thanks

THOUSANDS OF YEARS
by

THOUSANDS OF YEARS

Our desire to pray for all people has been a sacred gift for thousands of years. The innocent have had to fight through wars and weather and changes and the challenges that we all pursue at different times of our lives. There is a power in LOVE that we are all born with and we all have the opportunity to share that love with each other. Every day is a new gift and a remembrance of all those who have shared their lives with the many who have crossed my path and made my life so meaningful.There is not time in a day to remember them all and what they have shared with me. To be able to say thank you for all you have shared with me from childhood to today. I smile as each name is remembered and the power of love gives strength no matter what the day brings. For all of you I have yet to meet I have a sense of well being, not just for them, but what they have shared with me in thought. More often than not the gifts you give to me out way how much I can share with you. Jesus put it this way, “Do unto others as you would have them done unto you”.

Enjoy your days and KNOW THAT OUR CARES AND PRAYERS GO WITH YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES.

ME, Mack and Jake

FOR LOVE
by

FOR LOVE

GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING ALL

I have learned so much being back in Iowa. An appreciation for Ethanol, a whole new world of doctors and excellent nurses, as well as Wind Chill, and now “Snain”. I discovered it during this morning’s walk with the dogs. As we were walking it suddenly got colder. The Wind Chill had raised its ugly head instantly. I pulled the built- in hood of my winter work coat over my light weight ball cap. I could hear something falling onto my hood. I looked around and could see nothing. I saw no birds flying overhead and no squirrels were about. No bugs or gnats. And then, I saw it. “SNAIN”. An almost invisible drip combination of RAIN droplets becoming SNOW drops before my very eyes. It didn’t create the little drops of rain that creates a wet spot on my cap or jacket, it was “SNAIN”. I am amazed at all that Iowa has to offer. I shook my head and went inside and got a cup of coffee. Who knows what a day will bring? First Wind Chill and now SNAIN. Where is Tony Randall when you need him? (This last piece is a test of your overall knowledge of word development).

Enjoy your day and be careful should the SNAIN start falling in your world. OUR CARES AND PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU.

ME, Mack and Jake

FOR LOVE

It is Easter this week. A prayerful time and a thankful time. It is also an every day time. I looked at the news this morning. For sure this day’s response above was light headed. I did so because the day is still with me and all of us. Each day is a gift from GOD to approach each day with thanks giving in spite of what the lead news is on TV. Others who choose to live in the negative and harm the innocent for whatever reason they choose. Be it greed or power or in spite of we have a world of difficulties every morning. It makes me often wonder if my dad was correct in his assessment that Earth is Hell.

And then I see something. I watch the news and find so many people helping so many others. They are not responding to a rule of law. They are not helping their family,  relatives, or neighbors. They are helping people. More people that they do not know and they will never meet. Each one they help will say thank you without even knowing their name. These helpers may change their regular day, in their regular location. They start off their Normal day. A joke at work. A funny story remembered from some book or word or picture or nice day. In today’s technology they are helping people in nations around the world. They are LOVING ONE ANOTHER. Not because they have to, but because they want to. They are not all Christians. They are not all Buddhists, or Hindu, or Tao or even unattached to religion of any nature. Somewhat hidden in the day, the day came about. Life has been done however it has happened. How we approach it is how we become. Approach it FOR LOVE.

LOVE ONE ANOTHER  and appreciate the opportunities the day has brought with it.

GOD’S IMAGE
by

GOD’S IMAGE

GOOD SATURDAY AFTERNOON ALL

I have had an interesting day. So different from the weatherman over the last many days. Cold and wind chill and wind chill and cold creates its own image of how the day proceeds. When I woke up at 6 AM to take the dogs out there was no wind and the sun was waking up right along with us. Make no mistake, I did not dream it.

We all smiled and the day changed to the TV after a long morning walk to the park. The computer expanded the TV to catch up on some reading and writing. The lunch treat became a couple chocolates, coffee and cinnamon rolls and a monster cookie. More habit than good idea. (You have to remember that GOD goes shopping with me once in a while). The computer led me to more reading and it is now 1:40 PM as I have tuned in to the WORD. IMAGINATION.

Most of you know I write this blog and a music blog and have for years. I would love to be able to sit back and take the credit for my imagination. The guardian angels (Mack and Jake) take me for walks. Go left, go right. Let’s go this way or that way. The clock tells me what time to go out, before the rain or after the snow stops falling. GOD helps me write the music via the people that GOD has entered into my life. Some to say hi and have a nice day. “Nice to touch spring”. Years of others to share parts of their lives with a part of mine. The blog and the music is merely the result of my interest in what GOD has shared with me over many, many years of choices and decisions and opportunities. Where credit is due, credit should be recognized for those who GOD has shared with me and my journeys.

