen from the dead.

So, when extra time comes to think and reflect, let it come.  If there’s a confrontation with a hard truth that cuts to the heart, that’s okay.  It just reminds you all the more that real peace – and real life – is in Jesus Christ alone.

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QUARANTINE BLOG # 56

May 25, 2020

👉  Before we play our first TV game show, I want to take one more look at the Westerns, and tell you about one who was my favorite back when I was a young buckaroo – William “Hopalong” Cassidy.

Hopalong Cassidy first appeared in 1904 in a series of short stories and novels written by Clarance E. Mulford.  In his early writings, Mulford portrayed the character as rude, dangerous, and rough-talking.  He had a wooden leg which caused him to walk with a little “hop,” hence the nickname.  Hopalong went to the silver screen in 1935 portrayed by William Boyd.  In the movies Hopalong Cassidy was transformed into a clean-cut, sarsaparilla-drinking hero.  A bullet wound produced the namesake “hop.”

Sixty-six “Hoppies” were produced and distributed first by Paramount Pictures and later by United Artists.  When they tired of the franchise, William Boyd bought the rights to the character, and eventually took Hopalong to television.  On June 24, 1949, Hopalong Cassidy became the first network Western television series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD5pZVTC3x4&list=PL6UfctxfSOoFhi31aufCtQQfbzUw94WR1 The show was broadcast by NBC.

The popular song, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” features Hopalong Cassidy:

“A pair of Hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots
Is the wish of Barney and Ben
Dolls that’ll talk and will go for a walk
Is the hope of Janice and Jen
And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again.”

Boyd controlled all merchandising rights and eventually earned millions of dollars portraying the black clad hero (when he did a public appearance, his contracts always said that children would be admitted without charge).  In 1950, Hopalong Cassidy was featured on the first lunch box to bear an

image, and sales of Aladdin Industries lunch boxes to jump from 50,000 units to 600,000 units per year.  More than 100 companies that year manufactured $70 million of Hopalong Cassidy products, including children’s dinnerware, pillows, roller skates, soap, Timex wristwatches, and pocket knives.

One of Hopalong Cassidy’s biggest fans wore a replica outfit of his hero which he received as a Christmas present in 1952.

👉  I almost forgot – there are only 7 more months until Christmas.  Amazon could break all records this year, and UPS and the other delivery services could be deluged with deliveries.

👉  To paraphrase David’s Psalm 122 verse 1, “I will be glad when they say unto me, ‘Let us go into the House of the Lord.’”

Many churches have opened their doors and welcomed worshipers wearing masks and practicing social distancing.  In the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church, Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson and her cabinet have directed churches to wait until late June before once again gathering together, following the directions of Hebrews 10:25 (“Don’t stop meeting together with other believers,” but then they didn’t have coronavirus to contend with, just the Roman empire).

No one is more ready to be once again in God’s House than I am, but as I’ve written often in this Quarantine Blog, reopening too soon could have dire consequences.  While grocery shopping and picking up prescriptions, early on I noticed an increase in the number of mask wearers, but in the last couple of weeks those numbers are going back down.  This pandemic is not over, and experts are cautioning a relapse could occur if we stop being cautious and careful in our movements.

Germany has allowed religious services for weeks now, and news out of Frankfurt reports that 40 churchgoers became infected with the coronavirus during a service at a Baptist church in that city.

Wladimir Pritzkau, a leader of the parish said, “We followed all the rules.”

👉  It has been suggested that I am older than dirt, and if not that old, that at least  Methuselah and I were on the same page in the high school year book.  For instance, I am still heard to say, “righteous” if something was fantastic.  As a teenager we called the local drive-in movie theater a “passion pit.”  I had friends who would “race for pink slips” and they weren’t wearing pale red ladies undergarments – the pink slip was the title to your car – the winner had two cars and the loser walked home.  “Bad” was awesome, and “bug out” was to leave in a hurry.

