Sunday, November 24, 2013

Sunday Faith Blog

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THE OLD PATHS

I liked the old paths,when Moms were at home. Dads were at work.
Brothers went into the army. And sisters got married BEFORE having children!
 Crime did not pay; Hard work did; And people knew the difference.
 Moms could cook; Dads would work; Children would behave.
 Husbands were loving; Wives were supportive; And children were polite.
 Women wore the jewelry; And Men wore the pants.
 Women looked like ladies; Men looked like gentlemen; And children looked decent.

 
  People loved the truth, And hated a lie.
 They came to church to get IN, Not to get OUT!
 Hymns sounded Godly; Sermons sounded helpful; Rejoicing sounded normal;
And crying sounded sincere.
 Cursing was wicked; Drugs were for illness.
 The flag was honored; America was beautiful; And God was welcome!
 We read the Bible in public; Prayed in school; And preached from house to house.
 To be called an American was worth dying for; To be called an American was worth living for; To becalled a traitor was a shame!
 I still like the old paths the best!

Z: That was sent to me  by "Imp"..(thanks!).........I pray that all Americans who remember these times try hard to bring these times back.....They were good times.  We are not perfect;  our nation is not perfect;  but when faith was part of our nation, it was a better place.   There are some things we needed to change;  some things faith helped change.  We'll never be perfect ....not on this planet....but we can live good lives and happy lives.  

"In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:6

Today, think about what God's done in your life.......think of a Sunday School song you sang as a kid and the words will come back to you, I promise.  Sing a little!  Cheer yourself up!  Have a great, cheerful Sunday.
z




46 comments:

Always On Watch said...

"There's no place like home."

Lots of my dreams when I'm asleep now involve still living in those halcyon days when I grew up. I go home again in my dreams, and these dreams are not nightmares. Another sign of old age, I suppose.

98ZJUSMC said...

AOW - So do I.

The picture that Z paints certainly wasn't true for everyone. It was, however, true for those whose parents busted their humps day in and day out to make it so. Mine did and I will forever be grateful for that.

The festering cesspool of the city began to make that very difficult to maintain. I watched, somewhat bemused but mostly annoyed, as the Chicago we escaped encroached and eventually began to ruin what our parents made. When it came my time, I vowed to get as far away from it as possible.

Progressive Fundamentalists can do all the eye rolling they want, but that picture was mostly true for a great many, ....once.

Well, .....we didn't always behave. ;-)

sue hanes said...

Z - The article above is about a perfect world. But times change and things change and we have to deal with it. And the world described about were about the good things. There were things not mentioned that were not perfect. Not everyone had a perfect world.

We have to work on what we have and make it right for everyone.

Have a great Sunday - Z.

Anonymous said...

How do some people always get it right? Look at Sue and CI ... even though they are poles apart i am guessing. It's a wonder to me.

Anonymous said...

poles apart

...in their politics, mental outlook, etc, i meant.

Ed Bonderenka said...

The American People have somehow swallowed a lie.
The lie is that everything they knew was wrong.
It takes highly educated liberal judges to "correctly" interpret the Constitution.
Just because the Founders were OK with everyone praying in public meetings doesn't make it right.
Just because the Founders were OK with everyone owning guns doesn't make it right.
Just because everyone knew marriage was between a man and a woman doesn't make it right.
Just because everyone knew killing babies was wrong, doesn't make it wrong.
It takes a liberal educated judge to force what's "right" down our throat.
Don't talk to me about slavery, we were always conflicted about that.

Z said...

AWO....today's the nightmare :-)

98Z; I wanted it clear I didn't 'paint' the picture...I just love reading it and wanted to share it.
What wasn't true for everyone STILL isn't true for everyone; but it's even true for LESS people today due to the problems in our society due to the lack of all the good things that came from faith.


Sue...I mentioned that very clearly in my post. ..that there is no perfection. And, no, making it 'right for everyone' will even more disintegrate the things that are still good for some of us.

