Category Archives: General

This may seem unusual and discombobulated. In past years, I posted what amounted to an Easter card here, wishing everyone a happy Easter. This year, I shared a message on the significance of Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, and salvation.

This past week, I went to the garage to clean it but ended up looking at old family photos, like this one. My wife may not be glad I chose this one because she thinks I make everything about myself. It may seem that way with this one. What isn’t evident here is my hair color. It looks dark, but I was a towhead; I’m not sure why it’s called that.

This photo is of me in 1959, meaning I’m a few months shy of seven. I have some Steve Martin fashion going on from the waist up before anyone knew who he was, and the pants look baggy due to their length because, back then, pants had to last a good three years or more.

My jeans were bizarre-looking, and I found some old pictures featuring them. My parents got carried away with jeans, and one pair I saw could’ve accommodated five more inches of height and 35 pounds, and they’d still fit. I’ll add that one, too.

They were called flood pants, and at lunch, I unzipped my pants to whip out my Wild Bill Hickok lunch box. I know we were poor, but I don’t think it required looking goofy with pants I could roll up to my knees. Don’t kid yourself; if my fingers hit the electrical outlet, my hair catches fire and my pant legs shoot to the floor.

What’s more interesting to me here is the background. You can see the door to my bedroom. The door didn’t close because of a chair, so there was no privacy. It’s the only picture here showing it. I’ve mentioned before that our house didn’t have heat except for a stove in the living room. Sometimes, for extra warmth, which didn’t help much, my parents would turn on the oven in the kitchen and leave the door open.

My bedroom wasn’t really a bedroom but a backroom, so it had tiles instead of carpet. I had a real bedroom, but two years before this picture, someone else came along. Guess who won that battle for the bedroom?

Many people dyed Easter eggs and ate candy. I hoped for a dozen Cadbury eggs but, luck on it. Others visited family. This picture is of me before leaving to visit my great-grandmother. I also found a photo of her last week, but it’s not scanned yet. That was an annual tradition for us.

Others attended church; for some, it’s one of their two days a year to attend. As a kid, I was mostly one of those. If you’re Jewish, you’re just now finishing Passover, and I’m not sure if it’s appropriate to say Happy Passover. If so, then Happy Passover.

These days, my faith is in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, which is essential for Christians. My favorite quote on faith is from an old Christmas movie, “Faith is believing in something when common sense tells you not to.” Remember, Faith + Nothing = Salvation, and keep in mind the words of Stuart Chase: “For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don’t believe, no proof is possible.”

I hope you had a good day with family and friends. My parents are gone, Dawn’s parents are gone, and almost everyone from my early life is gone. Getting married meant I went from one daughter to three and added a son. We brought in a couple of sons-in-law, have three grandchildren, and even a great-grandchild. Plus, I suspect some others are coming aboard later. And two cats.

That’s my family, and I love them all—well, not the cats when they puke, which I think they do on purpose.

Easter is a time for decorated eggs and candy. By now, the Easter Bunny’s work is done. I’ll participate in those things, including seeing two precious little kids who call me “Grandpa Lee” and talking to my daughter.

But Easter also reminds us of the greatest truth of the Gospel, as described in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4: “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”

By the way, please note that verse one says the gospel, not any gospel. To my knowledge, it is the only reference in the Bible to the gospel prefaced with the word “the.” I find it significant.

Through His death on the cross, Jesus bore the weight of all our sins, offering us forgiveness and redemption. His burial proves that He truly died, taking upon Himself the judgment we deserved. His resurrection promises eternal life for all who believe and accept the gift of salvation.

This is the Gospel, the good news we must believe to receive this gift of grace. It’s not about earning salvation through works but trusting in the finished work of Jesus. His blood washed away our sins, His death restored our relationship with God, and His resurrection assured us of victory over death and life everlasting.

As Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” So again, Salvation is not something we can earn through good deeds but is a free gift from God, made possible by Christ’s perfect sacrifice. It doesn’t mean good works won’t flow from it. I wrote previously about it James 2:17: “So too, faith by itself, if it does not produce works, is dead.”

Easter is more than a day; it’s the celebration of hope, renewal, and God’s unmatched love.

The first battle of the Revolutionary War, often referred to as the Battles of Lexington and Concord, marked the beginning of the American struggle for independence from British rule. On April 19, 1775, in the Massachusetts towns of Lexington and Concord, colonial militiamen clashed with British regulars in a confrontation that would ignite a revolution and alter the course of history.

What happened remains a point of contention. A shot rang out, the origin unknown. It would be known as “the shot heard ‘round the world” by poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. The British regulars opened fire. The militia, caught off guard, returned a few scattered shots. The skirmish lasted mere minutes. The causalities were light but its impact was the birth of a new nation that would one day be known as the United States of America.

