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Hearing the Ache Coming from the Heart

December 2022.  Visited today with a home bound friend.  All in a tizzy over his encounter with women!  Heck, he isn’t telling me anything new – I am married!  Ha ha on both of us!  Sometimes we get so very worked up and serious we can no longer see beyond ourselves.   So in the middle of tonight I woke up!  Hey I am now legitimately “WOKE”:!   Oh man – trouble brews!

My mind was working over time of the lament of the day!  I was witness to and how we humans struggle with grasping our diverse perspectives while stumbling all over ourselves that prevents us from being able to communicate!  Part of the problem is we lack courage to ask and courage to criticize one another!  Fear Fear – How to without destroying a relationship!  Love one another is not an easy task!  Taking the necessary risk to try seems to be our Achilles heel!  Hello There!

Life’s journey through the bowels of Atlanta during the early HIV / AIDS days was the doorway to the discovery my spiritual ears and eyes were being trained.  It was that very uncomfortable place I traveled to be and sit in the presence of mostly young men who were pouring out their souls in the accelerator lane self debating themselves and the others present.  They were in a self grappling match with themselves, questioning life’s purpose and meaning filled with a deep lament in regard to the very serious life and death circumstances they found themselves.

Why am I here?  What can I do?

I myself am probably not yet fully aware of just why in the heck was I present their with them in the first place?  What qualifications did I have?  My only answer that makes sense is – “I was called and I answered the call”!  I didn’t know it at the time, but I had worked through the Air Traffic Strike of 1981.  11,000 controllers walked out that day.  PATCO was the union and had negotiated the first contract with the Federal Government and pretty much had gotten everything they had asked for!  Why Strike??  It was part of my preparation to listen and hear to human cries that rise up out of the soul!

A 3rd Party AFLCIO Hidden Agenda:

The AFLCIO had control of the Trucks and Ships!  Now if only they could control the airplanes they would have the Power to shut down the Nation’s transportation system.  Funny how this event had prepared my spiritual ears and eyes to see and hear!  Yes, this is the deadly sin hidden in the Garden Story in the Book of Genesis.  Yes hidden in the symbol of the tree!  Yes the tree that belongs to God holding the forbidden fruit!  Fruit natures lure of good taste and healthy food – yet hidden within lies “choice”, “free will” and the consequences = “death”!

Why did 11,000 Controllers Go On Strike?

That is the precise question I wanted an answer to!  Fortunately I was not alone!  A number of Leadership and Human Behavior courses were rapidly opened up and I was able to participate.  I used this training today December 2022!  Morris Massey’s video “You are who you were when” hit the nail on the head.  It takes a significant emotional event to open the doorway of the human heart and mind to begin to search and ask why am I upset?

  Thus the Beginning of Lament:

A short few years later I found myself in the bowels of the HIV / AIDS crises amidst genuine laments!  Why me!  Why I asked myself was the word “Lord” missing?  Another treasure missed – created in the image of God within -= ones soul!  The battle in the beginning continues today!  Within in this battle I was unknowingly being prepared oh so long ago to see and hear with spiritual eye and ears!

to be continued . . . . . . . . .

 

 

 

Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve:

December 25, 2022 – Merry Christmas!  Winter Solstice arrives once a year in each hemisphere.  Generally in the Northern Hemisphere the exact day is oh so very close to December 25.

Interesting is the reality in ancient times people realized the day light was getting shorter and shorter.  Thus natural worry the end of time might be coming.  Today we know it is a natural cycle of the earth rotating around the sun.  Winter Solstice is the day with least amount of light of day.  One could say the darkest / longest night.  In ancient times it became a pagan holiday or feast.  Seems the church understood pagan man and decided to to use December 25 as the birth day for Jesus Christ.  A light came into the world on the longest night – the Christmas Feast day was established and it captured the imagination of the people of the world.

Darkness and Light = Unspoken Language every human can interpret:

Wow – such a wonderful contrast between darkness and light!  Truth and the promised fulfillment of the old testament arrived during the darkest nights of the year!  And the story told how there was no room for the light in the inn!  Thus in a stable setting in natures home arrived the earthly vessel containing the spirit essential to communicating the message of hope, joy and celebration in the midst of the darkness!  A treasure was born quickly to be honored by the presence and symbolic gifts of three wise men who traveled afar following a star representing the hopes and dreams long ago recorded in humanities search for truth!

