total Serenity Prayer....

Complete, Unabridged, Original Version.
God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen. Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)

About the death of my brother, Bruce--sure to be the first of many postings

Bruce played cards-(500) with a group of my Dad's friends once a month. He started as a substitute player, and then became a pretty much a regular. The group meets at various places for brunch, and then goes to someones house to play. They were going to play on July 14th, so my Dad called Bruce several times, and getting no answer, left messages for him on the answering machine. It was really not like Bruce to not return phone calls, so my Dad started to get worried. He called the Twin Lakes Alano Society where Bruce attended meetings. He talked with one of Bruce's friend Harlen (Harley), who had not seen Bruce recently and said he would ask some others if they had seen/heard from Bruce lately. Please keep in mind, this is summer--many people travel, take time off, etc. It was quite likely one person to not have seen my brother, and think that someone else had.

After asking around, it became apparent to Harley, and Bill T., that no one had seen Bruce since the end of June, when several members were at his house to help him paint--he was preparing to sell the place. Harley and Bill decided to do a "health and welfare check". Unfortunately, they found Bruce dead. He was sitting up in his recliner, with head back, as though he went to sleep and never woke. My Dad got a call from the Brooklyn Park Police at around 11:30, Friday, July 13th, to inform him his son was dead... Bruce was 52. My Dad called me at 6:30 the next morning to inform me. I was mad, and still am ticked with him--why did he wait until morning. "Well, I knew I wouldn't sleep, and didn't want to disturb yours..." sheesh!

Anyhow, Bruce's body was 'significantly decomposed.' The Medical Examiner had to use fingerprints for a positive identification. It is now thought he died around 7/1; although he put 7/13/07 on the death certificates. And I used that date on the funeral brochures I made up--because at that time, we didn't know the actual day-- and to our minds, he lived until my Dad got the phone call.

Bruce had several health problems. When he was 40, he had double coronary bypass and aortic valve replacement surgery. He always struggled with high cholesterol. Although he was successful in his battle against drugs and alcohol, he was never able to completely stop smoking. A few years ago he had a blockage in ah, I think it was a groin region artery if memory serves (which it may not!). Then last September, he was at work one day and he leaned over to pick up a pencil from the floor, and woke up in the emergency room at a local hospital. Tests showed he had 90 percent blockage in one of his carotid (neck) arteries. He had surgery to open and insert a stent there.

He had also was experiencing progressing muscular weakness in his thighs/legs. He had a lot of tests, and a biopsy was done on muscle tissue from one thigh early last Spring. No cause was found. The doctor called it 'Idiopathic Myopia'--a catch-all phrase which basically means 'muscular loss due to unknown origins.

On Sunday, July 15th, the Old Testament reading at church was from Leviticus 18:1-5, 19:9-18 (ESV). My attention was taken by verses 19:9-10: When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to the edges, neither shall you gather the gleanings after you harvest. And you shall not strip you vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner. I am the Lord your God. I wrote in the margins of the bulletin (a habit from when I had to take sermon notes for Confirmation class, many years ago): When God reaps, he does not strip us bare- he leaves gleanings for us-- thoughts and memories of our loved one. He leaves gleanings for the poor, and those who are still sojourning--we are those who still travel this weary world. He as 'reaped' Bruce, and taken him home. Our memories of our son, brother and friend- are the gleanings.

G is for GRIEF!

Bruce A. Rahn

1954 - 2007

Recovered Alcoholic

Bruce Rahn is my brother. Some friends doing a health and welfare check on him found him dead from natural causes at his town house this weekend. I will write more later, when my mind can put more then two sentences on the same topic together at the same time.... there is much feeling/emotions swirling in my heart right now. Please pray for me and my family, especially for my Dad.

For now I will borrow from an e-mail sent out by Bill B., a chaplin at the Alano Society where Bruce was a member and on the board:

This is a request for prayer both for the fallen and the friends.
It is with great sadness and shock that we learned this evening of the passing of Bruce Rahn. And I ask for prayers for Bruce; his family and his friends.
I also wish you to pray for Harley and Bill T. who discovered Bruce's body this evening.............apparentlly he passed several days ago.
Bruce was a veteran, a loyal friend of Bill W., and a faithful servant at Twin Lake serving on the Board and volunteering when ever possible.
Bruce also volunteered at Minneapolis Intergroup and loved to bowl and play cards.