Anonymous...what do those two "get so right?" :-)

Ed; they've been shamed out of holding on to those wonderful things which were right. They've swalled a stupid bill of goods...and look how we're suffering.
Bringing kids into the world who rarely see their parents (either a nanny's there, or their parents are on crack and one's in jail) isn't working; how could it?
Folks who had faith and stayed together and took the kids to church or Temple weren't perfect, either, and the kids flipped out from time to time, but it was a good start to a better situation than what we've got NOW with so many of our kids.


Bob...ahhh, I thought I was going to read "Jesus loves me, this I know..." that was popular when I was a kid, not yours; but yours is good, to :-)

beakerkin said...

I miss Vermont style turkey hit by a
Volvo and baked with local maple syrup. It was probably purchased at the market but one never does know.....

I guess lefties diminish families in favor of imperial state delusions. However, even as a public servant I can say with honesty most public servants lack the notion of public service.

If I didn't start out in the private sector I would not have the drive and the passion to excel
every day.

Ed Bonderenka said...

It being the Sunday Faith Post, I'd like to recommend "The Christmas Candle" movie.
Rick Santorum produced, Max Lucado wrote, God inspired.
Far better than "Thor: The Dark World".

Constitutional Insurgent said...

I understand the sentiment behind today's post, but it seems like longing for a time when a particular brand of faith held a preferential place in society, through it's rituals and symbology.

That this preferential position held at bay, some of the face social ills in the current era, that were either underground or minimized in earlier times, could certainly be arguable. But it's likewise that liberty did not find it's full potential in those times either.

The goal for all, it seems to me, is to find the appropriate nexus between positive social values [whether religious based or secular] and the fullest potential of individual liberty.

Pris said...

Z, I love this post, it brings back such wonderful memories of my family, and somewhat later, Mr. Pris and I and our family.

Sue, there is no perfection, anywhere, but America has been the best answer to freedom, and individuals who knew their lives were up to them.

But today there are those who don't realize we're being brought down to obey the Govt. Our individual responsibilities are no longer respected, and we are losing our freedom, bit by bit! I'm old enough to remember how it was way back then.

To me, the main thing we need is to be left alone, and govern our own lives. It should be obvious to everyone that our freedom is being stolen from us, by idiots who think that we are all ignoramuses who need to be ordered to be beholden to Govt. instead of the other way around.

Thanks Z, and Imp, for this reminder of our responsibilities and success as families. We were there for our children, and they too, had a foundation to rely on, which was family, character issues, and faith, which were taught at home and at school.

Pris said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JonBerg said...

Pris,

Well stated, indeed!

Z said...

Ed, is that in theaters or ..? I haven't heard of it. Thanks, I'd like to see it.


CI...I think there is a heck of a lot to be said for "underground or minimized," because I think a lot in our culture today get off on hearing the slightest disgusting aspect of anybody's life. And, as a sometime consequence, our kids are hearing of the most abnormal, hideous little cultural indiscretions (to put it politely) and think that's the norm.

I personally felt it was better when gay men loved each other in the privacy of their bedroom (as my cousin and others I've known did...they had NO desire to marry and even consider the purge today to marry as 'agenda', witnessed by the huge amount of divorces which occur directly after a spate of gay marriages in a state new to allowing it), I think it was better before Betty Ford made saying BREAST or Jane Fonda made saying VAGINA something we all say now in a heartbeat. Obviously 'breast' isn't any big thing today, but it was THEN. And it sure opened the floodgates..as bra commercials wouldn't have existed 15 years ago and, everywhere, there are half clad, sultry-eyed vixens on TV every few minutes.........or how about constant headlines about stars having babies out of wedlock, or TV shows based SOLELY on DNA testing so we can see teen mothers screech at the punk who knocked her up as if it's all his fault and then cheer or cry at the end when they find out which totally unwilling punk is the father and his revulsion at the very idea of his fatherhood and 'that THING' he now might have to support.

I could go on and ON and on. I'm around Christian kids all day long, and also around nonChristian kids all day long. I see a difference. I don't care if some don't. I DO. Are the Christian kids perfect? Don't be ridiculous... are their lives based on a higher power and does that give them great hope and solace. Oh, my gosh, yes.