Born in Darkness Joy Escaped into the Light of Day:

Joy to the World – a Baby was born destined to communicate through suffering a most profound message hidden within His human body which passed the most powerful unspoken message to man = Hope!

Hope:

Speaking with no Ears:

Have we have lost the ability to talk and listen to one another. It is a break down of the spiritual family! We have surrendered and become obtuse and ours brains unable to consider the really real beyond ourselves! Selfie dominates family – individual pleasure cancels community!

The Best Teachers:

The primary teacher of Truth is failing due to a lack of courage to proclaim Gospel principles- the Good News is really really hard and provides a mirror the pleasure world rejects! Happy talk is not the Gospel! Reading a sermon that puts young people to sleep while explaining to the old folks what they already know misses the mark! Technocratic preaching about perfection misses the mark when Christ came to lead the sinner to walk while still imperfect to begin learning to listen and speak about the hope hidden in the good news to the younger generation! In the Beginning who was the building block of humanity?

Hurt – Necessary Stumbling to Open Ones Mind:

Conversion is a journey that takes years while one stumbles all over themselves often for years. One of the road blocks to the human heart is the serious lack of understanding life is sacred – yes the unborn can be detected crying out in the intense anger coming from young people abandoned by family and community and in our modern society. Does my life matter is the cry! The young people’s spirit long ago detected respect for life is a facade! The spirits of the black men whose lives have been snuffed out are crying out adding to the long standing sustained cry no one hears!

For years Modern man has lacked the ability and worse the will to listen with spiritual ears! Selfie self rules as we have long been sacrificing the unborn, broken families, created orphan after orphan of divorce, and surrendered to pleasure and profit that wastes the potential of our young as they fry their brains with marijuana and other drugs as the wealthy prosper! We are human not God! We are eating our own young and sacrificing many on the selfie altar.

Smart Phone Technology Replaces the Soul:

A phone has replaced God and humans! Our politicians have failed us especially those who have attained and sustained the highest level of selfie self rule for ages and ages!Corruption to maintain power is destructive! Even many Church leaders have failed us as well as they focus on obtaining a higher stipend and building play and entertainment mansions while compromising the meaning of the cross!

One Flesh the Building Block of Civilization:

The building block of civilization, a nation and the church are all built from the same rock as in the beginning! One flesh, the best and most effective teachers = marriage –> father + mother, male + female have been aborted at the altar of the new Selfie god which is unable to procreate any new life.

Who I ask – above all – should be leading humanity back to the only Truth that can set humanity Free and restore the sacredness of life while opening the door simultaneously to release Hope from the chains and darkness of the modern culture of death that has wrapped it’s arms around the world?

Prayer – the Door Opener:

St. Joseph foster father pray for us! Mary mother of God open our ears! Holy Spirit send us courage to penetrate the hardness of our human heart! Jesus son of God help us understand we know not what we do! Help us do what you did! Forgive as you forgave – We indeed are a stiff necked people!

Cars Can Fly: Life Hanging in Balance Stop Help

Exodus 17: 8-13 In those days, Amalek came and waged war against Israel. Moses had climbed to the top of the hill with Aaron and Hur. As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight, but when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight. Moses’hands, however, grew tired

I met a man in Home Depot who said have we met before? At an accident. Yes I was at an accident two years ago.

I was driving up a hill when a car coming the opposite direction went airborne perfectly vertical, came back to earth hitting the ground with the rear bumper nose pointed perfectly straight up. Due to the speed the car was traveling it then flipped three times as it crossed the road in front of me into a yard. I knew instantly the driver was in real trouble. I pulled to the side, got out, ran to the vehicle and tried to open the door. It would not open – probably jammed.

Another person ran to the other side and was able to open the river side door. I hurried around to help. It was this man, a retired fir fighter. He knew what we needed to do! The driver was a young woman and she was not breathing. We needed to move her so her breathing passageway would open. He climbed to her side of the car where he was able to have a little leverage to to lift her body so she could be moved. I held her head, in case her neck was injured and so her breathing would not be restricted. Another person climbed into the back seat and together we gradually moved her so her head and shoulders rested on the driver seat. Still she was not breathing.