D is for Depression

I am disabled, I have a mental health diagnosis of major (aka: clinical) depression. I have had severe episodes of Depression since my teens, but it was not officially diagnosed as such until 1997, when I was hospitalized for suicidal thoughts.

What is Major Depression?**
Major depression is a brain disorder that is much more than temporarily feeling sad or blue. It is a serious medical illness that affects one's thoughts, feelings, behavior, and physical health. It is a biologically based brain disease, not a weakness....Some people have one episode of depression in a lifetime, but many have recurrent episodes. Others have ongoing, chronic symptoms. Gee, I'm doubly blessed. I get it both ways!! Seriously, the chronic symptoms are managed through medication, and I usually (but not always) realize when things start to slide into a more major episode, at which time I seek psychotherapy/counseling Since 1990 I have had three major episodes which have ultimately resulted in job loss. It is because of this I receive Social Security Disability Income (SSDI). As I mentioned in the "B is for BVHE" post, I like my current part-time position. But if something should occur on my part or theirs, I have SSDI to fall back on.

Symptoms**
The onset of the first episode of major depression may not be obvious if it is brief or mild. Unrecognized or left untreated, however, it may recur with greater seriousness or progress to a syndrome that includes a profoundly sad or irritable mood lasting at least two weeks and accompanied by pronounced changes in sleep, appetite, energy, ability to concentrate and remember, interest in usual activities, and capacity to experience pleasure.

Treatment
Of all the mental disorders, depressive illnesses are among the most responsive to treatment. With available treatment, 80% of people with serious depression can improve and return to their normal daily activities and feelings, usually in a matter of weeks. But if an individual's depression tends to recur once treatment is discontinued--a significant number of people have recurrent depression--the the illness can be handled with ongoing treatment....Major depression is a medical illness that produces emotional symptoms, so both medication and psychotherapy mat be needed to treat it. The objective of treatment is to lessen the duration and intensity of the episodes of illness and to prevent their recurrence. I currently take three medications to help control my depression: Seroquel (minimum dosage at night to assist with normal sleep), Effexor XR, and Wellbutrin. I am not currently in therapy of any kind, a psychiatrist oversees my medications quarterly. The most troublesome side-effect I have is excessive sweating and being prone to overheating. Both Effexor and Seroquel can cause this. I have come close to heat stroke only once, and never want to do so again. I know to carry water and/or sports drinks with me when I walk, ride a bike, and expect to be out in the sun. I always have a container of fluid in the cup holder in my car. I have permission of the stores I service to carry and consume water while working, as long as I am discreet about it.

**taken from Understanding Major Depression: what you need to know about this medical illness, published by National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI)

C is for ...

C is for Cars. Neither of my parents drove when I was growing up. My Dad took the bus to work, we lived just around the corner from a stop on the 21A Selby-Lake busline. When we moved to West St. Paul in 1976, we were just a block off of the 7A Thomas-Smith busline. My Mom was a homemaker and also an 'ironing lady'; i.e, she took in laundry--mostly work and school uniform shirts. She washed and ironed them, and hung them on a long closet type rod which hung in between the living and dining rooms. I used to love the smell of newly starched and ironed shirts. Later, she got a job at ABC Diaper Service, which was a short 3 block walk up Selby. I It was one block away from Richard Gordon Elementry School. I think she started there when I was in 5th grade. This was the time schools were just beginning to serve 'hot' lunches. Previous to this, students were dismissed to go home for lunch.
My Dad finally learned to drive when he was in his 50's. Looking back-although I am sure my siblings and I may have missed out on some activities during our youth- I feel it is a good thing he did not drive until we were grown. He is an alcoholic... now with almost 30 years sobriety!
I learned to drive in my mid-20's. Like my parents, until then I lived and worked handy to my places of employ, except for one job. Then I payed a co-worker $10.00/week to give me a ride to and from. Anyway, I digress. This is a list of the cars I have owned:

• 76 Mercury Monarch
• 87?Dodge Colt
• 91 Dodge Shadow
• 97 Dodge Shadow (I loved the Shadow! Still do)
• 95? Dodge Caravan
• 97 Ford Taurus
• 83 Saab (genuine beater car--the right quarter panel was held together with duct tape)
• 89 Mitsu Montero
• and currently: 97 Dodge Caravan

Cars are such wonderful things! I put $1300 into the Caravan during February to keep it moving, and two months later in April, I spent another $500 on it to make sure it would stop!!

