WHAT'S NEXT?

I've been struggling with that question for a while now.  What is next?  Different things make me think of it.  Of course, it's a wonder.  I wonder. You wonder. Everyone wonders.  How will it be when the life we have is finished?  

No!  I don't know and I'm not going to try to convince you of anything very much.  A person's idea of the afterlife is effected by what they have been taught - directly or indirectly.  Some people don't think about it.  Some don't believe in it at all.  Some think of heaven as a special place in their own mind's eye.  

I believe in God.  I believe in Jesus Christ and that he is God, the son of God.  If you do as well, check out in your Bible the first letter Paul sent to the people of Corinth not long after Jesus died.  In the 15th chapter of that letter, verses 35-49, he explains that we are fools if we think we will have human bodies in the afterlife.  We will have a heavenly body; a spiritual body.  It won't look like our human body.  We won't have human needs.  Our heavenly body will be different but distinct. 

Paul also references Jesus' parable about the seeds.   A farmer spreads seeds; some on the pathway, some in rocky ground, some in weedy ground and others in good earth.  They have varying success.  This time, going back and reading this parable, I think - not of the good things I can do as the farmer but that God is the farmer and we are the seeds.  We are seeds all our lives.  Seeds do not become all they can be without dying.  It is in death that seeds sprout into a plant.  It is in death that we can become all we can be.  Like the farmer, only God  knows what we will become; what we will look like and what abilities we will have.  

We must live as Jesus taught us to live.  We will become what God wanted us to be.  

IRISH AMERICANS

 This is dedicated to lesser known Irish Americans.  Everyone is aware of John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie (her mother was from County Clare).  Sure Ronald Regan was Irish as was Maureen O'Hara and Bruce Springsteen has a bit of the "green" in his heritage.  Walt Disney's father was Anglo-Irish.  Bareknuckle boxing champion, John L. Sullivan's parents were both Irish immigrants.  Henry Ford's father was born in County Cork.  Both of Eugene O'Neill's parents were Irish immigrants.  Of course, you know that he won the Nobel Prize for literature and also his plays won four Pulitzer Prizes for drama.

Have you heard of Nellie Bly?

Nellie Bly was the pen-name of Elizabeth Jane Seaman.  She was the thirteenth daughter of Michael Corchran, the son of Irish immagrants from County Londonderry.  Her mother was Mary Jane Kennedy. 

Nelly was a fearless female journalist of the late 19th and early 20th century.  She was the first of immersion (some called it stunt) journalists.  She got herself put into a mental hospital to write about the abuses there.  She traveled around the world in 72 days to prove Jules Verne's 80 days was no big deal.  She wrote books and worked regularly as a newspaper reporter.

Nelly is in the National Women's Hall of Fame. Her face was placed on a U.S. postage stamp. The New York Press Club confers a Nelly Bly award each year to cub reporters and the Museum of Political Corruption gives a Nelly Bly award to an investigative journalist annually.  

Nelly is an Irish American worthy of pride. 

SECOND OF A SERIES

SUNDAY

In the Genesis story, the 7th day (Sunday) is the day God rested.  Here is the translation I have:  "And so the whole universe was completed.  By the seventh day, God finished what he had been doing and stopped working.  He blessed the seventh day and set it apart as a special day, because by that day he had completed his creation and stopped working.  And that is how the universe was created."   

Strange isn't it?  Those who believe in God know that he didn't need to rest.  So, why is it written that way?  It has to be a lesson; an instruction for us.  

You can take what you want from it.  Find your own answer.  I choose to set Sunday aside; to make it special at least in my own small way.  

"Let it be, Let it be. Let it be. Let it be. There will be an answer, Let it be."  

GOLF

 A major golf tournament is being played this weekend.  It started on Thursday and will end Sunday.  It's called "The Open" by the golf world but most Americans refer to it as the British Open.  

In the United Kingdom, sports betting is legal.  There are literally dozens of odds makers and places to bet.  Here are the odds as listed by PaddyPower (I liked the name!) before the tournament started.  

Scottie Scheffler 8-1    USA

Rory McIlroy 8-1   N.Ireland

Tommy Fleetwood  14-1  England

Matt Fitzpatrick 14-1    England

Jon Rahm 22-1    Spain

Xander Schauffele 25-1    USA

Wyndam Clark 30-1    USA

Robert MacIntyre 28-1    Scotland

Tyrrell Hatton 28-1    England

Ludvig Aberg 30-1    Norway

How are they looking today?  Scottie won last year.  This year the location is Royal Birkdale in England.  At this course, they have most often crowned first-time winners.  156 golfers started the tournament.  It would be a good bet that the winner is not listed above.  Then again, ...

FUN & GAMES

 Today I'm working on my writing skills so you can work on your reading skills.  Peruse my new sentence aloud.  If you're not alone, be prepared for someone to think you've lost your marbles.

"Down in the smelly storm sewer, a slew of short shirt sewers, a sinister suer and a slow seed sower slogged through the soggy slough and sought shelter from the suede shoed pursuer."

euw 😖

STATS

 We all know that statistics lie - sometimes!  But, here's one that struck me.  This question was put to a large number of people with various answers:  "How many more people will watch the World Cup Final match this Summer than will watch the Super Bowl?"  