I did the only thing I knew how. Our Father who art in Heaven, a gurgling sound came from her throat as some blood leaked out. Finally, at least she was breathing very irregularly. I was knelling on the ground and holding her head as the breathing became more and more regular. The fireman called for help and recognized she needed a life flight to a hospital that could handle her injuries.

Soon my arms began to become weary as the position I was in as well as the stress of moving her while managing to keep her head stable was beginning to take a tole.

And then a policeman wanted to arrest the man who saved this woman’s life because he left his vehicle in the road! Which come first? Life or Authority?

The Need for the Unspoken Word:

I am an Old man on the mend! Took on task of replacing floor boards on 18’ trailer. Lots twisting, pulling, lifting and wiggles to get those boards free. Leaped up on the trailer to find the bolts still holding! Old man twisted left leg – oh oh! Pain overtook the day – kneeling and praying Lord have mercy on this old man who hasn’t bought into = on sneaky aging! Now what am I gonna do???

Can’t put weight on that leg and in the middle of part done mess! Well one advantage an old man has – is go slow – think every movement through – go slow – don’t be in a hurry – got all day – we can do this!

Memory of an Old Man who did What by himself?:

It helped that I remembered my dad move a double garage all by himself and connected it to his house in his sixties! Leverage is an old man’s friend – just need to think how to use it. Lean on stuff to ease the weight – got the lose boards off so I could drive home and begin “RICE”.

Sitting in my chair, watching TV, leg lifted with Ice under knee, blanket on so I don’t freeze haha! Picked up knee compact will put it on after minimum 30 minutes On ice! Was able to almost walk normally late yesterday! Just have to remember I am old and go slow giving my body time to heal! And give thanks for what my dad taught me without ever saying a word! You can move mountains if you open your mind avoiding those who seek to lock you up in doubt and dependence!

What a way to start the New Year!
Ham pulled, PCL strained, aches and pains smothered by hope the Good Lord already gave me what I need to continue this adventure another day and eventually get those new trailer boards installed!

Thanks to my dad who suffered with early Parkinson’s – I have a vision to sustain hope even when I am down!

No politician can do this for me! Yep, thanks dad! I still remember him climbing the steps to St. Joe Church in Mishawaka, Indiana – there was something at the top of those steps worth every single step!

So I ask? – who gave you a treasure without speaking a word?

Happy new Year – Hope is birthed again! May the one and only God Bless You!

Evil Hides in Darkness and Seeks to Surround

Darkness slowly creep-ed up upon me and wrapped it’s arms around me and began pressing in from every angle as it long sought to squeeze the light from my soul. Evil and sin are spreading their wings across the land to test the soul of a nation.

The lord gave me a gift I could have not received except by walking through the valley of darkness hidden in the bowels of human passions. A gift I never asked for , prayed for, dreamed of or sought. I was sent to stand as a witness to the self destruction humanity unwittingly set free. The”HIV” crises of the late 1980’s and 90 is alive and as well today as then. I was sent into prison to encounter the anger of young un-churched men who could not articulate the reason for their anger. Could it be the love of a father for his son? Does anyone see what I see in the darkness that seeks to blind me? Anger permeates the air!

Why I cry out?!? And a whimper of a voice thought unheard speaks To the soul of man. We live in this modern society of where humans are routinely thrown away just like things. The darkness has managed to turn a mother’s womb into a battleground where death is more and more often the victor. The unborn are throw away humans and worse. The unborn are for the Rick nothing more than pieces parts. The soul is tossed into the darkness and every human that survives eventually sees what takes place in the darkness. Life is no longer a right or sacred! Where is my father and mother asks every child? The question is planted in the soul of every human creature. But darkness seeks to extinguish the question that seeks to find the light of truth. The father has no voice says the law. We have rendered him tossed out. Of the two it takes to make one – the father does not exist. Just ask almost any young inmate if he knows his father?

I look all about the land for a leader with the courage to speak with eyes undefeated by the darkness. Is there anyone I wonder with an ember of fire in the furnace of the soul who has been prepared for this day and this battle as humanity seeks to replace God with himself?Man must render himself deaf and blind to the cries of men being tossed about in the wind of selfish pleasure which seeks to make them unaware of the darkness closing in!

