my careless contagion

This is a new song, and it's pretty good. It sounds older than its release date of 2023. It got a lot of airplay, I didn't like it at first, but after about 10 listens it started to make sense (I may be a little slow). So much of country music is about drinking (thumbs down), but let's go with that for this post. Since I likely won't still be writing here regularly after the 28th, this is a good time for the annual sobriety post.  It was April 10 years ago when I stopped drinking. Every year I memorialize what God did in my heart then. It's nothing short of a miracle. It's a miracle I function. A miracle I'm still alive. I'm literally a walking miracle, and people walk by me like I'm some ordinary Joe. They have no idea.  A decade without drinking is a curious thing. It was supposed to kill me. Like I got a get-out-of-jail-free card. A new lease on life. A new life, new identity, new responsibilities. Alcohol was my way of ending myself, and slowly. ...

God answered my prayer. I won't say what it was exactly, but it was on my mind and my heart for quite some time. (It doesn't have to do with a certain wonderful lady; that's all I will say.) God did the most amazing thing. I didn't see a way out. I didn't see a solution. I submitted it to Him and left it there. The solution was the best possible outcome for everyone involved. It was simply a miracle. I haven't ceased to thank and praise Him. God is so good.  *** Watched a documentary called Grizzly Man recently. It's free on YouTube . What struck me about it was how destructive it is when people put anything before God in their lives, how it can lead to tragedy after tragedy. We can't expect anyone or anything to save us except the Lord.  This blog is now five years old. Though it's not really alive, it's also not dead. It's like a zombie, perhaps. Happy five-year anniversary to the zombie blog! Thank you for reading. And God bless. Christian...

I love the story of Jesus and Lazarus. I relate the story below so we're all on the same page. This story lends so much insight into the mind of God and His attitude toward human beings, His tremendous, out-of-this-world kindness, and grace. And, it contains the shortest sentence in the King James Bible: "Jesus wept." For those who think men cannot or should not cry, look at our Savior crying over His friend Lazarus, even though he was about to raise him from the dead. So, let's get started. ***  11 Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) 3 Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. 4 When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. 5 Now...

It's hard to explain what goes on inside our heads. We can talk all day long, but if those we talk to have no experience with the weirdness that's so familiar to us, then it's no use. I have struggled most of my life with what I perceive as normal and my inability to be normal (but I insist normal does not exist). Around the age of 30, I decided it was a fruitless endeavor and nearly impossible to change my core personality or ensconced behaviors.  Years ago, I read a book about the power of being an introvert. It made sense, and it even stated that most people in this world are introverts (about 60 percent), but most will not self-identify as introverts. The trouble with being an introvert is we are often undervalued, especially in American culture, where the extrovert rules. And an introvert in America looks very different from an introvert in, say, the United Kingdom. That's the influence of culture.  Every personality type has things that exhaust and ...

Thank you, sweet girl because you've led me into this world where I see things I could never have seen otherwise Thank you for taking my hand and leading me here I will be forever grateful The colors are different the sky brighter in the day darker and colder at night My hands perspire when I watch movies and see scenes I've seen before but I see them for the first time And I know you are with me for you have touched me deeply irrevocably, eternally And the tears stream down my face because I've witnessed a miracle in me.