Of course, you would expect the answer would be a large number.  Wouldn't you?  Maybe, 100,000 more!  Maybe 500,000!  Maybe a million!  How about 100 million!?  

Not even close.  The correct answer is 

1.3 billion.  That's over a thousand million.  Golly!  What must the cost of an ad be?

MIDWEEK PRAYER

Today I am inclined to pray for couples.  It is plain to see that God intended people to live as pairs - couples.  He gave us the instinct, the drive to be paired with another.  It's not necessarily an easy thing for some people to find that pair.  Maybe, pairing is not for everyone; I don't know.  But, I was driven as most people are.  

No two people are exactly alike - many feel that it is opposites that attract.  I'm not sure about that either.  In any case, I am sure that couples need our prayers.  Couples that are "permanently" paired and couples about to be paired and people looking for that special one.  It's not always easy.  

May they find mutual love and respect and build a relationship that will last a lifetime.  Total agreement is not necessary but common goals and dreams are.  People cannot be afraid to love and that includes honest communication.  It is a life-changing decision - finding a partner.  They all need our prayers.

Dear Lord,

I pray for the couples I know 

and those I will come to know.

            

You are love and have taught us to love. 

Love puts another first.  

True love is unconditional. 

 

Help these couples 

to see - with each other's eyes,

 to listen to each other thoughtfully, 

to react with compassion and understanding,

to always treat each other with consideration and respect.  

Amen

GAMES

 Here's a game I play once in a while - maybe you do too.  I type my name in my computer's search engine and see what come up.  I'm lucky because I have a rather uncommon name.  This wouldn't work for a Smith or a Jones unless you have a very special first name and use your middle initial.  In any case, I can amuse myself for hours reading about people with the same name as me and reading about what the world thinks they know about me.  Try it some time when you are bored.  It's better than the TV.

IRISH AMERICANS

 This is dedicated to lesser known Irish Americans.  Everyone is aware of John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie (her mother was from County Clare).  Sure Ronald Regan was Irish as was Maureen O'Hara and Bruce Springsteen has a bit of the "green" in his heritage.  Walt Disney's father was Anglo-Irish.  Bareknuckle boxing champion, John L. Sullivan's parents were both Irish immigrants.  Henry Ford's father was born in County Cork.  Both of Eugene O'Neill's parents were Irish immigrants.  Of course, you know that he won the Nobel Prize for literature and also his plays won four Pulitzer Prizes for drama.  

Now, a little more obscure but no less notable. 

Eileen Marie Collins, her father from Conty Cork, was a USAF Colonel; the first female to command a mission and pilot the Space Shuttle for NASA.  

FIRST OF A SERIES

MONEY

It was widely reported that Elon Musk became the world's first trillionaire when shares in SpaceX were offered for sale to the public a few weeks ago.  Did you know that over 4,000 of his employees became instant millionaires?  Good deal!

ON THE OTHER HAND!

At the turn of the century, the people who worked for a company called ENRON were flying high.  Most of the energy company's workers were invested in the company.  In 2001, it was disclosed that through illegal accounting practices and fraud by top management - they were really broke.  They filed for bankruptcy.  Many people went broke along with the company while others went to jail. Bad deal!  

Invest your money in something really valuable - like me.  :)

 

ENERGY

 Energy is an interesting concept.  Everyone knows what it means but it is difficult to describe.  I'd say it is a quality of someone or something that produces power or other action.  Without it, there is little action.  With it, things happen.  

 Energy can be mental, physical, electrical or atomic.  It can be found in individuals and groups.  I read a story recently that recounted that the musical group KISS recorded a song they were sure would be a hit in 1975 and it never quite made it.  It was a dud - the studio thought.  Months later, they recorded it again - not in a studio, but live...with an audience.  The live version of "I Wanna Rock and Roll All Night" was full of the energy of the audience and made them rich and famous.

Energy is important.  That laid-back version of yourself may help you live longer but it will not take you to the top.  Leaders must have energy.  Whatever you do must be done with energy.  So, put a smile on your face and look alive.  Exude that energy.  Others will feel it and latch onto it.  Do it with ENERGY. 

MIDWEEK PRAYER

Dear Lord,

I know there are people who suffer from hunger,

I know there are people who suffer from thirst,

I know there are people who suffer without a home,

I know there are people who suffer from loneliness,

I know there are people who suffer with sickness,

I know that all people are my brothers.  

Help me and lead me to help all of my brothers.

Amen

 

DOH

Some things seem so simple when you know them but you can't figure out why you didn't understand them sooner.  \

For instance:  

One of my favorite movies is Casablanca. 

One of the most common words in French, Spanish and Portuguese is "casa" which means "house".

I live on a street named "LeBlanc" which I came to know years ago was taken from the French, Spanish or Portuguese meaning "white".  

Casablanca, the movie and largest city in Morocco, is named "white house". 

Why didn't I pick up on this a long time ago?

LIVIN' LARGE

We find ourselves in the second half of 2026.  Let's all make it better than the first.  Only problem with that is "I can't imagine anything better."  What a great time it is in which we live.   Can it really get any better?  Living in America.  Land of opportunity. 

LUCKY ME!