All right so I don't know why I always start off with a little chuckle but you know um I'm that's kind of the just what it is the way I am where I guess it's because I feel kind of a little self-conscious a little um you know who the heck am I to be doing all this talking or whatever I'm not quite sure or maybe it's just a nervous reaction uh Lauren told me that that Wes when he gets nervous he yawns which is very interesting and when I you know deal with a person or a place or a new project like I'm doing I tend to laughor smile so that's the way I am and that's what I'm doing and so maybe I'll even cut this part out but I just have a lot of thoughts in my mind this morning and a lot of I did have a sense of fear and concern I ended up selling some stock because I'm I'm concerned about our economic future and I just want to make sure that I'm secure for the next few years and I think that's kind of the irony of this whole thing is that I'm only really thinking about the next few years you know whoever it was uh Benjamin Franklin whoever saidthe only two things you can count on are death and taxes well I pay my taxes every year and I haven't died yet but I know that's in the offing and I want to I want to laugh at that I want to look forward to that in a positive way that doesn't mean I want to die today or tomorrow in fact I'm going to go get my measles shot and any other shots I can get because I want to preserve my health as best I can but the inevitability of death is something that I'm much more aware of now and much more aware of in a kind of a positive way I'mgoing to go to heaven I know that I have secure a a sense of security belief about that I believe that's where Mom and Dad are I believe that's where Tess is and you know when I join them uh I I don't know that we're going to have any kind of a big reunion party but I think that I will be with them in spirit and in eternity of uh of Eternal peace and that's why and how I'm going to you know think of it and perceive it and kind of of embrace it and along those ways though I'm thinking about life on Earth and who and how we shouldgo our way and so you know ironically I'm going to be quoting and working with the words of Jesus who I believe is the truth the light in the way and I'm going to start with this quote of John 145 Thomas said to him the Lord uh Lord we know not whether we goest and or thou goest and how can we know the way and Jesus said unto him I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the father but by me okay now you know I'm not going to pretend to be a Biblical scholar or anything else what I am thinking andwhat I am feeling by what Jesus said was he as the cliche goes walked the walk and talked the talk or vice versa he lived a pure simple and loving life a humble life he was King of Kings Lord of lords the fuss that's been made over him over these last few centuries you know I'm sure he would be amazed by it but the point of it is he did try to show us the way and I tried to abide by that as much as possible and so the phrase that I was thinking about this morning when I started this was uh Matthew22:39 and the second is like unto it Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself love thy neighbor as thyself now I don't think that that could be any simpler a phrase it it didn't you know he didn't go into paragraphs of explanations he often Ed Parables to explain his his words of of wisdom but in this case he's just saying love your neighbor as you would love yourself which goes right along with his other Golden Rule of do unto others as you would have them do unto you and I'll read that as well but I decided I wouldgo with these three verses in today's rant ramble because they're so closely uh associated Jesus was not saying follow me into a you know into Victory and battle unless you were going to think of it as a battle against you know even even using the word sin a battle against the the baser instincts of mankind he was saying rise above that love thy neighbor as thyself do unto others as you would have them do unto you and you know the other you know one of the others was turn the other cheek everything he said was consistent withlove love and compassion for others he felt like this is the way people should live and this is how they could best follow him and as another quote here therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you do ye even so to them for this is the law of the prophets and what did he say down here and and the King shall answer and say unto them verily I say unto you in as much as you have done it to one of the least of these my brother then ye have done it to me now I'm stumbling over these words and I'mnot going to edit and make a big stink about it the point of it is he said however you treat the least of these is how you're treating me he didn't say go around and kiss the feet of rich and wealthy and mean-spirited people he said said however you treat the least of these is how you're treating me well do we ever think about that when we're being mean to other people or other you know less fortunate people than we so I'm I'm not going to answer those questions I'm raising those questions because I thinkwe can all answer them and I you know I'm no Mother Teresa I I am no Mother Teresa or father padre or whatever I'm just trying to be decent and trying to follow the examples given by Jesus and you know like he said something along the line at some point these are simple they're not necessarily easy but they are simple and I love that There Were Ten Commandments there weren't volumes upon volumes of legal books based on legal wranglings and so forth It's not to say what we have today in the legal system is wrong it's justthat if you go back to the 10 Commandments they pretty well cover it so I'll be doing stories about that thoughts about that but right now I'm saying love thy neighbor as thyself and who is your neighbor is it your next door neighbor is that what he's talking about oh you know hey I'm going to sit home here and you know I'm G to be nice to my neighbor you know my my dad's name is Joseph his name is Henry I'm gonna be nice to Henry and that's that's as far as I'm going to go no no Jesus walked the path through thelands that he lived in preaching the gospels because he believed in the spirit of caring for others he was a humanitarian yes he was a humanitarian he wasn't saying you know uh so you know knock yourselves out and whoever wins is you know going to join me in heaven no he repeatedly said that the meek shall inherit the earth that you know the peace peacemakers will be next to God and love thy neighbor as thyself and treat the least of these with respect and so that's kind of what I'm trying to say I am in no position rightnow to give too much to others because I'm concerned about taking care of myself and I know as I say that that I am far better off than so many other people and I appreciate that and I'll continue to be as nice as I can be and supportive as I can be but right now the circumstances are making me feel fearful and insecure so I'm kind of you know clinging to what I have what I do want to do my bucket list is to love thy neighbor to love my daughter as myself to love my grandchildren as myself to love myson-in-law Sam as myself I am so happy so fulfilled or whatever the words are that my daughter married such a wonderful man there are so many kids out there young people who you know run into trouble with their spouses and maybe they fall in love with you know passionately early on but then they find out it ain't that you know it's not a Bed of Roses or whatever and um you know they just married the wrong person and if that happens that happens I'm not judging them but I'm saying thank God Lauren doesn't seem to be uh in thatboat they seem to really truly love each other and do the right things and take care of their kids and all the right stuff so and they treat me with kindness and respect and I couldn't ask for any more than that so all I want to do is reciprocate and be close to them in these next few years spend a little time visiting I just bought a couple of bird houses I was thinking that'd be a great project to do with Wes and Nolan so this is what I'm doing this is my bucket list to be closer to Lauren and Sam and westand noan and to also pay respect and love to my friends who have been so loving and supportive to me and so I've said enough I want to keep these things under 10 minutes love thy neighbor as thyself
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