How deep into the darkness must I pass before the promised one wraps his arms around me and tells me – son a long time ago I paid the price for every man and opened the doorway that passes from darkness to the light?

Thank god for the blessings of all those human creatures who walk with us through the darkness, especially children who depend upon our ability to see through the darkness and those who help us find the light!

Lesson Learned from Air Traffic Strike of 1981

When an ATC Facility has too many controllers, the safety of the flying public requires the extra controller be released to the break room or close proximity.

Controllers who do not have enough work (airplane demand) have a lot of energy to to burn.  They will begin to find things to do and can not nor should be supervised every moment.   Unfortunately people tend to focus on negative impacts and the number of complaints increases.  Give a controller the right number of airplanes to work (that challenges one ability) one has a very happy controller.

Reduce the volume of airplanes and controllers begin to discuss many topics all of which begin to create nuisance interference for those controllers who are supposed to be working aircraft.

Hence systems error evaluations concluded get those extra people out the control room and the level of safety is enhanced.

Problem is what does an organization do with those extra bodies since management positions are limited to the control room?  Union organizations found this time very beneficial to creating dissatisfaction with the work and the work environment.

Two things are infectious – a position outlook and a negative outlook – which do you prefer?

On August 3rd 1981 11,000 air traffic controllers went on strike and we discovered we had too many and the focus turned to a negative outlook!

 

 

To the Heart of the Matter — Whats Really Important

Early in the morning on October 21, 2011, feeling perfectly fine I entered Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta.  I must be crazy I thought – I am volunteering and freely submitting myself to Open Heart Surgery – to make matters (really better but seemingly crazy) worse I felt good like nothing is wrong – yet instinctively I knew the tests the doctors ran in late September were accurate and true!  I had a serious and deteriorating heart condition known as stenosis of the aortic valve along with an aorta aneurysm.  Doing nothing would mean a slow and almost certain deteriotion of my heart from which it could not recover!

(Stenosis = calcium deposits on the aortic value causing the valves to harden and narrow – thus creating an inability to close resulting in regurgitation – blood flowing backwards in the heart.  The regurgitation causes the aorta artery at the top of the heart to compensate for the narrowing stream and widen into an aneurysm).

On October 21, 2011 life started all over again with a new adventure to be reveled in time!

So I decided to ask each nurse and doctor as I encountered them what they wanted me to pray for while I submitted to their care.  Most had to ask a second time- what are you asking?  Guess not many patients ask nurses and doctors to pray for their intentions since the patients are usually fearful, nervous and jerky themselves.  And they are the ones placing their trust and submitting to the skill and talents of those whose hands their life rests.

Say What? Are you wanting to pray for – for me?

So let me ask – what is it this day that you like me to pray for you?

Being put to sleep was easy – it was waking up reality that creates the passage into the struggle of the life among the living.  The first thing I asked my nurse was – what would like me to pray for for you?  Say that again!  In ICU the first nurse answered “Health”.

The First Great Gift!

The really great gifts are always right in front of our noses – often too close to see with our eyes.  In ICU it was = Ice – “Oh Lord Have Mercy on me” send ice the most wonderful gift from God.  The critical care ICU RN’s could make a fortune selling ice to patients!  The breath of God passed over the waters – the well spring of all life!!!”  Ice is just water with the capacity to revive dry parched flesh.

The breath of God passed through a life sustaining breathing tube.  Unfortunately this tube causes one to suffer with a sore dry throat once removed.  Lord have Mercy!

To Be Continued …………………

 

It’s Time — Restore the Married Priesthood

The Family and The Father Under Attack

Just watched another TV commercial that included a man and a woman.  As seems to have become the norm, the man was depicted as an idiot and the woman the smart single working decision maker.  Such commercials continue to support the secular progressive humanism objective to destroy and replace God.

In order to achieve this goal, long ago the secular progressives began a concentrated movement (political correctness) to gain power and control by destroying their greatest threat.  That threat is the “Truth” which is communicated through an openness to a power greater than humans which judges all thoughts and actions.  Now this power can best be described as a Creator God, the Spirit of God, the Lord God Almighty, the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ the Son of God.