B is for:

BVHE (the distribution arm of Disney Studios). I am working part-time foe Mosaic Sales Solutions, they are a marketing firm. One of their major contracts is BVHE, and that is the division I work for. I have four 'big box' stores locally that I maintain/display/reorder BVHE DVD movies for. BVHE also includes: Hollywood Pictures, Touchstone, Miramax and now Pixar. It is part time. I work most Tuesdays when one of the above studios is releasing a new movie in DVD. Those days I may have to visit all 4 stores on 'Blitz'--to make sure the new title and all the promotional material is displayed properly. Other then these Tuesdays, I will usually be scheduled to visit each store several times a month to check proper placement of BVHE titles on the planogramed (POG) movie shelves, and re-order low and out of stock titles. These merchandising visits can usually be done any time during the week, just as long as they are transmitted before Friday evening. I enjoy my work, and the people I work with.
The only problem I have with this position is it can be sort of 'feast or famine' with hours at various times of the year; although there has been opportunity for extra hours working with the Movie Crews at Best Buy, and other short-term assignments.
I don't consider this to be my primary source of income. I am on SSDI--for a mental health diagnosis-- I have Major (aka Clinical) Depression. The government wants me to work! They allow me to make up to like, $650/month with out it affecting my benefits. They have a lot of support programs to help people get back to work. I have been able to take care of a lot of debt I have had for several years... I looked for work for almost a year before deciding, with a job coach's encouragement, to apply for SSDI. I have always intended to work at least part time. SSDI is my primary income. If by some miracle I find a position to work full-time in, SSDI will (I hope) still be there for me to fall back on--if something should happen (condition tends to re-occur do to stress). I will not have to go through and reapply, or have a waiting period.

A is for:

A is for Ann. That's my middle name. At first my parents were gonna call me 'JudyAnn'. A lot of kids during the 50s had double names like Mary Ann, Betty Lou, Jim Bob, Jerry Lee. But it was decided to call me just Judy. Oh, and it is just plain ANN, no 'e' at the end, as Roman Catholics are wont to do. The only times I recall being called 'Judy Ann' is when I was upstairs in my room listening to music, or more likely had my nose buried in some book I was reading, and didn't respond to the first 2-3 times my name was called. Then it was usually bellowed loudly by my Mom!

Lesson/reflection: I'm glad it is just Judy--even if alot of people parrot Cary Grant and go "Judy, Judy, Judy" when I'm introduced. And I know it could have been Judith. But I am Judy.

Alphabiograhy

My nephew, Kyle has what I think is an interesting school assignment for "Language Arts" (what ever happened to English/Spelling and Reading). He has to write an Alphabiography. It is like writting the story of your life, except you are supposed to write seperate essays for each letter of the alphabet, then collect them all together in booklet format.
He and his classmates have been working on this in class and at home since October. Now they are editing and reviewing their work.

I wish we had assignments like this when I was in Junior High School: grades 7-9 (except now they call that "Middle School" and it is grades 4-8--insert eye rolling emoticon here!). Then I thought, life is continuous lesson, so I am going to write my own Alphabiography using this blog. I may not always go in alphabet order, and some letters may get more then one entry-- well, they should, I am almost three times older....

They are supposed to add a reflection/life lesson at the end of all the essays.