So it may be easily understood why I have trouble with today’s slang.  I hear my grandkids say something is “snatched” and I think it’s stolen, but they mean “someone is wearing something that looks really good.”  Another for instance, “lit” doesn’t mean you are striking a match and lighting a fire (or drunk as it was in my youth); it is an adjective to describe when something’s amazing, exciting, high-energy, or otherwise great.

Perhaps that explains why I have trouble with cell phone and internet slang.  “Ghosting” has nothing to do with Casper and his friends.  It is when someone cuts off all communication with you and disappears, like a ghost.  I heard someone say “phubbing” and thought they were mispronouncing “fibbing,” but phubbing is a blend of “phone” and “snubbing,” and it’s what you’re doing when your eyes are glued to your phone instead of to the person to whom you should be paying attention.  Since the average American now spends 3 to 4 hours a day on a phone, there is a chance you have been phubbing or have been phubbed.

Can you dig it?

👉  You are standing on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in a park containing the ruins of the ancient city of Caesarea.  Even now the ruins are beautiful, but go back 2,000 years and look again – the seaport town of 125,000 people is breathtaking.  Just like going ashore from a cruise ship today, vendors are everywhere, offering wares for sale.  For entertainment, there are athletic contests, gladiator competitions, theater performances.

It’s also a seat of government for the Roman Empire.  Today the Roman governor is hearing a case.  The accused has endured some difficult days, and all because he has been proclaiming the Good News of Jesus.  His enemies have gotten him arrested. And now here the Apostle Paul stands, before the Roman governor in Caesarea.

Paul’s accusers have cobbled together all kinds of accusations against Paul, but now it’s his turn.  And he neutralizes the accusations against him one-by-one.  Then he tells the court the real reason he is on trial in Caesarea – because he has been preaching that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead: “I am on trial before you today because I believe in the resurrection of the dead!” (Acts 24:21 – New Living Translation).

2,000 years later, the great Caesarea lies in ruins, but some things remain the same:  the Good News is still the target of Jesus’ enemies.  But the Good News has not changed – through faith in the Living Lord Jesus, forgiveness is ours.  Through faith in Jesus, heaven is ours.  Through faith in Jesus, our lives have meaning, purpose, and joy.  This is so because Jesus has risen from the dead.  Hallelujah!

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QUARANTINE BLOG # 55

May 24, 2020

Question: what does a furniture sale have to do with Memorial Day?  Answer: abso-blooming-lutely nothing!  Nothing but one more holiday – and it used to be pronounced holy day – converted into one more excuse for merchandising.

Christmas was co-opted a long time ago.  Easter, today, is largely a time for rabbits, colored eggs and new clothes.  The message of Easter and Christmas still gets through the commercials.  Even a casual observer knows that a Savior named Jesus was born, and born again, on those days.  And His word is spread today by His living followers.

But Memorial Day? How many even know its origin and its meaning?

Originally known as Decoration Day, the practice of honoring the deaths of soldiers began in October, 1864.  Emma Hunter went to the cemetery in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania to lay flowers on the grave of her father, Dr. Ruben Hunter, a surgeon in the Union Army.  On that same day Mrs. Elizabeth Meyer went to decorate the grave of her son, Amos, a private who had fallen on the last day of the battle of Gettysburg.  The two women struck up a conversation and before leaving the cemetery, each laid flowers on the grave of the other’s loved one.

The two women met the next year and decorated all of the graves of soldiers killed in battle.  Their private ceremony turned into a community memorial on July 4, 1865, with every grave in the Boalsburg cemetery decorated with flowers and flags.

Columbus, Mississippi, claims origination of a formal observance for both the Union and the Confederate dead in 1866.  Ceremonies at first were held to honor only those who had died in the Civil War, but later the program was broadened to include all heroes who “gave the last full measure of devotion” in all of American’s wars.

In one of those fortunate serendipities – a glorious, happy chance discovery – only yesterday I discovered George Kenton Sisler.  Our daughter, Amy, suggested that I do a series in the quarantine blog about famous Sislers.  Outside of the immediate kin of Melvin and Elizabeth Sisler, and a couple of Dad’s cousins several times removed, the only other Sislers I know are George, Dick, and Dave, professional baseball players.  George K. Sisler popped up on a Google search.  I know of no direct connection between him and our family, but, obviously, the last name is the same.