Today there is a smile on my face that overlooked laundry, groceries, cleaning and assigned the day for what it is. A day off and moving forward. Have a wonderful day and know that OUR CARES AND PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU.

ME, and Mack and Jake

MEMORIES — 1-19-22
by

MEMORIES — 1-19-22

GOOD MORNING ALL
Today I keep my joy, joy, joy joy deep in my heart, deep in my heart today.
The world is surrounded by joyful music.
Whether it is freezing cold​ or summer heat, a smile comes to mind when the thought process comes to remind me of special days, events, people, friends and the dogs. When it is 9 degrees I remember knocking on doors and shouting Happy Halloween in Minnesota. When it is 90 degrees I remember jumping in a swimming pool in Billings Montana. Joy can not hide inside and life can not frown when memories are remembered. Remembering life isn’t buried in sadness, it is people I laughed with, people who made me smile. It is music that brings them back to life.
Life is a journey of challenges, and of gifts and do you remember when. I have had more smiles than frowns. I have had more opportunities than not. Enjoy the memories. When I sit down to write these little tidbits I think Thank You. Have a wonderful time despite the weather, grief, loss, or tears. Life is an adventure. Life is filled with memories. It is a time of throwing stones across a pond, and a time of gathering them up. (Eccesiasties- 3 vs 5).  OUR CARES AND PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU ALWAYS.
ME, Mack and Jake
GOOD THANKSGIVING ALL
by

GOOD THANKSGIVING ALL

GOOD THANKSGIVING ALL

A cold day but sunny in Iowa. Just walked the dogs, -1*. The heavy insulated dog jackets came in handy earlier than expected. I am very appreciative of all the reasons to be Thankful this year. The exercise program that pays me at work and the opportunities to get to know such wonderful people every day. Zig Ziegler used to say “Expect a Miracle EVERY DAY”. How right he was. We expect big miracles but to categorize most, the miracles happen in simple things. A cold day, but sunny and not snowing. Dinner at my sisters and food to eat. A car to get there in, and the capability to maintain it. To be able to say “LIFE has been good to me” is enough to fill me with Thanks. Calls and Cards from friends and a warm apartment. We all could go on and on for what we all have been given but Thanksgiving awaits. Have a wonderful day and  know that OUR CARES AND PRAYERS WILL BE WITH YOU.

ME, Mack and Jake

What You Have Done For ME
by

What You Have Done For ME

GOOD SATURDAY MORNING ALL

FINTER is upon us. Those magic days between fall and winter where one coat is ok but two is too bulky. The high is grasping at the upper 40ties with a bit lighter wind. For those east of us it may seem like the beginning of Winter for a while, global cooling is upon us.

Peace is such a relevant word for us as we watch the news each day and wonder what has happened to us as a people. I remember back in the 80’s when the debate was more good news or more bad news for TV. Rather than the bad news getting the most time, I would prefer the good news most of the time. There are more good and caring people in the world than gets touched upon. There are so many events happening for people to share food, time, clothing, resources and much more that the ordinary people have put together.

Jesus put it this way: “These things that you have done for the least of these my children, you have done for me”. “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

We do much of that without thinking about the many things Jesus brought to the table. I have learned so much in my life. Not for what I have perhaps learned, but for what have I been taught by those who have reached out to help me. The things we often take for granted, have been the greatest of all gifts.

When you are sharing the good news this weekend, know that OUR CARES AND PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU.

ME, Mack and Jake

Heaven, Hereafter, or hereNOW
by

Heaven, Hereafter, or hereNOW

Heaven, Hereafter, or hereNOW

From 5-30-2006

I have heard a great many sermons in my life that are to tell me what heaven and the hereafter are like. I have heard so many that I now know one thing for certain; no one has a clue.

Hereafter

I do know that if I do not choose Jesus as my Lord and savior I am doomed to eternal damnation and life in Sheol (whatever that is). I do know that I cannot be saved if I am not Baptist, (or Mormon, or Methodist, or Presbyterian, Evangelical or Episcopalian and certainly I don’t have a prayer of heaven if I am not Catholic). This causes a substantial dilemma since I cannot be all of the above at the time of my death. Of course, I will also spend a life in eternal damnation if I am not Jewish, or Sunni or Sikh, or Moslem or Hindu or Buddhist or any of dozens of other religions that inhabit the Earth.

