Category Archives: Uncategorized

To Life and Perspective

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This happened about 10 years ago. A young friend of mine married for the first time. The father of the bride asked his daughter what she wanted to do. He was going to give her a set amount of money and she could spend like she wanted. She and her Fiance and Parents sat down and planned a modest wedding, by some accounts. She didn’t want an ostentatious wedding. She was going to have a nice wedding and keep some of the money for their future. She didn’t spend thousands of dollars on a wedding dress, but it was beautiful. The groom wore a suit and looked handsome.

Her mother fell off a ladder the Monday before the wedding and broke her foot and took 7 stitches in her head. She said she was going to the wedding come hell or high water. She look good and her sons helped her to her place in church. They have 6 six kids, 4 girls and 2 boys. The wedding was lovely. It wasn’t over the top. The daughter used her money wisely and planned everything. Even the 86 year old grandmother looked good. Grandma was going to her granddaughter’s wedding to celebrate life. She got up and danced several times. She had to be assisted to the dance floor by 2 men. But she was going to dance at her granddaughter’s wedding. The mother with the broken foot hardly left the dance floor. The dad talked to everyone and danced with his wife and everyone that asked him. The food was good and party was fun. They all came to celebrate life itself. Everyone had a smile on their face. They didn’t throw rice when the couple left which is traditional. They blew bubbles. In all it was a really sweet time for the family and all the guest. This is about what God gives to us on this earth. Life is hard enough as it is, but God wants to enjoy and celebrate our lives. As it says in the bible: Ecclesiastes 8:15 “Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.”

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

The Beauty in Everything.

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It seems that beauty is an obsession with humanity. The beautiful people are believed to be the smartest or richest of all. People seem to flock to them to be seen. So why aren’t the ordinary people seen the same way. Everyone has a heart, both physical and spiritual. That heart craves one thing to be accepted, not to be lonely. We are social beings and don’t want live along. There is an old saying, beauty is skin deep, but ugly is to the bone. There are people who are ordinary looking. They don’t have the standard of beauty that people are judged by. But there beauty is overwhelming if you look for it. There is a line from and old song by Ray Stevens that says, everything is beautiful in it’s own way. I believe this is true. It is what I look for in each person I meet.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Beauty is as individual as we are. It has always been up to our perception of things. Yet there are things that are universally beautiful. For instances, a rose is a rose, is a rose, by any other name. The shape, the fragrance is unmistakable, a perfect symbol of love and beauty. And then who would call an aardvark beautiful, except for a few naturalists. Yet it is beautiful. Or what would you say to a jackass or a hairless Chihuahua? They are perfect in their own way. When God made people and things on the earth, He made them individual and beautiful. Even a wild rose in the middle of a trash pile is beautiful. So why can’t we see the beauty in people who are different? People or things that are different are usually shunned. If it is terribly different, we turn our backs to it and don’t even recognize it exists. I have said before that I like to open doors or smile at people. I look for the heart of a person, not the outward exterior. You would be surprised at the tenderness of people’s heart when you express yourself. I have had very few people not respond to my acts of kindness. God said we are like a fountain of water. As it pours out of us, how can sweet and sour water flow out of our hearts? Bitter water spoils the sweet water. Yet if you listen to people you can hear the bitter. That is why an act of kindness is always appreciated by most people. And even the hardest of hearts will crack with a kind word. So look for the beauty in this world and you will be surprised at what you will find. I wish for all of you a good day, especially if it is storming outside. For this is the day the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Onomatopoeia.