I recognize I could be considered a big prig by what I wrote above; I'm perfectly good with that because there's a LARGE space between PRIG and what we've got today and I think a happy medium might be better...faith helps.

Constitutional Insurgent said...

Z - "I personally felt it was better when gay men loved each other in the privacy of their bedroom (as my cousin and others I've known did...they had NO desire to marry and even consider the purge today to marry as 'agenda', witnessed by the huge amount of divorces which occur directly after a spate of gay marriages in a state new to allowing it)...."

I don't doubt that you feel that way. Many people still desire that things they don't agree with [based on religious grounds] be relegated out of sight, if not prohibited. But you recede the line of individual liberty farther toward State control than do I. Because if you desire that certain behaviors/activities/biology's be curtailed based on reasons of faith alone, then you are at least indirectly favoring State regulation of religion. Apologies if I'm misreading what you wrote, but that's sort of how it comes across to me.

But are you claiming that divorce rates have risen after gay marriages have become legal [in the states they are], and/or that their is correlation between -hetero divorce rates and -homo marriage?

Constitutional Insurgent said...

I forgot to add that I'm completely on board with your disdain for the social abuses of Facebook, 'reality TV', and the like. Our consumer society has become more disposable as time passes, and I mean that in the intellectual sense as well as the material sense.

Pris said...

Jon,

Thank you.

Z said...

CI, a major error in your comment is that I know non religious people who are repulsed by two gay men kissing or even holding hands in front of them. I know gay religious people.
Homosexuality was better off before gay parades where men where fishnet stockings and lipstick; homosexuality was better off when dignified gay men lived their sex lives in the bedroom. I do. I rarely jumped around floats down Santa Monica Blvd. flaunting my heterosexuality in a teddy and push up bra, believe me.

People weren't as concerned about gays as they are now that they need to see public displays.
People weren't as concerned about Christians weren't taunting anybody with their faith until the pushback against it started.
I could go on and on. but I digress;

and yes, you're misreading me.

And yes, particularly in San Francisco, hundreds rushed to City Hall to get married. Very few months later, hundreds were deciding they didn't really want to be married and they're stuck in a quagmire of 'no precedent'..it's a MESS> I heard this happened in at least two other states as well.

Honestly, i couldn't give a CRAP about who's gay and who isn't. I've had very close gay friends in the past...men, mostly. I haven't known that many lesbians as more than minor acquaintances, I have to admit. I'm sad we're being used for rights that a huge majority of gays don't want...like marriage.


Ed Bonderenka said...

Z:
http://www.thechristmascandlemovie.com/tickets

Z said...

Pris, well said.
Our freedoms are going away in the guise of helping others...
If EVERYBODY isn't middle class, then NOBODY can be, apparently, according to the leftwingers.
They just don't get that some people will always be poor, always suffer. And, because I admit that, I'm going to be considered hateful and uncaring!!!
I'm just a realist...who believes in doing all we can do but not to the detriment of our own; everyone being poverty stricken doesn't work, either, unless you're N Korea. oops.

wait till you hear the video I've scheduled here for tomorrow...at the end, there are some Reagan quotes that will knock your socks off inasfar as healthcare and what's finally happening; he saw this coming ...brother, did he...almost to the word.
It's an astonishing video for tomorrow..........just amazing truths about the ACA we mostly knew but liberals wouldn't listen. :-(

Z said...

Ed, thanks....I'm delighted it's showing at so many theaters and I hope to go.
I appreciate your going to this trouble.
THANKS!

Ed Bonderenka said...

I won't give my relationship to some gay men I know as I don't use an alias online.
They do not support gay marriage.
But they view attacks on gay marriage as an anti gay message.
So the gay marriage push actually seems to threaten some gays inadvertently.
Don't ask, don't tell is a good policy in many respects.

Ed Bonderenka said...

" I rarely jumped around floats down Santa Monica Blvd. flaunting my heterosexuality in a teddy and push up bra, believe me."
How rarely? ;)

Constitutional Insurgent said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Constitutional Insurgent said...

Ed - "Don't ask, don't tell is a good policy in many respects."

