On this Terrestrial Ball

Today is Tax Day in the USA.  I wait patiently every year as this date creeps up closer and closer.  I have worked with the same Tax guy for almost 30 years who has helped me file my taxes.  For a fee of course.  I consider him a friend but there are sometimes when he drives me crazy.  Except for our actual tax appointment, he’s very busy and hardly ever responds when I call or send a text.  And then after our tax appointment, he’ll send my filing for review.  If I have a question or correction, he’ll respond, but usually days later.  I’ve gotten used to it but in that last month before April 15 I am always on edge until I get that email confirmation that my taxes have been filed and accepted. It’s also Songkran festival in Thailand which is the new year celebration in Thailand.  Everyone throws water at each other as if you are part of a great big water balloon or squirt-gun water fight, all in good fun.  But honestly, I’m not that exci...

We could learn something from birds.  As I sit out on my patio in the early morning just before the sun fully rises, I sip my coffee and listen to the stillness of the day.  And then, like a symphony starting slowly but then building, I hear the birds singing.  The song is different each day, but I’ve come to identify some of the usual players. There’s this one little, tiny bird who of course is the loudest and most consistent.  I call him the car alarm bird because his song is a consistent two note chirp – one low and one high.  Over and over. I don’t mind it so much except when it goes on and on – which sometimes it does.  Usually, however, he does his thing for a minute or two and then goes to the next house to do the same thing.  Kind of like a bird version of a rooster doing his cock-a-doodle do morning wake up call.   But other birds are more melodic.  Occasionally a couple of magpies will come over to the trees in my yard and do a...

Anger is universal.  I’ve seen it everywhere I’ve went.  I’ve both given it and received it. I’ve seen it in the faces of protestors on the news across many countries.  In both times of war and in times of peace. Living in the USA, I saw it and living in Thailand, I saw it, too.  What is it inside us that causes humans to act in anger, hate, violence, selfishness, pride, jealously, and other awful behaviors like these? I’m sure there are many triggers and some might even say, justifications, for the cause of such actions, but the Bible simply calls these actions sin, and the cause of such sins is that which is inside us and is called original sin.  That is, what’s ingrained in our DNA – it’s who we are and what we are born with.  I have a friend in Thailand that’s recently had some troubles within his family, resulting in punches to the face, furniture being thrown and destroyed, and lots of angry shouting.  Hearing about it and being one step removed ...

They say that confession is good for the soul.  But isn’t it hard to admit when you’ve done something wrong or disobeyed or even just ignored someone out of spite or indifference? I remember that song by the musical group, Chicago: Hard to Say I’m Sorry .  It's hard for me to say I'm sorry I just want you to know Hold me now I really wanna tell you I'm sorry I could never let you go … After all that we've been through I will make it up to you, I promise to Sounds like a guy really struggling to admit he was wrong.  Why is that?  Why is it so hard to admit our wrongs, our faults, our sins?  Perhaps pride?   No one ever wants to appear as lesser than another. But that’s exactly what Jesus Christ did for everyone.  He loved us so much that God became a lesser being. In the form of both God and man, Jesus humbled himself and came to earth to die in our place to cover for our sins so that we may be made right again with God. Wow. Do you know anyone wh...

Now that I am retired (still getting used to that) I’ve started the habit of waking up early-ish to make a cup of coffee and go out on the patio to enjoy.  To look around at the still, quiet morning – see the sky, look at the flowers and plants in my backyard, to close my eyes and listen to…nothing.  And I must be done before exactly 7:45am as that is when the sun peaks out over my neighbor’s roof as it rises in the morning sky to start the day and goes into my eyes.  But the time before that sun fully rises is like magic. Where I currently dwell in Thailand is very quiet except for the occasional bird chirping.  The air is generally cool in the morning, too.  Unlike the Californian suburb where I used to live – with cars driving by, people powerwalking on their morning jogs or exercising the in the park that was in front of my house, or even the occasional airplane soaring in the sky on its way to LAX.  Now granted, growing up this way I always considered ...

As an American celebrating Christmas in a foreign country, it’s a unique experience.  Visiting Thailand, I do see some Christmas decorations in the malls.  Aluminum Christmas trees of all sizes and colors.  I hear the traditional Christmas music (in English) playing over the speakers in the malls.  So yes, there’s a nod to “Christmas” in Thailand.  But that’s about it.  There’s no Christmas vibe, though.  Usually at this time of year you can tell when people are excitedly shopping for Christmas presents for their loved ones.   And when I drive away from the malls, there are no houses decorated with Christmas lights. Outside of the mall and its commercialized nod to Christmas, you would never know it’s Christmas time here.  And of course, the hot and humid weather with bright sunny days is about as far away from a winter wonderland as you can get.  Though I admit, I am from the southwest part of America where there was little to no s...