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Shall I use the powerful P’s to describe the tingling sensation of properly placed words in a blog? Since I have already written an article about the P’s, I will use some new tantalizing words to describe my writing. Can’t you hear the sizzling new words hot off the griddle? I have been told and believe to this fragrant day that words are food for the soul. You can entice people to delicious meal with words. Or starve them off with same words. It is on how you present your message. They can pop with excitement or fade into a funk. I have written articles that smell so bad you would think someone passed some gas. I destroyed those articles as quickly and unceremoniously as I vaporized them for the good of humanity. Maybe it is time for the powerful P’s. As I ponder my prodigious predicament, I re-evaluated my writing style and came to a conclusion. I will put forth a preposterous statement of prodigious proportion. Ow, I feel good. Today is a most ponderously beautiful day. As one of my beloved sons was in college, it behooved me to tell him how he can write beautiful essay. I told him to write as you speak. The glamorization of the grammar can come after he writes the article. You can express your inner self easier as evaluating someone concocted or contrived story. When I say who are you that is the person you know best. So learning how to relate yourself to this relatively refined world will take some time. But if you apply yourself to the process, it will produce applicable results. And the results will go pop, pop and fizz, fizz. And you will be relieved with the results. Onomatopoeia.

Crain Blanchard.
http://www.joseph1637.com
joseph1637@juno.com

Soliloquy

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I don’t always know what I am going to do. I think to myself I do this or that. What is the best way to write a blog? What if people don’t like what I write? It is like Hamlet said, “To be or not to be, that is the question. Am I going to write about myself or do I choose another topic? I have always heard people say, publish or perish. I guess it is true. If I am not out there, no one can read it. But I don’t want to put anything stupid on the page. I want to make my work make sense. I can remember as a younger man, people looking at me side-ways because I didn’t make sense. What I said or wrote was disconnected from people in the world. It may have had to do with the dyslexia I had. It took a long time to work it out in me. I know that is why I went to college and studied communication. All through life I have had many experiences that has led me to writing. I started writing in college. I took an English course on the meaning of words. We broke the word apart and saw its meaning and where it came from. Also I took a business course on letter writing. To be able to convince people to purchase anything. Learning vocabulary and how to use the words effectively was the end result. I am a word meister of as they say in the vulgar or common language. I like the 50 cent words but don’t always have room for them. I have always tried to be concise with my blog. Information doesn’t have to be wordy. Look what Lincoln did at the Gettysburg address. He say in 267 words what the orator said in 2 hours. So I think about what I am going to say. Then I write it down so it makes sense and hope that it relates to people in this world. I am not Shakespeare, but this is a soliloquy.

Crain Blanchard.
http://www.joseph1637.com
joseph1637@juno.com

Alliteration

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Years ago, someone asked me how I write blogs. I began to look at my blogs and notice my style. I am different from most people and similar in many ways. My construct has much to do about my environment as it does the news of the day. I try to be inspirational and well as spiritual. Both views have everything to do with who you are. I try not to be religious, although anything that is spiritual is deemed religious by many. This blog and the following two are three different ways I use to write my blogs.

It means to paint a picture with the proper words. Putting on the page words peculiar to your posting. There have been people who want to post a blog and aren’t quite sure what to do. I get comments from all the world. People are people. The only difference between me and them is here and there. I am here. They are there. I was talking to my brother about people who believe they are more special than anyone else. It is unfortunately prevalent in religious circles. And it isn’t predominately in Christianity. It is a religious spirit and is pervasive all over the world. So when you want to write a post, think about who you are and where you are going. You may be the leading expert on anything, but you don’t have to exude it. I use questions to get people positively involved in my blogs. It is to get them to think. Not only about the blog, but themselves. I have done my job if people project a positive attitude about the world they live in. It has nothing to do with age, race, color or creed. It has to do with you being able to think for yourself. I look at the day’s news, the time of year or what the people I know are talking about. Each proposal I put forth each day is unique to itself. So perhaps today it will be about you or maybe it is about me. When you propose a post to put forth on your blog site, take time and ponder who you are and what is going on in this preposterous world. Then laugh and write so people can laugh with you. You look at the pitiful world, you have to laugh or you will cry at their antics. So propose a post and put it properly in order with preposterous words that everyone can understand. Alliteration. The Powerful P’s.

Crain Blanchard.
http://www.joseph1637.com
joseph1637@juno.com

The Power of Our words.

