Shame

One thing people hate is to feel shame. In days gone by, people were put in stocks, perhaps having tomatoes thrown at them and laughed at. In schools, to shame an errant pupil, they may have been forced to wear donkey ears or wear a dunce cap to indicate stupidity. Likewise, having to stand, kneel or bend over in a corner.

Today, some judges in the US have had people carrying a sign in front of the local courthouse that reads: “I stole from a local store.” Apparently, it has a high success rate in reducing repeat offending. Community shame is a strong deterrent for engaging in what is deemed unacceptable. However, shame is now rarely used in this way.

Also, what now constitutes shameful has changed. When I was a boy, a fair fight involved one on one, never kicking someone on the ground, and if one combatant had had enough, so be it. A woman being a virgin was once something of high value on her wedding night, today many men would see her as naive and her innocence undesirable. Living together without being married was also not acceptable. Some of the photos and video clips that end up on the Internet would indicate that what was embarrassing not so many years ago is something to be proud of.

In deciding how to live, while the community can be an influence for good, it's declining standards are not always right. If you follow the Bible for instance, its values are steady. They are the same as they were when written and they are still the best way to live. An honest evaluation of its precepts will keep us on the narrow path. (Please read 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 to see how bad the world has got).

The fact is, many of today's standards are shameful. Just because our peers and/or society view them with favour doesn't make it fine. As our civilisation sinks lower with each passing year, we would do well to note that this is a sign of its decline, not of enlightenment or true freedom.

When I'm 100, Let Me Lean A Little

The family wheeled Grandma, in her wheelchair, out onto the lawn where the activities for her 100th birthday were taking place. Grandma couldn't speak very well, but she would write notes when she needed to communicate.

After a short time out on the lawn, Grandma started leaning off to the right, so some family members grabbed her, straightened her up, and stuffed pillows on her right side. A short time later, she started leaning off to her left, so again the family grabbed her and stuffed pillows on her left side. Soon she started leaning forward, so the family members again grabbed her, and then tied a pillowcase around her waist to hold her up.

A nephew who arrived late came up to Grandma and said, 'Hi, Grandma, you're looking good! How are they treating you?'

Grandma took out her little note pad and slowly wrote a note to the nephew ....... 'I want to pass some wind.'

A View Over A NZ Town

I took this video overlooking the town.

Pithy Sayings

A few sayings I think are worth sharing.

1) Those who drink at the well should remember those who first dug it.

We benefit today from those who worked hard in generations before us. We should appreciate their efforts, which we now benefit from.

Taking it a step further, we are here due to our creator's wonderful handiwork. How often do we reflect on that? Evolutionist Richard Dawkins may not bother, but that is his problem. I prefer to thank my maker for his infinite wisdom.

2) If you want people to notice your faults, start giving advice.

After advice, people may say 'How dare they say that! Why they do this and they do that'.

They are starting to notice your faults to justify themselves and do nothing about your helpful suggestion. Best to keep it to yourself, unless asked. Even then, tread warily.

3) When things go wrong, some look at what they could have done better, while others just blame those around them.

When things go awry, there is always something we can learn. Rather than put the blame elsewhere - as many do - look inward for a solution. After all, we cannot control others behaviour, but we usually can do something about ourselves, and do better next time.


4) People will forget what you said, also what you did, but they never forget how you made them feel.

Our motive shouldn't just be popularity, as you cannot please all the people all of the time. However, we should care about the feelings of others. Then when they reflect on our words or actions, they will remember fondly how we made them feel.

Kaikoura - South Bay

We went to South Bay, on Kaikoura's peninsula. Kaikoura is about 1 1/2 hours drive north of Christchurch on NZ's South Island, on the east coast. There we walked in sunny and quite warm winter conditions. The green fields were contrasted by the rugged, snow capped mountains just inland. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as we did being there.


Pic above looking south across South Bay (of course). The next two looking west from the Kaikoura Peninsula.