I guess that means that I may resign myself to the “bad” place.

Then again:

ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN

Jesus, as a teacher or Rabbi or preacher or philosopher or son of GOD, holds forth in his hand the ultimate carrot, “Why wait?”

I do not believe that Jesus came and sacrificed himself on a cross to merely extend promises of a fancy divine hereafter. Most religions seem to offer up Nirvana in some shape or form.

What Jesus did was to come and offer us insights as to how we can positively impact the here and now. Jesus taught us how to impact the heaven that lies within our grasp right now, daily, not the after.

Whether Heaven has mansions or refers to new bodies in different times as the Hindu believe (reincarnation) is irrelevant to me. Whether we sing in a divine chorus 24/7 (or whatever time-frame is the physics of heaven) is not as relevant to my living as the promise that I can experience heaven now, as Dennis, as me. It is equally important that you can live it as you.

Is it no wonder that Jesus’ teaching was so radical that most, not even those closest to him, could comprehend His meaning? The Heaven that Jesus prayed for is within our grasp daily. ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN, what a radical and impossible dream. LOVE ONE ANOTHER, another impossible dream.

Daily? A fantasy for sure. Jesus has been the object of great debate since the beginning. Those who do not wish to change much look forward to the end of their lives firm in the knowledge (or belief) that the hereafter has the mansion they couldn’t charge here. They look toward a magic place where grace takes them and places upon them a robe of authority or position and extends divine preference based on the sign in front of the building they visited on Sunday morning or Saturday afternoon for an hour or two out their week.

And yet no one can tell me what they will do all day, every day, for eternity. More than that, they wish me to believe that they can perform this function for eternity when they get fidgity now after 60 minutes out of each week in GOD’S own house, which they built with their own money. How do they expect to be satisfied with that heavenly life when a half hour of prayer daily is a challenge. How will they adore GOD every day, all day when they can not accept the Muslim on their knees 5 times daily when they are reluctant to extend thanks at the dinner table with GOD’S blessing of food to eat before them daily.

I do not believe Jesus was about hereafter. All kinds of religion handle the hereafter. What was unique about Jesus was his preaching about the hereNOW.

Jesus did not say to the blind man, “Your sight will be restored in the hereafter”.

Jesus did not say to the lame man, “You will walk on the heavenly shore”.

Jesus did not say, “Kill your neighbor and you will be great in heaven”.

Jesus did not stand before the tomb of Lazarus and yell “Lazarus, have a great time.”

Jesus did ask of his spiritual father, “On Earth as it is in heaven”.

Jesus was about the hereNOW.

The great teachers teach us how to live the here and now. They teach us how to make the best of who we are, appreciate what we’ve been given, share the blessings of our wealth be it physical or spiritual, and enjoy the journey of our living. Jesus says to me, appreciate, share, and enjoy for the Father has tomorrow handled. Whether I play a harp for eternity, or return to this place again and again and again is GOD’S venue, what Dennis Wheeler does with His appointed days is mine. I can live an example of a Jesus or Jimmy Hoffa. I can appreciate all I’ve been given or be driven to power and it’s ultimate corruption. I can share what I’ve been given or horde it until that day when it lies in a yard sale weeks after my passing, or worse yet, is tossed into a dumpster and becomes buried with countless other lives under tons of dirt fill.

The reality of life is the hereNOW, the speculation is the hereAfter.

If GOD was less concerned for us He would not have utilized Jesus to promote a better hereNow. GOD would have left us to the Jewish law, or paganism, or mythology. We would be eternal passers by, the bad Samaritan, the righteous priest or the self focused CEO or CFO.

What if I’m in Heaven now? Do I help its dream, or hinder it? Am I promoter of it, or a thief? Am I an encourager of living or a prospector of dying? What do I feel that Jesus would have me do? If I call myself a Christian, to be true to my Jesus and myself, I should be living the best hereNOW I am capable of. I should appreciate it, share it, and enjoy it as the gift that it is.

Amen.

 

THANK YOU GOD
by

THANK YOU GOD

GOOD MONDAY ALL

Faith is the word of my day. Too late for morning but on time for the rest of the day.

Probably the most difficult word to grasp for most of us is Faith, until we say “thank you GOD”.
Every day it happens. No matter how we feel, what we prayed for this morning, what we wish for this day.

Isn’t That Wonderful. How does it work? I don’t really know.

I can offer a clue: As a wise advertiser once said and immortalized the phrase: “JUST DO IT”. “Thank you GOD”.

Enjoy the day. 