I would agree, if applied equally. I not only don't need to know the sexuality of gay Americans....I don't need to know the sexuality of hetero Americans. But I do know the sexuality of any given person, when they display affection in public, or exercise their rights under jurisprudence, for public record. I really...I mean really....don't like to share the same gene pool with the ilk of the "Honey Boo-Boo" clan....but I have no moral or legal right to attempt denial of their liberties merely because IO think our society would be better off without seeing them in public.

The underlying problem is, that if you're going to segregate liberty based on biological function, then 'all men are not created equal', at least in the eyes of the law.

But like you, I am also wondering just how often Z found herself on Santa Monica Blvd.......? :)

Constitutional Insurgent said...

*Dang lack of a spell check.....


Z - I don't care for gay pride parades either, but there are also other more mainstream events I personally don't care for, so it's sort of a wash. However:

"homosexuality was better off when dignified gay men lived their sex lives in the bedroom."

The problem here is that you are equating sexuality with sexual behavior. Homosexuality is no more defined by the sex act than is heterosexuality. And as far as homosexuality begin more "dignified" when it was underground, a large part of that is due to the fact that our system of jurisprudence prohibited sodomy by force of law. A law retained of course, primarily to curb the activities of homosexuals rather than the same activities of heterosexuals.

And regarding SF, are you sure you're not confusing the temporary nullification of gay marriages in accordance with Prop 8? Because while you lay claim to what a "huge majority" of gays want [odd, since you're not gay], you offer no metrics.

What does exist however, is data that 'could' substantiate a claim that states who legalize gay marriage maintain lower divorce rates writ large.

http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=201803

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2011/07/06/divorce-rates-lower-in-states-with-same-sex-marriage

I know the 'Leave it to beaver' paradigm seems more the ideal than the current, and in some cases I would agree......but in toto, we were not enjoying an increase in personal liberty then, compared to now. I offer that it has merely stayed level, with the proper metrics of liberty shifting over time.

Z said...

Ed..'How rarely?'...I'm screaming with laughter. GOOD POINT.
I must admit I HAVE NEVER done that :-) HAAAAAAAAAAA!


CI...it's not I who's made homosexuality defined by their sexuality, believe me. The popular gay parades are ALL about sexuality. I think that's my point; there's more to me than my heterosexuality and there's a lot more to my gay friends than their sex, believe me. Don Lemon of CNN is a gay man; dignified, well dressed, doesn't wear it on his sleeve and probably doesn't show much affection to his lover in public. BRAVO. So who cares that he's gay? Good for him. DIGNITY.

I completely disagree with you about personal liberty.
Nobody HAD to wear a helmet or a seat belt (albeit those are good things now), nobody HAD to take a doctor one didn't like, nobody had to worry we couldn't buy a large Coke or have salt shakers off restaurant tables because it's not healthy, one didn't have to pay for their neighbor's abortion, or HEAR about the gory details, one had the freedom to start a business without the huge amount of government taxes/interferences, we were at liberty to feel our children's textbooks weren't teaching them to hate AMerica, we could wear a cross without high school students telling the choir leader it was problematic and her having to remove it...
I'm tired and need to leave the blog right now, but could go on and on.

I don't think freedom of two men to walk down the street with their tongues in each others' mouths is much of a gain in freedom, anyway, though I hate to be quite so graphic.

Ducky's here said...

@z --- If EVERYBODY isn't middle class, then NOBODY can be, apparently, according to the leftwingers.
-------
That's ridiculous.

But let's condense this thread to it's basics. If it hadn't have been for the 60's and those darn hippies ... and the civil rights movement, gay liberation, anti-war movement, women's liberation, the anti-poverty movement it would all be so much better.
Straight whit middle class males would be in charge as the founders intended.

They just took that "government by the people" thing too far.

Ed Bonderenka said...

CI: I think that it's generally agreed that one's right to free speech ends at shouting fire (when there is no fire) in a crowded theater.
That is because of the threat to the common good.
Yell fire in your home to your hearts content.
Of course that is a rhetorical "your" and not aimed at you personally.
Perhaps some other activities might be curbed in public for the common good. Not hand-holding, but indecent exposure, including Miley Cyrus :)

Ed Bonderenka said...