George was born in Dexter, Missouri, in 1937.  He and his wife, Jane, had two sons, David and James.  On February 7, 1967, he was serving as a first lieutenant in the Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces.  On that day, when his unit came under heavy enemy attack in the Republic of Vietnam, George organized the defense, rescued a wounded soldier, and single-handedly attacked an enemy position before being mortally wounded.  For his actions during the battle, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.  Every recipient of America’s highest award for valor in action against an enemy force can be found at: http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-archive.php

George Kenton Sisler’s Medal of Honor citation reads:

“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life and above and beyond the call of duty.

“1st Lt. Sisler was the platoon leader/adviser to a Special United States/Vietnam exploitation force.  While on patrol deep within enemy dominated territory, 1st Lt. Sisler’s platoon was attacked from 3 sides by a company sized enemy force.  1st Lt. Sisler quickly rallied his men, deployed them to a better defensive position, called for air strikes, and moved among his men to encourage and direct their efforts.

“Learning that two men had been wounded and were unable to pull back to the perimeter, 1st Lt. Sisler charged from the position through intense enemy fire to assist them.  He reached the men and began carrying one of them back to the perimeter, when he was taken under more intensive weapons fire by the enemy.  Laying down his wounded comrade, he killed three onrushing enemy soldiers by firing his rifle and silenced the enemy machine gun with a grenade.

“As he returned the wounded man to the perimeter, the left flank of the position came under extremely heavy attack by the superior enemy force and several additional men of his platoon were quickly wounded.  Realizing the need for instant action to prevent his position from being overrun, 1st Lt. Sisler picked up some grenades and charged single-handedly into the enemy onslaught, firing his weapon and throwing grenades.

“This singularly heroic action broke up the vicious assault and forced the enemy to begin withdrawing.  Despite the continuing enemy fire, 1st Lt. Sisler was moving about the battlefield directing air strikes when he fell mortally wounded.  His extraordinary leadership, infinite courage, and selfless concern for his men saved the lives of a number of his comrades.  His actions reflect great credit upon himself and uphold the highest traditions of the military service.”

Americans who have died, guaranteeing our freedom, are not honored by the “beginning of summer” sales.  The purchase of a new couch, a new stove, new clothes, a new car, or a new necklace just does not do it.  Pick another way to ennoble the brave men and women, who have fought – and died – for the United States of America.

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QUARANTINE BLOG # 54

May 23, 2020

My political comment for today:

👉  Paladin, played by Richard Boone, was a gentleman gunfighter who worked as a mercenary.  He took his name from the foremost knights in Charlemagne’s court, comparable to the Knights of the Round Table in the King Arthur legend.  He charged $1000 per job, but he provided his services for free to poor people who need his help.  The television show was set after the Civil War.

Paladin was a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and a veteran of the Civil War, in which he served as a Union cavalry officer.  His permanent place of residence was the Hotel Carlton in San Francisco, where he lived  the life of a successful businessman and bon vivant, wearing elegant custom-made suits, consuming fine wine, playing the piano, and attending the opera.  He was an expert chess player, poker player, and swordsman.  Skilled in Chinese martial arts, Paladin was highly educated, able to quote classic literature, philosophy, and case law, and spoke several languages.

Like most Western shows of this era, Paladin had a theme song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbeltSnyr3Y

The complete first episode is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDtkC71pR4g&list=PLoXLTb9MXwazYf147EoQJt-wmkuVKZVfc

Guest stars of the six year run included DeForrest Kelley who would create the Star Trek character Leonard H. McCoy, son of David; Jack Lord – Steve McGarrett from  the first Hawaii Five-0; Werner Klemperer – Col. Wilhelm Klink from Hogan’s Heroes; and Harry Morgan – Col. Sherman Potter from M*A*S*H.