Therefore all religions must be undermined and minimized.  The secular progressive movement was underway before the day I was born back in 1943.  When I was in high school the movement had begun to make significant progress.  Prayer in school was being outlawed.  Abortion of the unborn became the law of the land.  The stage had been set to launch a subtle and stealthy attack to continue the attack to minimize and destroy God.

The Fundamental Most Basic Church = Family

The chosen path of destruction was to undermine the teaching arm of God, the church.  Television provided the first avenue to attack the social fabric of the most basic church, the family unit consisting of a mother and a father.  Now from antiguity, the most universal symbol of God and Christianity is the male and father of the family.  The concept of the First Born Son was another.  The Church which represents the Father another.

Universally accepted = The Father as Symbol as Head of the Church

The most visible symbols of God in the world are the “Holy Father – the Pope of the Roman catholic Church.  The Catholic Church (Universal), which can clearly claim the longest history of the Christian Church’s.  Destroy the Catholic Church and the remaining Christian Church’s will fall along side Her.  Any misstep by or within the Catholic Church is immediately magnified and disseminated world wide.  The Roman Catholic Church operates under a microscope being monitored 24/7 by the Secular Progressive Humanism cult.

I do not make excuses for the lack of character, failure of leadership or sinfulness that has occurred in the Roman Catholic Church.  Yet it is true (the truth will set you free), the sinfulness that has occurred in the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church pails in comparison to the rest of society with which it must live.

The Church is Built Upon Living Stones = Humans

The leadership of the Roman Catholic Church is susceptible to human failure to temptation and sin no differently than the rest of humanity.  The difference is the living saints within the Church throughout it’s history have called their leadership back to the Truth, The Way and the Life of their model Jesus Christ.  It is in recognizing continual need of Spiritual Renewal and Purification that the Roman Catholic Church is reborn and continues as the oldest Christian religion.

Now the Roam Catholic Church teaches the “Family” is the sacred building block upon which the Universal Church is built.  Every religious leader come from an physical intimate relation between a man and a woman.  It is the woman whose faithfulness is necessary for a man to be sure the child born from this relationship is his legitimate child.  Hence, the concept of the First Born Son has been recognized by humanity fro the beginning.

As such, it became obvious to the secular progressive humanist, the method of successful attack would follow the example as described in the Book of Genesis as originally in the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Adam symbolized the first man who was mislead by the first woman.  The question was, how can this scenario be replayed in the world over the 60+ years?  Television offered the perfect method of invasion into the inner fabric of the Family.

Separate the father and the Mother leaving the children at home to be inculturated by those who produce television.  In the early days of television programming the family was portrayed closely in line with the traditional ideals and values of Christianity.  Every great advancement includes the potential for good and evil and television was no exception.

Unfortunately, society placed their trust in people who lived outside the family and home.  Moms and dads began to desire stuff.  What used to be a considered luxury was now becoming an expectation and in 2011 is considered a right.

The Secular Progressive Humanism Subtle and stealth attack has come a long way.  Perhaps it can best be observed in the black communities where the basic family unit has been rocked with division and denial.  There exists more black on black crime, drug usage, school drop outs and rape than any other community.  The secular progressive blame outside society rather than help the black comunity look in the mirror of truth.  This is just another tactic to divide by moving ones focus from Christian Judeo values to secular humanistic values driven by the lust for power and control which is most threatened by a heathy family unit consisting of a mother and father committed to the family unit as church.

So how do we begin to turn the Ship Around?

Every year professional Baseball has spring training for the purposes of practicing and re emphasizing the basic principles of the game.

Getting back to the basics is the answer.  The basic include communicating the basic principle of church which was founded upon the family as the building block for the larger church.  The original Christian Church founded by Jesus Christ was constructed beginning with married men and the celebration of church in the homes of believers.

We left that model years ago and the organized Catholic church is losing members in record numbers.  Worse the Catholic Church finds itself with a major stumbling block to the original model.  It is named “Celibacy”.  Celibacy is a charism and a valued principle.  But Celibacy does not and should not define the Roman Catholic Church.  Celibacy was a concept that arose from a human and family dilemma over who owned church property.

Looking through the lens of 2011 one could say with Celibacy the church won one battle and is now losing the building blocks of the family.  Which is more critical to the Roman catholic Church?

