Beech Tree News Network

Singer, entertainer Ray Stevens had a song out sometime back called “Settin’ Up with the Dead.” I’m old enough to remember this well, when father sat up with the dead. It began at first when the deceased was brought back to her or her house to lie in state. Later, the custom continued with leaving the body at the funeral home around the clock. Father would still go and sit up at night...all night.

            Yeah, it's been awhile since I've written a column but I figure it's kind of like riding a bicycle.

 Christmas arrived early in the Bluegrass State this year as courts in different legal spheres rendered welcomed decisions.

The song lyrics of "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" list reasons that the Christmas season is wonderful.  And, it is wonderful - with only a few frustrations. Many of us have felt frustration while preparing for the holidays.

I asked friends and family what they find frustrating during this “most wonderful time of the year.” Their responses are below:

 - Traffic and rude people.

We must be careful what we take as “gospel” when we read something, or hear something told for the truth.
In his book, HUMAN PROBLEMS, Marston Bates writes that Ham, the eldest son of Noah, had homosexual relations with his father when Noah got drunk.
It’s true that after the FLOOD, Noah planted a vineyard, got to sipping to much of his own wine and became drunk. “…then he (Noah) drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent.” (Gen. 9:21)

On one very rainy day, my granddaughter, Sabria, discovered that our TV doesn’t work if the rain is particularly hard, but her magic erase board does, regardless of the weather, so we took turns drawing and erasing for several minutes.  The number board was also still in perfect working order, so we put the numbers, 0 – 10, in their proper places, at least eleven times. 

There are some things that, even if you don’t want to, you just have to throw away. When you have to let go of something you’ve had since the George H.W. Bush administration, it’s not particularly easy.  What’s crazy is that it was a pair of shorts I was still wearing! Yes, I could still wear them.  I’m not typically the guy who holds onto things that are past their prime, but these served me well for years, the past few wearing as I mowed the yard.

Occasionally, I sit down after dinner and watch “Wheel of Fortune.”  If you’ve watched this program throughout the 30 years of its broadcast, you will have noticed the Stepford-Wives quality of most of the contestants.  They appear to be perfect people with perfect lives.

“Tell me a little about yourself, Ed,” Pat Sajak might say on any given week night.

“Well,” says Ed, with a smile and puffed out chest, “I have a beautiful wife of thirteen years, Edwina, and three terrific kids: Ed, Jr., age 10; Edward, age 8; and Ed-a-loo, age 6.”

 When reading about Christ, I am impressed with how Christ changes people’s lives. For example, when Christ chose twelve men to be His apostles, He told some: “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19-21). He later would turn these fishermen into mountain-climbers (Matt. 17:1)! On another occasion, Jesus met a man possessed with devils, and changed him from one who “wore no clothes … had not lived in a house, but among the tombs ….

I posted this in Facebook but I think it would better serve the purpose here.  I just wanted to mention this young lady in Butler County who took her life.  My daughter said it was because a lot of people were writing hateful comments about her on Topix. I don't know if that is true as I do not read that smut.  However, I do know that kind of hateful behavior does occur on Topix forums.  In addition I have a few words I would like to say to all of you trash-talking cowards.