One last note about Kyle's class and the assignment: the teacher has read to the class a book titled "Totally Joe" by Jamie Howe. This book is written in the form of an Alphabiography of the main character, Joe Bunch. Joe is a 7th grader, who is gay. The book details the normal struggles of adolescents, and how Joe is percieved to be different, and how he handles being labeled, and admitting to his family and friends that he is a homosexual. I have read the book cover to cover. It is a well written book. That said, however; I do not believe it should be read aloud to a class. Yes, the book can be made available for students to read. It does have a place in the classroom and school library. But to force students who may not be mature enough to understand what is going on, or able to handle peacefully their classmates who may not be mature enough to take it seriously to listen to it or read it for class, I think is just wrong. It should not be a part of the curriculum.

Eisenhower on Military Spending

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children . . . Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron."
--Dwight D. Eisenhower
Excerpt from "The Chance for Peace" address delivered before the American Society of Newspaper Editors, April 16, 1953
http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/chance.htm

According to the 2007 Time Almanac, the United States 478 billion dollars (or $1604 per person) for military expenditures annually. That amounts to 48% of the military spending world wide. The next closest country is England, which spends 48 billion USD. Now I grant it, that figure probably includes salary and wages for current Armed Forces members, and uniforms and such.

Still I think we should be able to say 'hey, wait a minute, I don't want $1604 of my dollars to buy weapons--convert it to international implements of peace, humanitarian efforts; with things like basic health care for third world countries, basic farm implements like rakes and shovels, better home building materials for earthquake and hurricane prone areas, etc.

the longest Bible based answer I have give so far on Yahoo! Answers

some one asked:
If Jesus is so meek and humble, why does he command 'every kneel shall bow, every tongue confess' to obey him? kind of seems like a dictator or a self-absorbed ego-maniac...

And I answered:
two similar verses appear in the New Testament(Romans 14:11, KJV) "For it is written, [As] I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God."
This verse alludes to Isaiah 45:23 (KJV) "I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth [in] righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear."
In Isaiah, God the Father is speaking through the prophet Isaiah. Paul is the writer of Romans. If you believe in the Holy Trinity, it would seem reasonable that what God the Father states about himself in prophecy would also apply to God the Son.

The second instance is again written by Paul in Philippians 2:10-11 (NKJV), which occurs at the end of what I consider a Holy Spirit inspired teaching:
(Phl 2:1) Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, (Phl 2:2) fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. (Phl 2:3) Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. (Phl 2:4) Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. (Phl 2:5) Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, (Phl 2:6) who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, (Phl 2:7) but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. (Phl 2:8) And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (Phl 2:9) THEREFORE GOD ALSO HAS HIGHLY EXALTED HIM AND GIVEN HIM THE NAME WHICH IS ABOVE EVERY NAME, (Phl 2:10) THAT AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, OF THOSE IN HEAVEN, AND OF THOSE ON EARTH, (Phl 2:11) AND THAT EVERY TONGUE SHOULD CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER. (all Philippians verses from NKJV) So now we have the third part of the Trinity (Holy Spirit) asserting that together and seperately, that because God has done such great things for us, we should show our humility through our actions--in this instance bowing our knees and confessing to that Jesus Christ is Lord!
---------- Source(s):
http://www.blueletterbible.org/cgi-bin/v...

Free Hugs Campaign - Inspiring

Original from Youtube - http://youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4 YOUTUBE DESCRIPTION: Sometimes, a hug is all what we need. Free hugs is a real life controversial story of Juan Mann, A man whos sole mission was to reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their lives. In this age of social disconnectivity and lack of human contact, the effects of the Free Hugs campaign became phenomenal. As this symbol of human hope spread accross the city, police and officials ordered the Free Hugs campaign BANNED. What we then witness is the true spirit of humanity come together in what can only be described as awe inspiring. In the Spirit of the free hugs campaign, PASS THIS TO A FRIEND and HUG A STRANGER! After all, If you can reach just one person... Music by Sick Puppies. (Visit http://sickpuppies.net or http://myspace.com/sickpuppies for the music) ------------------------------ ------------------- PS. The response to this video has been nothing short of overwhelming and touching. Hugs to every single one of you who messaged. There has been thousands of emails from all over the world by people seeking to participate in the Free Hugs campaign and asking for permission. You do not need permission. This is the peoples movement, this is *your* movement. With nothing but your bare hands you can make THE difference. Imagine all the people.