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After the battle of Gettysburg, there was a ceremony to dedicate the Soldiers National Cemetery. The organizing people invited Edward Everett to be the main speaker. They also invited President Lincoln. Everett spoke for two hours before President Lincoln spoke. Lincoln knew the Everett would be long winded. So, he wrote his most famous speech on a piece of cardboard. His speech was exactly 272 words. The photographers didn’t have time to set up their cameras, by the time President Lincoln finish the Gettysburg Address. Abraham Lincoln’s most famous address that is written on the wall of the Lincoln Memorial. No body remembers what Edward Everett said. Even after 168 years, everybody knows the Gettysburg Address. That government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from this earth.

We learn to speak when we are young. We can’t wait to able to speak. Many times I have seen small children run around screaming with other children. They were not saying a word, but they were communicating with each other. It can get irritating because of the noise level. But communicating is a real need in our lives. We strive to be understood and become frustrated when we are not. Some people are chatter boxes, while some don’t say two word. Have you ever met someone that didn’t say anything, but you knew what he was saying anyway? It’s interesting how that works. We learn communication all of our lives. Yet, some things are a puzzle.

Words have power. Speaking must be done judiciously. We can encourage, discourage, up lift or destroy with our words. I heard this many years ago, but have found it to be true. You can’t take back hurtful words or reverse what you said. It is like taking a box of feathers to the top of a mountain, then releasing them. Then try to gather all of them back again. You can’t. Our words have a power of its own.

Using our words correctly takes self discipline. We have to learn to speak at the right time. Everybody knows the fable of the boy who cried wolf. In the end, no one believed a word he said. It is important that people can believe what you say. It is not only for your sake, but for others also. This is where using our word correctly comes into play. What if all your words come to pass, just as you have spoken them. I have heard many people say, that kills me or I can’t do that. Guess what, those words come to pass whether or not we want them to. It’s not that we can’t speak. It is speaking the truth and live that way. For as the mouth speaks, so are we.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

The Human Condition Today.

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What kind of shape or condition is humanity in? Most people have a romanticized version of the human condition. We want to see the sanitized version of humanity. There are people who live in abject poverty and slavery today. Years ago, I went to visit my wife’s relatives in Mexico. They were middle class Mexicans, but not all were so blessed. They lived in the mountains around Monterey. As we traveled up the mountain, there were cardboard houses on the hill side. Yes, cardboard houses that people lived in. and Mexico isn’t a 3rd world country. Then there are the homeless, people on the streets of the world. There are estimated about 150 million people homeless. That is half of the population of the United States. The statistics are overwhelming. What can I do with such overwhelming odds?

This is where the real lack of power shows up. It is not for us give up. It is for us to find a solution. The world population is 8 billion people. What if one person takes care of one person. God knows that you have the resources to care for one extra person. There is a story about this very subject in the bible. It is the story of Lazarus the beggar. He was sitting just outside the walls of a rich man’s house. The rich man was just concerned with his money and goods. Lazarus would have been happy with scraps from the rich man’s table. Lazarus and the rich man die on the same day. The rich man wakes up in hell and Lazarus in the arms of Abraham. The rich man calls out to Abraham, send Lazarus with water to quench my thirst. Abraham says I can’t. You had everything in your life, now Lazarus has everything he needs. And now you will suffer for your greed.

We are made out of the dust of the earth and the breath of God. God gave us our mind, will and intellect. That is who we are. Then we are born and live on this earth to learn. We learn different things accordingly to our parents, locations and other people. Man has a capacity for doing good and evil. We are born knowing how to lie, steal and cheat. Then we are taught to be kind and gentle to our fellow-man. Although we were given the power of gods, we were not given to power to control ourselves. Look around and see the inhumanity to man that we are capable of. God shows us how we can walk on this earth and live like him. It takes courage to live righteously. It takes nothing to live in sin, but it costs us our own souls. The same problems we have today are the same problems people had in the beginning. The message from the beginning has never changed. We are sinners and are separated from God. If we confess our sins and ask for forgiveness, God will forgives us and accept us into the kingdom of God.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Violence in Our world.

