Testify To Love

It was 1998, gosh has it been that long ago?  And Touched by An Angel was on, the episode, “151 Psalm”…

If you watched the show or know anything of the show, you probably are aware this episode was destined to become the all time favorite for the series.  And in the process of the storyline, Wynonna Judd is working on writing this song.

For me, I was attempting to recover from the shock of having two of my children kidnapped.  As I was to find out eight months later their mother had broken out of prison, picked them up from school and headed for the hills.  So much for them being “orphans” as I had been told.

My heart shattered, I was watching what had always been a vacuous show, for entertainment – only this time it really was not.  The story of a dying little boy, roughly the age of the one I had just lost.

And a song written by someone whom does know the same God as I…..

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Testify To Love

Lyrics and music by Paul Field, Henk Pool, Ralph Van Manen, and Robert Riekerk. © 1996 Windswept Music/MCA Holland

As performed by Wynonna Judd, 1998

All the colors of the rainbow
All the voices of the wind
Every dream that reaches out
Reaches out to find the love he gave

Every word of every story
Every star in every sky
Every corner of creation
Lives to testify

For as long as I shall live
I will testify to love
I'll be a witness in the silence
Says the words are not enough
With every breath I take
We'll give thanks to God above
For as long as I shall live
I will testify to love

From the mountains to the valleys
From the rivers to the sea
Every hand that reaches out
Every hand that reaches out to offer peace

Every sinful act of mercy
Every step to kingdom come
All the hope in every heart
Will see what love has done

For as long as I shall live
I will testify to love
I'll be a witness in the silence
Says the words are not enough
With every breath I take
I will give thanks to God above
For as long as I shall live
I will testify love
(Repeat 2x)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And so in tears, I finished this episode and in tears every time I have heard this song.  I still do not know what has become of Ivan and Victoria – but my continued prayer for almost a decade has been their safety and learning of God’s love.  Perhaps they never were to have been my kids, but I still pray for them all of the love I could have given…..

RHOWR!

A Last Supper

One of my internet friends posted this link:

http://my-eyes.blogspot.com/2007/04/sa-kambas-ng-lipunan.html

How do I tell you about this without telling you everything?  It is 19 minutes long, of course you can stop the video anytime.  But, it will be my guess that you will want to view the entire video.  It is about an artist, a painting and his subjects.  If I did not think you would like it – I would not recommend this moving piece of video.

Better have a few tissues on hand just in case…..

Teamwork

Consider this photo for a moment:

Here we have a farmer and his wife coming to town, hopefully for a new wheel!  But, probably to pick up some shopping items or visit the family.  He is smiling as he drives their tractor; she is smiling while acting as the counterweight as they putt along.  This is teamwork.

Now maybe your hackles are up because be she is not driving, but then in this culture it is the men whom traditionally drive, and is still true for the generation before me.  So that is normal.  Or maybe you can take offense that she is being used as a counterweight and paraded through town, but then again each is doing what they can within the confines of their traditions and culture to achieve their goal.  Then again you might be thinking about how he is going to snarl up traffic with this mobile spectacle or the lack of personal safety she is displaying.  Applying modern values to this situation would lead to disaster – if your goal is to witness for love of the Lord – uh, which is your only goal as a Christian while on Earth….

Yes, Kris was thinking about teamwork this weekend.  As Christians we each have our own goals and desires – which usually are not the Lord’s – and this brings us into strife constantly.  It is when we are willing to work together towards the same goals that we are able to find peace and harmony with each other and perhaps in our own lives.  Sometimes you might get to be the driver but most often as not, you get to be the counterweight while someone else is out in front getting the attention.  All this wife has to do is step down to end his glory of driving his tractor – but then again, she is committed to achieving whatever their goal together is.

Think of this picture as a representation of the church – each doing his or her role and happy for it.  And yes, I do think there is a wheel off somewhere…

Invention of the Internet

Ten of the best April Fool's Day hoaxes

From television revealing that spaghetti grows on trees to advertisements for the left-handed burger, the tradition of April Fool's Day stories in the media has a weird and wonderful history.

Here are 10 of the top April Fool's Day pranks ever pulled off, as judged by the San Diego-based Museum of Hoaxes for their notoriety, absurdity, and number of people duped.

