Well said, Mark. That is most definitely the foundation of it all. We are presented with so many distractions these days it is difficult to maintain our focus, which should be on Christ. The balancing act comes in trying to remain functional in the world without cheating our faith, and our commitment to Christ. This is written by a less than beginner who probably just needs to hear it again himself.

Be happy and careful

Want vs. need.
What are our needs? Jesus Christ is the giver of life. If we are to have true life, we will receive it from The Giver. What are our wants? Well, some are good and some ain't. The good ones will reflect and be a part of life in Christ, the bad will be whatever distracts us from this or prevents us from living this life to the fullest. This is written by a beginner. I'm just boiling it down in a way that I can remember.

be good.

That would have been the Want vs Need rant. Oddly enough, that was somehow delayed in transmission, no doubt a result of it being routed through some restricted international fiber optic carrier that places American transmissions in a low priority queue. Probably some place like St. Louis.

Bud, which of the previous posts is your Sunday Editorial?
Regarding the 13 bean soup, I'm afraid I read this one too late...As one of the founders of a semi-extremist underground hillbilly separatist (sp.?) movement, I sent out the formal letters of excommunication to the following locales: Maine, N.H., Vermont, Mass., Conn., N.Y., N.J., R.I., Pa., Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Dist. of Columbia., Florida, and st. louis. I firmly believe that this cessation is necessary and perhaps even a little too late. I am also considering establishing a V.O.H. (Voice of Hillbillies) radio broadcast to bombard these hostile areas in an attempt to help them regain at least a modicum of common sense via listening to appropriate music in an effort to perhaps someday begin the process of reconciliation. Until then, I will consider these areas to be foreign territory. One sign of possible re-unification will be evident when residents of the New England area can begin to properly pronounce the letter 'R'. Until then, our task remains at hand.

be good.

Speaking of beans, ever had 13 bean soup, or one of the other various numeric deviations? Most excellent stuff. Much better than a soup of just one variety of bean, don't ya think? Not that you really care for every type of bean in there, but the variety is the thing, and even if you happen to get a spoonful that has one of your lesser favorites, there is probably one you like close enough to make it tolerable. Well, to me, that is kind of how this ole U S of A is. We are just a big pot O' beans. I suspect that, in time, you could learn to like just about any kind of bean, but you will probably always prefer what you are used to. And, sometimes, you discover an new bean that you like and it becomes your new favorite. It can happen. Of course, you also have the option of modifying the flavor of the beans if they don't suit you, with, say, a little salt or hot sauce, or a few chunks of ham. That is to say, you do have some limited control over how you "experience" your particular environment. Not saying you should necessarily fire up a Ricky Skaggs CD in the midst of a bunch of bunch of bluebloods, but you can usually find some way of adapting. Having said that, truly, there's no place like home.

We seem to have a major "disunderstanding" of the concept of Want vs Need in this country. There are certain basic requirements of existence that can collectively be referred to as Needs. Shelter, clothing and food probably top the list. However, as beings that are primarily driven by desire, we tend to respond to our wants, rather than our true needs. In deed, we most likely get the two confused. Lets take grub for instance. In order to sustain life, we Need to consume nutrients. According the the folks that study these things, we need to get certain minimums of these various nutrients on a regular basis. Our bodies give us little signals that it is time for these nutrients. We feel hungry. There is a differnce between being hungry, and being empty. And that seems to be where the confusion lies. The internal dinner bell goes off, and what do we do? Eat until we are no longer hungry? No, we eat until we are full. We Need to eat until we are no longer hungry. We Want to eat until we are full. We Need to consume foodstuffs that contain those minimum requirements of nutrients. We Want to eat what tastes good, regardless of what it contains. Ouch! Yessiree, Roberto, we "full-fill" our gustative Wants, rather than our nutrional Needs. Anybody care to take a stab at the results? And, does this approach carry over into other areas of our lives? The can of worms has been opened.

Be happy and careful

I drove yesterday. I drove in the People's Republic of Massachusetts, and I must confess that, it was not all that pleasant. I started out with the need to just get away for a few hours, see something new, etc. So I head out of Beantown on the Mass Turnpike, out past Worcester (Woostah), and eventually headed north towards New Hampshire (New Ham-sure) on a state highway. OK, now this is a road that is shown to be a 'scenic route' in the atlas I have been using recently. Well, I realize that I am from The 4, aka 'The Empty Quarter', 'Fly-Over Country', 'Kansastan', you get the idea, so I'm used to driving through miles and miles of not much but miles and miles. And here I am in the 'rural' part of the P.R.O.M., and in the entire time I drove, I cannot say that I was ever out of site of the next house down the road. Obviously, the population density in these parts is somewhat problematic and it seriously effects the quality of the driving experience. I also firmly believe that living in such a place has a distinct influence on a person's philosophy as to what the 'good life' is. I had some genuine feelings of claustrophobia as I drove around. Now, I realize I am from God's Country USA, but am I really this much of a hick? And this also translates into some serious cultural disconnect for me here as well. The other day, somebody asked me what I was going to do after I finish here in May, and I told them I was going to go back to America and get a job. I wasn't being sarcastic, I meant it. I wonder now what they thought of that statement and attitude.

So, cut to the chase. Here is my exit question: Where is America? Where does this country really begin to assume the qualities of 'America' as you and I might consider them to be? Well, here goes: My perception of where America is really America is that as I drive west from Boston, I don't begin to feel somewhat comfortable until I am at least past Columbus, Ohio. And I don't want to stop for long until I am at least west of st. louis. So I guess that means for me that st. louis and all points east and north of it are really kind of foreign turf for me. I won't say that it isn't technically part of America, or that the folks who live there are troublemakers, but I just don't personally feel at home in that region.
I have said my piece.

be good.