Among the writers for the series who would go on to produce popular shows on their own were Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek, and Bruce Geller, Mission Impossible.

The line, “Have Gun – Will Travel,” has been copied by Robert A. Heinlein “Have Spacesuit – Will Travel,” Duane Eddy “Have Twangy Guitar – Will Travel,” Tom and Jerry “Have Mousetrap – Will Travel,” and by an Wheel of Fortune contestant whose business card reads “Have Suitcase – Will Travel.”

Next week TV Games Shows from the 50s to the 80s.

👉  While the coronavirus has us quarantined, we can still travel via the Internet.  One of my favorite things on the world wide web is the webcam, a camera placed in a strategic location, broadcasting live images.

Look in on San Marco Piazza in Venice: https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/italia/veneto/venezia/piazza-san-marco.html

Or the Rialto Bridge and the Grand Canal in Venice:  https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/italia/veneto/venezia/canal-grande-rialto.html

Or the Trevi Fountain in Rome:
https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/italia/lazio/roma/fontana-di-trevi.html

This one isn’t a webcam, but a 360 degree camera.  Hold down the mouse to move around Red Square.  You can see the Kremlin, the GUM, and St. Basil’s Cathedral.  Bolshoi spacebo!  https://www.360cities.net/image/red-square-moscow-panorama

👉  On this day in 1934 Bonnie and Clyde were shot to death by Texas and Louisiana state police while driving a stolen car near Sailes, Louisiana.  Bonnie Parker met the Clyde Barrow when she was 19 years old and her husband (she married when she was 16) was serving time in jail for murder.  Shortly after they met, Barrow was imprisoned for robbery.  Parker visited him every day, and smuggled a gun into prison to help him escape, but he was soon caught in Ohio and sent back to jail.  When Barrow was paroled in 1932, he immediately hooked up with Parker, and the couple began a life of crime together.

👉 And now for you fans of Star Wars Episodes 7, 8, and 9, a song you can sing which is based on 7 of its characters.  The words are on the picture below.  To help your sing-along, click the link to get a karaoke:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha9LHgFInAA

👉 You may not know the poet who composed words of the hymn “I’d Rather Have Jesus,” but the chances are you know the man who wrote the melody, George Beverly Shea.  At least if you attended live or watched on television a Billy Graham crusade you know Bev Shea.

He was born in 1909 in Winchester, Ontario, where his father was pastor of the Wesleyan Methodist Church.  He started traveling with the Billy Graham evangelistic team in 1949.

One Sunday morning, he sat down at his mother’s piano to practice for the morning service, and noticed a clipping his mom had left for him.  It was a poem written by Mrs. Rhea F. Miller.  As Bev read the words, a melody came easily.  In church that morning he sung “I’d Rather Have Jesus” publicly for the first time.  It became his signature song.

I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold,
I’d rather be His than have riches untold;
I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands.
I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand,
Than to be the king of a vast domain
Or be held in sin’s dread sway.
I’d rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today.

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QUARANTINE BLOG # 53

May 22, 2020

On May 22, 1976 at eleven minutes after midnight, we welcomed our son, Michael David, to the family.  It was also at that time that the doctor said, “Oh!  There’s another baby in there!”  That’s right – we had no idea.  Forty-four years ago ultrasound was not an ordinary tool in prenatal care.  And at 12:15 a.m. we greeted Michael’s womb mate, Matthew James.  Happy birthday sons!  What a joy you are!

👉  Since we are celebrating the Sisler brothers today, let’s look at a Western series which also featured brothers.  Not twins, they were Bret and Bart Maverick. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCF8j6hh4ck

Maverick initially starred James Garner as cardsharp Bret Maverick.  Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother Bart Maverick. Garner and Kelly  alternated leads from week to week, sometimes teaming up for the occasional two-brother episode.

Roger Moore was added to the cast as cousin Beau Maverick in the fourth season.  Partway through that season, Robert Colbert replaced Moore and played a third Maverick brother, Brent.  The series ran from 1957-1962.