Forces Humour

On some air bases the Air Force is on one side of the field and civilian aircraft use the other side of the field, with the control tower in the middle. One day the tower received a call from an aircraft asking, 'What time is it?'
The tower responded, 'Who is calling?'
The aircraft replied, 'What difference does it make?'
The tower replied, 'It makes a lot of difference. If it is a commercial flight, it is 3 o'clock. If it is an Air Force plane, it is 1500 hours. If it is a Navy aircraft, it is 6 bells. If it is an Army aircraft, the big hand is on the 12 and the little hand is on the 3. If it is a Marine Corps aircraft, it's Thursday afternoon and 120 minutes to 'Happy Hour.'

During training exercises, the lieutenant who was driving down a muddy back road encountered another car stuck in the mud with a red-faced colonel at the wheel. 'Your jeep stuck, sir?' asked the lieutenant as he pulled alongside.
'Nope,' replied the colonel, coming over and handing him the keys. 'Yours is.'

Having just moved into his new office, a pompous, new colonel was sitting at his desk when an airman knocked on the door.
Conscious of his new position, the colonel quickly picked up the phone, told the airman to enter, then said into the phone, 'Yes, General, I'll be seeing him this afternoon and I'll pass along your message. In the meantime, thank you for your good wishes, sir.' Feeling as though he had sufficiently impressed the young enlisted man, he asked, 'What do you want?'
'Nothing important, sir,' the airman replied, 'I'm just here to hook up your telephone.'

Good Expressions For The Stressed And Irritated

1. "I'm not tense, just terribly, terribly alert."

2. "You say I'm a bitch, like it's a bad thing?!"

3. "Aw, did I step on your poor itty bitty ego?"

4. "Well this day was a total waste of make-up"

5. "Well aren't we a ray of sunshine?"

6. "Don't bother me, I'm living happily ever after."

7. "Do I look like a people's person!"

8. "This isn't an office. It's HELL with fluorescent lighting"

9. "I started out with nothing & still have most of it left"

10. "I pretend to work, they pretend to pay me"

11. "YOU!!... off my planet!!!"

12. "Therapy is expensive. Popping bubble plastic is cheap."

13. "I work 45 hours a week to be this poor."

14. "Earth is full. Go home."

15. "And your cry-baby, whiny opinion would be.....?"

16. "I'm not crazy. I've been in a bad mood for 30 years."

17. "Sarcasm is just one more service I offer."

18. "Whatever kind of look you were going for, you missed"

19. "Do they ever shut up on your planet?"

20. "I'm trying to imagine you with a personality"

21. "Ambivalent? Well yes and no."

22 "Don't worry. I forgot your name too."

23. "I just want revenge. Is that so wrong?"

24. "Nice perfume but must you marinate in it."

Some Of Life's Mysteries Solved

A massive, 12-year research project by Indian academics has answered some of life's lingering imponderables. Staff in the Socio-Linguistic Department of Trivandrum University, Kerala, India, began their research in 1992, linking up with hundreds of further education institutions across the world. A total of 1,200,000 people, of all ages and backgrounds, took part in the study, providing statistically average answers to the English- speaking world's "rhetorical questions". The main findings are:

How long is a piece of string? Nine inches
The height of stupidity? Six feet, two inches
The depth of despair? Six feet two inches?
How low can you sink? 302 fathoms (1,812 feet)
How deep is your love? Four feet, seven inches
How far will you go? 327 yards, two feet, 11 inches
What time do you call this? Just after six

While the academics acknowledge that the answers will have degrees of variance among individuals, the averages across the research sample are sound. If you take the "How deep is your love?" question, explained Professor Vikram Gupta, the variations were enormous -- from inches to hundreds of miles. But, the average of four feet, seven inches seems a very fair compromise. The most surprising finding was the 'piece of string' result. Astonishingly nearly 800,000 people in the survey said nine inches. For some reason, that is the length the vast majority have in mind when they hear this particular rhetorical question. The correct response of nine inches is now a scientific and mathematical fact.