A ragtag group of men would found the most powerful country in history. What followed was the Declaration of Independence a little over a year later. Later, what were known as the Articles of Confederation as the basis of a new government, later cast aside in favor of the Constitution of the United States. When asked what type of government had been put together, Benjamin Franklin declared, “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

Perhaps we have succeeded in preserving the legacy entrusted to us, or perhaps we’ve allowed the principles of liberty to gradually slip through our fingers, lost forever. It would be a fascinating experiment to test this, but unfortunately, we can only do so through speculation, as the true test is beyond our reach, but we can play.

Two hundred and fifty years later, imagine resurrecting the Founders of this nation for a single day to hear their thoughts on our present state. As they return to their graves, would they shake their heads in disappointment, or would they depart with a nod of approval, saying, “Well done”?

BAL124958 The Battle of Lexington, April 19th 1775, from ‘Connecticut Historical Collections’, by John Warner Barber, engraved by A. Doolittle, 1832 (coloured engraving) by American School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add. info.: beginning of US War of Independence; first engraved in 1775); American, out of copyright

Today marks the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride on April 18, 1775, a moment immortalized by Longfellow’s poem, which suggests Revere was warning that the British regulars were coming to fight. But that’s not the full, nor the correct, story. The British weren’t seeking a battle that night. So, like Paul Harvey used to say, here’s the rest and the truth of the story.

General Thomas Gage, the British military governor of Massachusetts, had intelligence that colonists were stockpiling munitions and military supplies in Concord. His mission was clear: confiscate the colonists’ guns and gunpowder to suppress their ability to resist. There was no Second Amendment then, but this event underscores why we have one now; the right to bear arms was born from the fear of government overreach.

Paul Revere’s mission was to protect the colonists’ private firearms from government seizure. That night, he rode to warn the militia and leaders like Samuel Adams and John Hancock, not shouting “the British are coming” as the poem claims; he was more discreet to avoid capture, but alerting them that British troops were on the move to disarm them. His warning set the stage for the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first clashes of the American Revolution.

Revere’s ride was a warning then, and it resonates 250 years later: the government sought to take citizens’ guns to control them. It didn’t work out for the British in 1775. They faced fierce resistance and ultimately lost the war.

Let’s not let history repeat itself in the other direction today. Protect the right to bear arms, as did the colonists.

I spent my life being told the dangers of looking at an eclipse unprotected, so I didn’t. Yesterday, my wife was going to watch it with the grandkids, so I researched the glasses.

I went to get a pair from a guy selling glasses from his truck, which had a table next to it. He handed me a pair, but I had the numbers written down. He was ready for me and read the numbers. All good, but one problem.

Me: These are 2015 glasses. They’re nine years old.

Him: I don’t know. 5 dollars.

Me: They’re nine years old. You get these for free and sell them for 5 bucks. You have quite a racket going here.

But I bought the glasses, went home, and warned my wife to be careful. I warned her the glasses were old. She reminded me that I said only the numbers mattered. I only bought one pair since I wasn’t going.

But after nine years, a scratch is enough, and after nine years, there had to be a problem. I kept talking to her, trying to convince her not to go. I told her she could be blind with a couple seconds of exposure.

A friend of mine came over. She handed him the glasses to try on. The guy has a head the size of a watermelon. Now, the glasses would fall off her head while watching the eclipse. I showed my wife pictures of people holding the sides of the glasses against their heads with their hands. I told her to make sure to do this to be safe.

When she left, I again instructed her to keep herself safe. I was going to stay home but decided to run an errand. I grabbed my cane—yes, I use a cane. It’s my Bat Masterson look.

We were in the path of totality. As I was driving, it was starting to get dark. I put my lights on, stopped the car, and glanced at the Sun. It looked hazy. When I got to the end of the back road, I stopped and looked again. The Sun was almost blocked, so I started driving again. Another mile, and I was where I needed to be. I looked up again. The Sun was blocked, and the corona circled it. My glances were all short.

When I returned from the store, the Sun was really bright. I looked up, but it was too bright. I got in my car and drove to Watermelon Head’s house—actually, one of the barns. I told him on the way over that I could see wavy lines in front of my eyes. I have a somewhat large floater, which was now still, and my eyes hurt slightly.

My wife called while I was there. I told her what I was experiencing with my eyes. She expressed disbelief after hearing what I had done after all of my yapping about the importance of the right glasses, but she showed no concern.

Me: I could go blind.

Her: We’ll get you a white cane.

Uproarious laughter from Watermelon Head.