I think the Holy Spirit is calling the Roman Catholic Church to restore the married priesthood so as to speak most powerfully the importance of the living stone building block foundation of the Church.  This is a prime example of actions speaking louder than any words that could be spoken.  Such action would simultaneously address multiple social and religious ills very much alive in the world of 2011.

 

 

 

 

22nd Sunday Ordinary Time August 28, 2011

August 28, 2011  22nd Sunday Ordinary Time

The job of the Christian is to overcome evil with good.  In 2011 recognizing evil has become much more difficult.  The evil of untruth is routinely propagated and camouflaged within a language context which may contain some truth, but is designed to avoid the real truth in the hopes of escaping being recognized as an outright lie.  Tell an untruth enough times and the untruth may be accepted by some as the truth.  We Christians are called to reshape culture rather than submit to culture.

In the gospel we hear Mathew tells us Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.

Were you paying attention?  Let’s see!  How did Jesus tell them?

One day, while I reading a book, my 3 year old grand daughter told me she had learned the Lord’s prayer.  She asked, do you want to hear it?  I said sure, as I continued to read.  My grand daughter asked again, do you want to listen to me Paw Paw?  Sure I said, go ahead I am listening!  No Paw Paw, I want you to listen to me with your eyes.

Jesus was teaching his disciples to listen with more than their eyes so they could learn to discern the truth – listening with one eyes is the secret to discerning the truth hidden within behavior – does it match the spoken word.

It is very very difficult not to conform to the wonder and image of this age!  The technological advances in our world has lead people to work overtime creating pleasing language and visual images designed to support an agenda rather than address truth.  Should we look closely at behavior, we often discover ones behavior does not support the images and the words spoken.  The truth is always the truth.  A lie surrounded with words we want to hear is still always is a lie.

We cannot separate Jesus from the Cross.  The way Jesus taught was through the example he set for his disciples!  Jesus knew he must walk the walk for the lessons to be heard with the eye and thus understood.  When one lives the truth one may have to suffer.

The Catechism teaches in the process of conversion; one must recognize the Lord exists, one must suffer and then become converted.  We don’t get to skip the suffering.  Listen – suffer!

Oh Lord – set me on your knee.  Oh Lord won’t you set me on your knee.
Though I scared, tired and worn, it’s on your knee that I’m reborn.
Oh Lord set me on your knee.
On your knee is where the stories are told, that give me courage and make me bold.  Oh Lord won’t you set me on your knee.
From your knee I can clearly see you are the only source of truth that sets me free.  Oh Lord set me on your knee.

To be discouraged and yet find beauty in the fire of the spirit buried within suffering, trial and discouragement, paints the picture of one who accepts a prophetic call.  The Lord calls each of us by name to transform the world.  His call causes us to search our hearts to the bone for the truth.

Are we content where we stand?  Are we who we want to be?  Are we communicating the truth in how we act and speak?  Are we thirsting for answers that bring us joy?

In the reading from Jeremiah, we hear the prophet Jeremiah loudly lamenting his situation in life.  Jeremiah was in the midst of an internal crises.  We hear him complaining bitterly about being duped by the Lord.  All of his prophetic skills and talents at this point had been used only to root out and tear down.   Jeremiah had become a prophet of doom.  Can’t you hear Jeremiah asking the lord, “When Lord, do I get to play the part of the good guy prophet?”   Perhaps Jeremiah was a little incredulous himself.  When do I get to rejoice in the pride of my prophetic calling?  When do I get to be recognized and accepted as the good guy by the people around me?

This pericope from Jeremiah is a passionate soliloquy.  It’s as if Jeremiah is being goaded by the despair of his day.  Though Jeremiah is lamenting, he admits that God’s word is like a consuming fire rising in his bones.  This disclosure speaks to us about the nature of inspiration that merges from within the discouragement and hardship of the prophetic calling.  Hope!

If we listen to Jeremiahs passionate lament with only our ears, we might miss seeing the spiritual results of the fire burning in his my heart, imprisoned in his bones; escaping as he grows weary holding it in, for he cannot hold it in.

Dear God, so far today I’ve done all right.  I haven’t gossiped, I haven’t lost my temper.  I haven’t lied or cheated.  I haven’t been grumpy, greedy, nasty, selfish or over indulgent.  I am thankful for that indeed.  In a few moments Lord,  I’m going to get out of bed.  From then on, I’ll need your help.