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Violence is the destructive nature of man. It comes in all forms. Bullying is a form of violence. But I am old school about the solution. A bully is a coward and a swift blow to the nose would resolve a lot of things. I don’t advocate violence as a solution. I advocate that you stand up and facing it head on with courage. There are more insidious forms of violence. It is how this blog got started. I was watching a commercial about abused animals. It said how people should be involved to stop it. Then I thought how people should be involved in stopping the killing of innocent children. I was talking to a person who worked in the US Justice Department about violence in this country. I said that after the US Supreme Court decision about abortion, that the murder and violence rate has climbed exponentially in the country. He kept saying no, but the statistics bear it out. If life isn’t protected, it is open season on man. I know that it is a touchy subject. Man wants what he wants. And everything is right in his own eyes. What will happen in the end? What will man do? Will man destroy everything that is good? Hitler tried to conquer the world. He marched his army in every country he could. He was successful in killing 50 million people, but Germany suffered more than any country. God didn’t leave one brick on top of the other in Germany. Over 80 million Germans were killed in WWII. Their country was destroyed. God says if you live by the sword, you will die by the sword. God also says you have a free will and need to choose what you will do about your life. Just a thought about living free from violence.

Crain Blanchard.
http://www.joseph1637.com

Joseph1637.com

A Thought.

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The bible says as a man believes so is he. To believe something you have to think about it first. I have just about stopped listening to TV commercials. The whole point is to change our minds and purchase their products. Most of the time we don’t even need it. Every person only has a few ways of collecting information. The first way is sight. The eyes are a gateway to ourselves. Everyone needs to guard what they see because it will change the way we think. When I was young, I use to watch horror movies. The ones I watched were grisly, but not demonic. Today it is no holds barred. Do you know why audio and visual are most effective? It incorporates the second way of imputing info, hearing. Did you know that the makers of the movie “The Exorcist” recorded the sound of killing pigs to make the soundtrack more gripping? What you hear is just as important as what you see. The third way is smell. When your mother fixes your favorite food, you know it. When you smell a dead cat, you know it. Our smell is directly related to our memories. The fourth way is touching. Do you remember the first time you touched a hot pot? And lastly tasting, do you remember the first time you ate candy? All of our senses created memories of information that we make judgments about everything. So as we think, we make judgments. As we make judgments we believe. As we believe so are we.

Crain Blanchard.
www.joseph1637.com

Joseph1637.com

Music for Life.

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Growing up I have always had a natural talent. From a young age, I loved music because I had an ear for music. Then I discovered that I could sing on key. I was in the choir most of elementary and high school. Until my voice changed, I sang soprano. I could even hit high C on the musical scale. When my voice changed, I became a baritone and some times I could sing tenor. My father loved classical music, which I still love to listen to today.

During college, I messed around more than studied and didn’t do so well. I studied communications (radio and television) in college. I served in the military after college. Then I got married. I knew it was time to get serious. I secured a job as a music director for a local Christian radio station. There I listened to all the music. Some music was good and some not so good. What I was listening for was the anointing of God. Most albums had 12 songs on it. Yes, this was before CDs. The music companies wanted me to play their choice of music. As I searched for suitable music for the radio station, I would find one or two songs that had the anointing. The criteria for the station was 1) you had to be able to hear the lyrics, 2) it had to lift up the name of Jesus. The station went from a Southern Gospel to Adult Contemporary Gospel music. Most of the time the music I chose wasn’t what the music company wanted. Sometimes I had go-rounds with their representatives. Our goals where different. What I was trying to accomplish was music that lifted people up to trust and believe God. Hope is a powerful thing. God is the author of music. The angels play music all the time. If they aren’t singing, they are playing music. It has a force all its own. As with all of the things of God, there are two sides, faith and doubt. It is the same sword. It can be used both ways. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. With all the music the angels have, there is one song they can’t sing. It is the song of the redeemed. Only we can sing that song to the Lord and all the angels stop and listen to it.

Music is a powerful instrument. If used in the right way, it can uplift people and soothe the savage beast. There are many different forms of music that can inspire us to greatness. And we know that there is music that can destroy us also. That is why it is so important for us to guard our ears when listening to music.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com