-- In 1957, a BBC television show announced that thanks to a mild winter and the virtual elimination of the spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. Footage of Swiss farmers pulling strands of spaghetti from trees prompted a barrage of calls from people wanting to know how to grow their own spaghetti at home.

-- In 1985, Sports Illustrated magazine published a story that a rookie baseball pitcher who could reportedly throw a ball at 270 kilometers per hour (168 miles per hour) was set to join the New York Mets. Finch was said to have mastered his skill -- pitching significantly faster than anyone else has ever managed -- in a Tibetan monastery. Mets fans' celebrations were short-lived.

-- Sweden in 1962 had only one television channel, which broadcast in black and white. The station's technical expert appeared on the news to announce that thanks to a newly developed technology, viewers could convert their existing sets to receive color pictures by pulling a nylon stocking over the screen. In fact, they had to wait until 1970.

-- In 1996, American fast-food chain Taco Bell announced that it had bought Philadelphia's Liberty Bell, a historic symbol of American independence, from the federal government and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell.
Outraged citizens called to express their anger before Taco Bell revealed the hoax. Then-White House press secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale and said the Lincoln Memorial in Washington had also been sold and was to be renamed the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial after the automotive giant.

-- In 1977, British newspaper The Guardian published a seven-page supplement for the 10th anniversary of San Serriffe, a small republic located in the Indian Ocean consisting of several semicolon-shaped islands. A series of articles described the geography and culture of the two main islands, named Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse.

-- In 1992, US National Public Radio announced that Richard Nixon was running for president again. His new campaign slogan was, "I didn't do anything wrong, and I won't do it again." They even had clips of Nixon announcing his candidacy. Listeners flooded the show with calls expressing their outrage. Nixon's voice actually turned out to be that of impersonator Rich Little.

-- In 1998, a newsletter titled New Mexicans for Science and Reason carried an article that the state of Alabama had voted to change the value of pi from 3.14159 to the "Biblical value" of 3.0.

-- Burger King, another American fast-food chain, published a full-page advertisement in USA Today in 1998 announcing the introduction of the "Left-Handed Whopper," specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans. According to the advertisement, the new burger included the same ingredients as the original, but the condiments were rotated 180 degrees. The chain said it received thousands of requests for the new burger, as well as orders for the original "right-handed" version.

-- Discover Magazine announced in 1995 that a highly respected biologist, Aprile Pazzo (Italian for April Fool), had discovered a new species in Antarctica: the hotheaded naked ice borer. The creatures were described as having bony plates on their heads that became burning hot, allowing the animals to bore through ice at high speed -- a technique they used to hunt penguins.

-- Noted British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on the radio in 1976 that at 9:47 am, a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event, in which Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, would cause a gravitational alignment that would reduce the Earth's gravity. Moore told listeners that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment of the planetary alignment, they would experience a floating sensation. Hundreds of people called in to report feeling the sensation.

(copied from the news….)

However, my all time favorite was a few years ago when it was announced that Quartz was actually not silicon dioxide but actually a stable form of water.  Made more than a few of us mineral types wonder what the heck!  Of course, it was only April Fool’s!

Swiss Spaghetti Bushes

Where does Spaghetti come from?  In 1957 the BBC, informed the world that Spaghetti came from bushes. 

The original 1957 BBC hoax succeed because it was shown on the prestigious Panorama Program.  In true BBC documentary tone, Richard Dimbleby explained how Spaghetti was harvested from bushes, dried, then processed into strands of spaghetti.

The program continued with how the eradication of the spaghetti weevil, this year’s spaghetti crop was going to be the best ever and how pickers and dryers were needed in the south of Switzerland. 

I remember the Spaghetti Saga well and believed it, as did my father, mostly because he did not know better and I was really young!  But even at my tender age I wondered why an Italian plant was growing in southern Switzerland.  Did not they belong in Italy – land of the pasta?

And, the audience lapped it up as did most of our friends and the fellow scientists my father worked with!  I am told a few people even phoned in asking where they could buy a Spaghetti bush or whom to contact to work as laborers during the next season!

My guess is you could resurrect this April Fool's day stunt.  Today's children maybe more sophisticated in many ways - for example, they would not believe that a radio program purporting that Martians had landed in America was true.  However, today’s children are notoriously ignorant on the sources of food.  All they know is that if they want food, they just open a tin or raid the freezer.