my careless contagion

I like these kids. Justin and Claire (formerly Spivey) Duggar . I like kinda following what they're doing, and what they did recently was get married. If you don't know who the Duggars are, you are forgiven. They aren't Hollywood famous. For me, they seem the antithesis of a lot of the crap out there. They're young. They're adorable. They have their whole lives ahead of them. (What I wouldn't give to go back and do it again.) They typically hew to traditional, Christian standards of living. They are Baptist, though a different brand of Baptist from me. They're famous because there are so many of them (19 Kids and Counting was the show). They are TV famous. All that. But I don't care about that. I just like the fact that these two kids are gonna give it a try. In this very cynical world that is endlessly divided and increasingly turned against tradition and Christianity, they are going against the grain. Got married. Probably love God and all that. How pu...

The video above is in the same vein as some I've posted recently about who runs the world and how corrupt and disgusting they are. I feel it's worth watching, however, because it offers another layer of truth. The truth, after all, is like peeling an onion. You can always go further; there is always another layer. If you feel you might be triggered by this particular peeling onion, don't watch the video. The video begins with a tiny pyramid. I'm wary of anyone who uses the pyramid, as it is an occult symbol. It is ubiquitous, but I never ignore it. It tells me I'm getting a carefully controlled version of the truth, and there are many more layers underneath. The Netflix documentary about Jeffrey Epstein is similar. One of the production companies responsible for the film is Third Eye Productions, and the introduction shows a girl walking up a walkway of money with a giant eye (Epstein's) within. Because of the "vanishing point" angle, the walkway ...

Puppies! Who doesn't love puppies? I saw a whole lot of puppies growing up. One year (was it Christmas?) my parents gave their three boys a young female German miniature schnauzer. What fun! But with a caveat. She was the gift that would keep on giving. She was an early lesson in entrepreneurialism. She was a breeding dog, and we were going to make a bit of money. Her name was Lucky Loo (sp) because she somehow escaped having her ears cropped, dew claws clipped, and tail docked. I recall sitting outside the room when the veterinarian did all of that to the puppies and their cries still haunt me. I can still see their tails piled up on the stainless steel table. "Puppy farms" have a bad reputation, and rightly so. Those dogs are not treated well. Dogs that come from homes where they have been held and loved on are more likely to be well-adjusted and happy. So homegrown puppies commanded a bit of a higher price. Our puppies ended up in pet shops in Denver. I thought th...

Face mites! I have the strangest conversations with my 5-year-old son. One of the latest involved face mites.  I’m not even sure how it happened, but one morning we woke up and (after talking about banana sandwiches) started talking about face mites, which are tiny parasitic arachnids that live on nearly every human being’s face. I told him they eat dead skin (they do not; they eat sebum) and come out at night (which is true). Normally, they hide in our pores, gorging on the oil from our glands. They can live up to two weeks, and the reason they come out at night is to mate. Also, they are very good house guests, leaving no mess in their wake.  I showed my son a photo of a face mite, to which he exclaimed, “Oh, how cute!” At this point, I suggest readers look up photos of face mites themselves (or click here ). They are decidedly not cute. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder. To me, they look like tiny, though harmless, monsters. When a baby comes into the worl...

This may be the hardest thing she's ever been through. This thing I've helped set in motion has unfairly impacted her and her little ones. This thing ... is just another trauma in a string of unsettling, traumatizing events. She's shielded her little ones from his actions. But, she couldn't shield them from mine. No, I've not been the one to heal her. But, I pray for him, whoever he is. This is my prayer. I pray you're a man after God's own heart. You'll need to be. You'll need to be selfless and strong in something other than yourself, something other than those around you. You'll have to be strong in the Lord. There will be times you'll feel slighted, rejected, left out, unable to make progress. Put yourself aside. You'll have to trust God because you can't give in to discouragement. You'll have to be more than a man, and I'm sure you will be. I pray you have a healing touch, for this woman has been abused (there...