The Maverick brothers were poker players from Texas who traveled the Old West, constantly getting into and out of life-threatening trouble of one sort or another, usually involving money, women, or both.  They would typically find themselves weighing a financial windfall against a moral dilemma.  One recurring gig was Bret and Bart quoting words of advice passed down to them from their “Pappy.”

Diane Brewster created the recurring role of Samantha Crawford, a charming and flirtatious con woman who managed to dupe Bret and Bart out of large sums in different episodes – but not without having a little romance with each brother first.  Brewster also portrayed Miss Canfield, Theodore Cleaver’s teacher on “Leave It To Beaver.”

In 1981, James Garner recreated his Bret Maverick character as an older, but not necessarily wiser man, now living, gambling, and executing con jobs in a small Arizona town.  The show lasted one season. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji09vnkGU1s

👉  On this day in 1932, five years to the day that American aviator Charles Lindbergh became the first pilot to accomplish a solo, nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, Amelia Earhart became the first female pilot to repeat the feat, landing her plane in Ireland after flying across the North Atlantic.  Earhart traveled over 2,000 miles from Newfoundland in just under 15 hours.  In 1935, in the first flight of its kind, she flew solo from Hawaii to California, winning a $10,000 award posted by Hawaiian businessmen.  Two years later, she attempted, along with copilot Fred Noonan, to fly around the world, but her plane disappeared near Howland Island in the South Pacific on July 2, 1937.  The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Itasca picked up radio messages that she was lost and low in fuel – the last the world ever heard from Amelia Earhart.

👉  On this day in 1881 the American Red Cross founded in Washington, D.C., by  Clara Barton and Adolphus Solomons.  Barton, born in Massachusetts in 1821, worked with the sick and wounded during the American Civil War and became known as the “Angel of the Battlefield” for her tireless dedication.  In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln commissioned her to search for lost prisoners of war.  She was in Europe in 1870 when the Franco-Prussian War broke out, and she went behind the German lines to work for the International Red Cross.

👉 On Tuesday, the Augusta Commissioners passed a ruling that anyone who refuses to wear a mask or face covering in city government facilities faces jail time or an up to $1,000 fine.  Through June 13, anyone over age 2 and able to medically tolerate a mask must wear one to enter city buildings.

As of this writing, Richmond County has a total of 522 cases of COVID-19 and 17 people have died, while Columbia County has 224 cases and six people have died.  Georgia’s reported cases now stands 40,663 total and 1,775 people have died.

👉 “She turned around and saw Jesus standing there” (John 20:14 NKJV).

C. Austin Miles was a pharmacist whose hobby was photography, and he found his darkroom perfect for developing, not just his photographs, but his devotional life.  There Miles could read his Bible in total privacy.

One day in March 1912, while waiting for some film to develop, he opened the Bible to his favorite chapter, John 20, the story of the first Easter.  Miles said, “As I read it that day, I seemed to be part of the scene.  I seemed to be standing at the entrance of a garden, looking down a gently winding path, shaded by olive branches.  A woman  with head bowed, hand clasping her throat as if to choke back her sobs, walked slowly into the shadows.  It was Mary.  She came to the tomb, bent over to look in,  and hurried away. Then Peter and John entered the tomb.

“As they departed, Mary reappeared, leaning her head upon her arm at the tomb.   Turning, she saw Jesus standing; so did I.  I knew it was He.  She knelt before Him, with arms outstretched and looking into his face, cried, ‘Rabboni!’

“I awakened in full light, gripping my Bible, with muscles tense and nerves vibrating. Under the inspiration of this vision I wrote as quickly as the words formed the poem exactly as it has since appeared. That same evening I wrote the music.”

I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear,
Falling on my ear,
The Son of God discloses.

And He walks with me,
And He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

He speaks and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
And the melody that he gave to me,
Within my heart is ringing.

And He walks with me,
And He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

I’d stay in the garden with Him,
Though the night around me be falling,
But He bids me go through the voice of woe,
His voice to me is calling.

And He walks with me,
And He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

In the Garden was my Dad’s favorite hymn.

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