QUARANTINE BLOG # 387

April 21, 2021

Tuesday was a day chocked full of excitement for the ARC vacationers (that’s Asheville River Cabins).  And some disappointment.

First the bummer.  There is a steam train ride in Bryson City, NC that we were going to do on Wednesday (today).  I went online Tuesday morning to look for tickets, planning to score two first class tickets, and lo and behold, the only thing available was the open air carriage and coach.  I said, with sadness in my voice, we could do coach.  She Who Must Be Obeyed said she wasn’t riding in coach.  And I breathed a sigh of relief, as I didn’t really want to ride with the great unwashed.  Besides, in first class you get a meal served to you in the dining car, and in coach, you get a boxed lunch.  So we will plan early for our next trip and secure accommodations with the which of which there is no whicher.

Well, for the good news.  Casting aside our sorrow we made our first stop at Trader Joe’s where we bought two bags of macadamia nuts.  Settling that $20 purchase in the trunk of the Silver Bullet we headed to our next stop of frivolity, excitement, and jocularity – the Great Wal of Mart.  Our supplies secured from Sam Walton’s store included a loaf of bread (and I’ve never seen anyone take 5 minutes to decide on which loaf of sliced white bread to buy before) and a pair of lounging pants for Bonnie.  After we settled down from that roller coaster experience, we headed for Hendersonville and an Old People’s Store (otherwise known as antiques and collectibles).  “Needful Things II” was a good store – if anyone is traveling I-26 it is worth a stop (Exit 49A).

Here are two things I looked at:

Great old cash register: $1495.00

1956 T-Bird, hard top (removable), completely restored: $35,000

Here's an appropriate song for this last item.  Before you click "skip the ads."

Today’s road trip will take us to Chimney Rock, NC.  Pictures and a report tomorrow.

👉  For your viewing pleasure:

👉  QB has featured pieces about the origin of popular phrases.  Brian and Elizabeth sent me several – and big thanks – which are complete with illustrations.  I’ll include more in future blogs, but here is one for today – the caption at the end is completely mine.

And many of them still act like clowns!

👉  Kool and the Gang’s “Joanna” is our girl’s name song today.  The romantic ballad features the current owner of a small, roadside café named “Joanna’s Diner” (filmed at the Colonial Diner in Lyndhurst, NJ). Throughout the video, she serves the band members as both cook and waitress as they serenade her with the video occasionally flashing back to her younger days as a dancer at Harlem’s famous Cotton Club and in love with the character portrayed by the group’s lead singer.

👉  The Final Jeopardy! category is: Unexpected Things At The Cabin.  And the Answer is: In the dark.  Final Jeopardy! Question: Where were you when the lights went out?

Last night we were relaxing, watching “Unsellable Homes,” one of our favorite house-fix-up shows.  And then we weren’t.  At 9:30 here at Asheville River Cabins, it is not quite as “black as a midnight in a hundred cypress swamps,” but it was still dark.  Four phone calls, and four trips by the caretakers, and the lights stayed on.  It seems as though someone was driving the riding lawnmower around and hit an electrical junction box which is sticking out of the ground, loosened something, which decided to let go at 9:30, and there we were.  Three applications of duct tape didn’t quite fix it, so a fourth was applied, plus a clamp, plus a board braced in the ground, and the lights stayed on.  We were assured it will be properly repaired by the time we get back from Chimney Rock.

👉  Today’s close, “The Way to Real and Lasting Freedom,” is by Jack Graham.

“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).

Before the American Civil War ended, President Abraham Lincoln penned the Emancipation Proclamation, a document which would free all slaves in the United States.  In those days with no email or telephone, the Proclamation was physically taken to every individual state.

This meant that even after the slaves were freed, most still lived in slavery because they hadn’t yet received the news of their freedom.  So they lived under the yoke and bondage of their masters – some even dying in slavery – even though they were legally free!

Many Christians today do the very same thing.  In Christ, you are legally free.  You are no longer bound by the law of sin and death.  But there are some, perhaps in ignorance of their freedom, who still live in bondage.

Maybe you’ve encountered Christ, but find yourself living under the yoke of slavery to sin and works-based acceptance.  If so, consider today’s passage your “Emancipation Proclamation,” shake off the chains of bondage, and live in the freedom Christ purchased for you.

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