Oh goody! Ducky's Here!
Let the fireworks begin!

Constitutional Insurgent said...

Z - "it's not I who's made homosexuality defined by their sexuality, believe me."

But you have by your previous comments, like many others who have issues with 'allowing' gays to enjoy the same rights and privileges that hetero's do. You offer an on-air persona as a hypothetical example, without knowing that he might very well hold hands and kiss in public, like millions of other Americans do.

Ed - I'm with you in regards to the Pride parades. Remember however, that the reason behind them has always been the shock value backlash for the suppression they've been forced to endure by the system of jurisprudence of this nation. The parades are an example of the fringe, and not much different than the stereotypical actions of preachers daughters, throughout time.

I have no particular affinity towards gay Americans, but this often seems to be the tinder for discussions of proper values. I don't mean to dwell on it specifically, as my position on many other issues mirror Z's [and likely yours]...but the essence of individual liberty comes with the price tag of allowing ideals we don't personally care for, as long as they do not infringe on our own liberty.

Sam Huntington said...

One day I will stand before God and be required to account for how I lived my life. None of my friends will take on this responsibility, nor will God expect them to. God will weight the good against the bad and judge me accordingly. So it doesn’t matter (to me) whether homosexuality is a deadly sin, or that Obama will one day have to account for his lying (God hates a liar). I must only account for my own sins.

But do we have a collective responsibility?

In spite of all the secular laws enacted over the past two centuries, we seem not to have solved perplexing social challenges. In fact, life isn’t getting better in the good old USA, it’s getting worse. In spite of all these laws, we still have barbarians roaming our streets attacking and murdering innocent people, for no reason at all other than they are barbarians. Mothers are murdering their babies by the bushel … too many people seem intent on flaunting their deviant behaviors.

Maybe all these secular rules aren’t working. Our behavior, our society, becomes more decadent with every passing day. It all makes you wonder, “What went wrong?” I’m thinking, maybe we shouldn’t have turned away from God. I’m thinking that we are living in a cesspool because there is a collective responsibility, and we’ve failed miserably.

Ed Bonderenka said...

Sam nailed it.

Pris said...

Thanks Z,
IMO, LBJ and his War on Poverty, actually created more poor people. Now, Obama will repeat that and create even more poor people.

All a nanny state does, is make promises to keep people on the Dem, or left wing plantation! Then generation after generation of the poor, know nothing except BEING POOR, because they grow up that way!

It is a sinister plan to have those who believe they need free stuff, and those politicians who give out just enough to keep them that way, are hell bent on getting their votes, and that is all they care about!

Impertinent said...

@Pris:

As ususal...you never let us down...perfect.

Thanks

JonBerg said...

Sam.....


" I’m thinking, maybe we shouldn’t have turned away from God."

Throughout my life, I'm afraid that I didn't fully appreciate this; that is until I now see the results!

Z said...

Ducky, you let me down; I thought you'd hit us with all the foibles of America WAAAY sooner today than you did. Thanks.
How many times can I say "we're not perfect?" The only difference is conservatives understand that.


I don't have to say another word here; Sam did nail it. I said the same thing, just not anywhere NEAR as articulately...or maybe I THOUGHT, or sensed the same thing.

SAM..thanks very much.

I'm so sick of this 'fight'...really just so sick of it.

I'm so very tired of having to understand, empathize, ignore things that bug the HELL out of ME. But I have to put up with it ALL.

By the way, how anyone can extrapolate and insinuate anybody has a problem with or hates gays because a person is for only a man and woman to MARRY is beyond me...it's a goofiness I don't even want to be AROUND.

no I don't.

Kid said...

Beautifully Written Imp and Z.

Singing? Right now, I'm singing Lookin Out My Back Door

Kid said...

Pris, for myself it sums up like this:

Most people are unhappy with what is going on.

-libs want government to solve it
-conservatives know that individuals, true capitalism, and individual liberties can solve 'it'.

Kid said...