COINCIDENCE
by

COINCIDENCE

GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING ALL

What an appropriate Word for today. Prayers can be singled out for all of us for different reasons today and we can help each other with a simple enough prayer to remind us that GOD watches out for each one of us. Even when our prayer concerns overlap each other our prayers are each addressed individually. It may be a response from within our spirits. It may be a call from a co-worker, or a neighbor, or a relative or friend. It may come from a stranger we do not know with the right thing to say, and I am sure each of us has had that day when a TV show causes us to say “I sure did need that message today”. Coincidence is GOD’s norm. That said, enjoy today, the gifts it offers, and the opportunities it represents.

Our CARES and PRAYERS.

ME, Mack and Jake

INTO THINE HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT
by

INTO THINE HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT

INTO THINE HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT
And Having Said thus Jesus breathed His last. Luke 23: 46

After over 30 years of Unorthodox Christianity and music about Jesus, and sermons about Jesus, and Prayers to and From Jesus, I have always missed one thing. The stories of the young Jesus and the young adult Jesus.. Jesus died at about 33 years of age. He was recognized as a Rabbi or itinerant Preacher for but 3 years. He began educating himself as early as a young boy seeking out the stories of the prophets in the synagogues and from those people he felt as wise. That leaves about 30 years of stories and his relationships with family and friends and acquaintances that molded Him on the way to this last comment:
“INTO THINE HANDS (GOD), I COMMEND MY SPIRIT”.

What were the younger years like.
Did Jesus wonder about the moon and the stars?
Was he perhaps bullied as a child within the town he had lived in?
Was he the nicest kid or was he the prodigal son?
Did he sit under a small grove of trees and study nature, or the animals, or the neighbors, or the enemies?

We probably know less about the life of Jesus as a normal child growing up and as an adult 30 year old than we know of any other human in history. Most of the life of Jesus that we do know of did not exist until roughly 70 years later and then some in books written by those who knew him as the Messiah, The Christ and a miracle worker. There were no TV, No Cell phones, no social media, no twitter account or movies. And from their lack of knowledge of Jesus, the person on the bench next door, or under the tree with friends, His death became His Beginning.

What do we know of Jesus?

Was He a GOD when growing up? Did He learn from life the lessons He would carry to the crowds that came to hear him and watch him as a man? The sermons I have heard so many times in my life say He was perfect.
He was without sin.
He was GOD’S only son.
Jesus was GOD on a mission to teach.
He was without blemish.
He was GOD incarnate from birth.

“ Him? Isn’t he Joseph’s boy, Jesus? Nothing ever good has come out of Nazareth”

I have never known a young boy to be perfect. I was not, far from it.

Jesus, in the midst of Love One Another, had some pretty harsh words for the Pharisees and the Sadducee. Over turned the tables in the temple. “A brood of vipers”.

I read into Jesus a human being, on a mission, and driven by a force within him to preach a good news rather than a same old same old.

When everything was said and done I recognized that I was not perfect. I was not GOD? I was not a special divine child or man. I did not perform miracles. I did not feel as though I was good enough for Jesus, let alone GOD. So of what value was I to GOD. Not divine, not perfect, not without sin. Jesus was divine. Jesus was special.

DO you ever find yourself questioning how one would ever expect you to achieve all that Jesus did in but 33 years? Would you believe them?

Too often we feel as though we are not good enough to be a disciple of Jesus.

I do not believe it. Even Jesus, at the end of His ministry asked “Take this cup from me, but not my will but yours”. And at the very end, “INTO THINE HANDS (GOD), I COMMEND MY SPIRIT”.

Many times you have been chosen to be the messenger, the coach, the prayer, the savior. You are the first responder, the teacher, the nurse, the doctor, the care giver. More than you think you have made the choice to perform that function and be the hands of Jesus whether you believe in Jesus, GOD, or not. If you simply reflect on your own past, how many times have you chosen, no questions asked, to perform a task that you accept to do and do not debate it for the sake of love. You very much have answered in the very way that Jesus did.

You have performed a request without thought of whether or not you were perfect enough, good enough, knowledgeable enough or even loved enough. In Unorthodox Christianity it was said of this by Jesus “ BY THIS THEY WILL BE SEEN AS DISCIPLES OF MINE” (no denomination required). And you do not recognize it for what it is, represents, and for any great reward beyond a hug and a smile. GOD has worked through the you that you are for the person that you are. NEVER think less of yourself, GOD does not and never will.

INTO THINE HANDS , I COMMEND MY SPIRIT.

GOD BLESS.