QUARANTINE BLOG # 435

June 8, 2021

Reading Sunday’s blog prompted Amy to ask, “Where have all the answering machines gone?  The same place as VCRs?”  And if you are as old as I am, and maybe if you’re not, you thought of a great song that was written by Pete Seeger and Joe Hickerson – “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?”

Seeger wrote the first three verses in 1955 and Hickerson added two more in 1960.  The inspiration for Seeger was an old Ukrainian folk song called, “Koloda-Duda.”  The English translation says, “Koloda Duda [a woman’s name], Where have you been?  Minding the horses.  Which were you minding?  The horse with the saddle with the golden fringe.  But where is your horse?  Standing by the gate.  And where is the gate?  Carried away by the water.  And where are the reeds?  The girls have gathered them.  And where are the girls?  The girls have married and gone away.  And where are the Cossacks?  They’ve gone to war.”

Seeger and Hickerson gave us with an English version of an earthy, fatalistic Ukrainian folk song which they and millions took to be an inspiring hope of breaking the endless cycle of war and death.  

The song has been covered by over 50 groups.  One of the best is by Peter, Paul, and Mary.

But my all-time favorite is by The Kingston Trio.

I dare you to watch the KT version without crying.  Or at least tearing up.  

👉  The picture with which the KT video begins is entitled “Burst of Joy.”  It is a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph by Associated Press photographer Slava “Sal” Veder, taken on March 17, 1973 at Travis Air Force Base in California.  The photograph came to symbolize the end of United States involvement in the Vietnam War, and the prevailing sentiment that military personnel and their families could begin a process of healing after enduring the horrors of war.

The first group of POWs leaving the prison camps in North Vietnam left Hanoi on a U.S. Air Force Lockheed C-141 Starlifter strategic airlift aircraft nicknamed the “Hanoi Taxi,” which flew them to Clark Air Base in the Philippines for medical examinations.  On March 17, the plane landed at Travis Air Force Base in California. Even though there were only 20 POWs of that first increment released aboard the plane, almost 400 family members turned up for the homecoming.

The photograph depicts United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Robert L. Stirm being reunited with his family, after spending more than five years in captivity as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.  Stirm was shot down over Hanoi on October 27, 1967, while leading a flight of F-105s on a bombing mission, and was not released until March 14, 1973.  The centerpiece of the photograph is Stirm’s 15-year-old daughter Lorrie, who is excitedly greeting her father with outstretched arms, as the rest of the family – Bo, Cindy, Loretta, and Roger – approach directly behind her.  

👉  When I sent a link to Amy with “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” she responded with, “A question from one of my top 5 TV shows, ‘Gilmore Girls.’” There was an accompanying link to a video which had me genuinely laughing out loud.  No, better than that – it was a Bros Laugh (you need to be there).  The episode is entitled, “Friday Night Dinner,” and asks the question, “Where did all the anvils go?”  I dare you to watch that and not LOL.

👉  Here are three strips for your further amusement:

👉  It is not too late to get your bid in to be onboard the maiden flight of Blue Origin’s New Shepard space craft on July 20, and if you win, also fly with Jeff Bezos, and his brother Mark.  Auction bidding is already at $2.8 million with nearly 6,000 participants from 143 countries.  The charity event concludes with a live auction June 12.  Here is a video of what you are bidding on.  I edited an original test launch video of over 11 minutes down to 3.

👉  For the first time, QB applauds the Biden administration.  The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to let immigrants who have been allowed to stay in the United States on humanitarian grounds apply to become permanent residents if they entered the country illegally, siding with President Joe Biden’s administration.  The justices, acting in an appeal by a married couple from El Salvador who were granted so-called Temporary Protected Status, unanimously upheld a lower court ruling that barred their applications for permanent residency, also known as a green card, because of their unlawful entry.  The vote was 9-0.

👉  Today’s close is by Ted and Ashleigh Slater.

“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.  Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will hold you up with my victorious right hand”  (Isaiah 41:10 NLT).

“You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).

We are missing out when we allow other gods in our life.  When we rely on other people or things to meet our needs.

We rely on retirement funds and then the company we’ve worked for all these years goes bankrupt.  We rely on our job and then the downsizing begins.  We depend on a person to provide our happiness and then they leave or disappoint us.

God brings people and opportunities into our life to bless us.  But they are not our source.  He is.  And when we start depending on anyone or anything other than God as our source, they become the “other gods” in our life.

Consider this.  What a blessing that we can depend on God.  That he is our source. That he loves us unconditionally.  That he will never leave us nor forsake us.  That we can do all things through Christ.

No matter what happens around us or even to us, we don’t need to be afraid because God is our source. He  is our strength.  He makes all things possible. 

“Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.”

Rely on him.  Trust him.  You will never be disappointed.

Prayer: Father, forgive me for allowing other gods in my life by depending on people and things instead of you.  Help me to refocus on you.  Help me to rely fully on you and no other.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

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