Z, " I rarely jumped around floats down Santa Monica Blvd. flaunting my heterosexuality in a teddy and push up bra, believe me. "

I find myself wondering why you said Rarely instead of Never... ;-) Pictures?

Kid said...

PS - That was a great way to put the difference between gay and hetero.

There was a commercial with the ignorant wanda sykes telling some 16 year old he was being rude saying "that's so gay". I wanted to jump through the TV and tell her If she doesn't like the word gay then stop marching down the street with 50 foot banners that say gay pride.

Z said...

I suppose .,.,know what I mean?
This is one of the problems with email. Seriously, I HAVE NEVER DONE THAT! :-)


ALSO:
I've been thinking about my sounding revolted by two gay men walking by holding hands and I was on Team Viewer with my computer guru and she was clicking all sorts of stuff and so my mind wandered to our discussion here for the last ten minutes or so and I was thinking about how I really feel about that.
Honestly, it doesn't bug me THAT MUCH to see open displays of sexuality by two gay people...but I think there's something inside me that knows it's not right. Because I can't EXPLAIN it, I just feel it. Is it a spark of God? WHat is it?
I don't know.

Then we get into the myriad of questions:
Then why did God MAKE a gay person if it's not okay?

I guess you could say Why did God make a gossip if it's not okay?

Oy, homosexuality is a REALLY BIG issue and not one easily understood.

I certainly don't dislike someone who's gay...I've loved gay friends......I lost my dear tennis instructor years ago and realized it had to have been AIDS before we knew of AIDS..he was very promiscuous; one of the best looking, funniest guys I ever knew but BITTER.

I swear, nearly EVERY gay man I've known who's over 45 seems so painfully bitter my heart breaks. They hide it, though 2 have confided in me they'd have done anything not to be gay. ..so painful
But, I've known two elderly couples, four gay men, who'd been with their significant other for at least 30 years and they seemed quite happy; very dignified old fellows I truly admired and liked VERy much.

Do the bitter ones have that inside spark, too, that makes them sad and then, after a few years, bitter?

I don't know.
And I don't want to talk about it anymore tonight.


So there :-)
HA HA!

Kid said...

@SAM “What went wrong?”

This is a tough one until you look at other countries that do no have the problems we have.

- Norway for example, and many others.

. they dont' pay single women to popo out kids like pieces of toast into zero opportunity drug and crime infested environments. ***This is our biggest problem today and it's not race based***
(democrat legislation aimed at breeding more democrat [dependent] voters at maximum speed.
. they're not PC or multi-cultural
It's there way or the highway.
. they don't use their schools asa way to dumb down their populations.

These are all big things and big problems for America.

career baby maker woman has 3 biys, 5 girls. those 5 girls are almost guaranteed to become baby makers and the 3 boys prison inmates. Now 5 girls make 5 girls each and they make 5 girls each.
Add to that liberal activist judges who won't deal with these kids who don't have any parental guidance or education and cannot deal with society turning up in their courts and don't get dealt with.

We have on talk radio in the morning the crap where they're looking for someone and as the police women describes him 99.999% of the time, included in the description is 'he's been arrested 68 times'.... Purely disgusting and demoralizing.

The KGB started the demoralizing process when they killed JFK and put the POS LBJ in office.

Ducky's here said...

Let me guess, kid.

1. You love the war on drugs because it slaps those blacks in prison where they belong.

2. You own stock in private prison companies.

Oh, the unmarried birth rate has ben declining.

Impertinent said...

@Z:

"nearly EVERY gay man I've known who's over 45 seems so painfully bitter my heart breaks. They hide it, though 2 have confided in me they'd have done anything not to be gay. ..so painful.."


Painful? Yes, in more ways than one. However...I've always wondered since you mentioned it...What's so Gay...about being...Gay?

A front as far as I'm concerned.

Unknown said...

It has nothing to do with civil rights. It has everything to do with destroying American society. Look around at al the things the left has viciously attacked: religion. patriotism, American history, our founding fathers, marriage, education, the military ...

One wonder's why. But it doesn't take long to figure it out, unless you're a moron. Or Ducky, but I repeat myself.