The Show

I loaded my car on Wednesday.  I knew it would exhaust me to do so but I wanted to be as fresh as I could be for set up and on Friday.  In the process, came the discover that a box had been stolen during the pack out at the February show.  Of course it had to be the one with my best beer steins (about $400 in cost to me) and all of my collector knives (over $2000 in cost!) - so I was utterly bummed out.  To say the least.

Of course, mother freaked out and refused to come to the show.  I tried to get my knife friend to come and take her spot, but he was working a real job over the weekend.  My only other friends in sales only handle firearms, which are not allowed.  So, now I had two booths to fill!

God was with me and I was in the building, unloaded and out in 13 minutes of the gate opening!  WOW!

And then I sat there and pondered how do I take up two booth areas with only enough tables and goodies for one?  And I sat there.  One hour, two hours, three hours - until I had drawn up a plan that would work.  And in reality it worked very well.

Luckily I had bought three extra tables when mother had started making "I am going to be weird" noises.  I also went out and bought some nice green pastel cotton as table covers and made up a light tan label for each item.

It looked sweet and the show operators singled me for most attractive display ...  Again, WOW!

But, it was a horrible weekend of wind and rain and pretty close to no one came to the show.  So, lots of time to sit and think.  And thinking, is always bad for me these days - so little is left of my mind ...  And of the issues in my life, there are no simple answers, nor timely ones.

The typical show bully came through to tell me that my mining mercury crock, found on the Klama River in California, was for curing syphilis, not for mining, and certainly not worth a 15th of what it is - with a chip.  I thanked him and offered that he should seek treatment for his.  He stomped off.  I was steamed, I really dislike the show bullies and there is always one.  But, I remembered to turn it over to God and the irritation washed from me and I could be nice again and not grumpy old Kris.

My show friends Kim and Rick were there and we had a chance to visit, due to the low show turn out.  I really love these brothers.  Rick is the twin of my great-uncle Leonard, whom was the father I never had.  He is also really nice, just like Leonard, a gentle-man in spirit.  Kim is a hoot and there is always much laughter when we can talk, I think his wife is worried I am going to ruin him or turn him into a comedian!  Oh how we laugh!

The show manager came by with her husband in tow.  He is a German and we talked long about his life in Germany and the Ukraine, his grandparents in the Ukraine and their fleeing Russia just before WWII erupted.  He had never heard of "Operation Barbarossa" - Hitlers scorched Earth policy towards the Ukrainian Germans whom did not support him.  He killed off all of the Russians and Jews as well.  Nor had he heard about the women, still held in the eastern camps, marched out of Berlin in 1945 and used as wives and sex slaves by the Russian Army and timber cutters.

Yes, we both cried real tears.

He came back on Sunday to buy a beer stein from me.  But, you have to understand that this dear man is quite old and not all there some of the time.  He was not there then.  He was just responding to a memory that I was a friend and wanted to buy  something.  We talked about steins and beer - his mind slowly returned and he was able to remember he did not want nor need a stein.  As he left ... I was proud of the new me.  Old me would have sold  him the stein but new me knew he did not need nor want one.  He wandered off and I knew I was on the right path for the new me - that I want to be.

I found some odd kitchen antiques I intend to keep.  A mayonnaise maker, which everyone has scoffed at because it is not electric - but I learned to make this with a bowl and a whisk in France!  This 1930's contraption is much nicer!  Again a 1930's blue cobalt lemon squeezer with a separate bowl - I hate having to flip seeds out with a knife from the one I currently usae. A stoneware refrigerator dish with lid.  A book on the German secret service and the original Sad Sack book from WWII - call that issue number 1!  And lest I forget, six buck saws as were used by loggers.  I intend to paint them with mountain/forest scenes and sell them at my October/November shows.  You never know, they might sell ....  But one has beautiful steel and I expect to chop it up and make some knives out of it.  Might work ...

And a joke I heard and almost died over:

How come the cows keep returning to the pot field?
Because the pot keeps calling the cattle back!

Oh gosh I thought I would fall over I was laughing so hard!

ciao!

Politics

I spend most of my social media time on Seen.Is, an Icelandic site open to people the world over.  There are some real whack jobs on there, but there is also a community which makes me think.   And, unfortunately ...

Everyone is discussing politics!  I hate it!  Aargh!  Like anyone cares day to day the Junior High-ish drama being placed out in the tabloid press, on the news, on the internet over the "to the minute" status of any of these goof-balls running for US office!

Lord, help this country, much less this world, if any of these losers actually ends up in office - and the odds are awfully good one of the them will.  :(

For years I have voted against people, never actually for someone.  My politically suave friends chide me for wasting my votes - but if you are appalled by the choice - is there actually a choice?  And, as a Christian, if the candidate does not actually support what I believe in with more than just words - nope, I will not vote for you.

And now, as I write this, there are still five major contenders for this country's top office and not a one of them is actually qualified that I can find.

As I explained to Swede, as well as other diners listening in on our conversation, when we got into it this last week - can you really imagine Merkel, much less Putin, at a table with one of America's choices and have those actual world leaders walk away from the table without dying of laughter?  Yeah, embarrassing.

Certainly, I have no desire to be president of anything.  Besides, I am foreign born, of a foreign father and constitutionally not eligible - just like Obama and for that matter Cruz.  Of course, anymore the rule of law has been overcome by the rule of emotion.

Even at this late date, I am still awaiting an actual candidate to appear.  No not an agenda driven maniac like Bloomberg nor an egotist like Romney, just someone real and of substance in the realm of humanity.

Where are the Dag Hammarskjöld, of this country?  MEN of COMPASSION, of CHARACTER, of HONOR.  Sure you can throw mud at Dag, but I remember him in my youth as someone to look up to - and I did.

I want someone I can look up to, to vote for now ...

Is that too much to ask for?

Musical Saturday Morning

Well, you are going to have a more exciting weekend than I, I get to do yet another antique show!  Hopefully, this will yield the desired 1/12 of my debt I am looking to clobber this year.  Not going to complain if it is more though :)

Enjoy ....

Favorite Verse

A few Sunday's ago, I was seated at church, enjoying some tea and trying to wake up.  It was my first Sunday back to church since the surgeries in October.  A lady came and sat opposite me at the table in the foyer.  She was into coffee and cookies.  She chatted with many people whom were walking by and then turned her undesired attention to me.  You have to remember, I swore off ever talking to another female again, whom I did not already know back in 2012.  I also am less than excited by 99.9% of all those claim to be male.  Quite simply finished with what calls itself "human" (and for some reason God chose to die for each of us ... a true mystery ... sigh).

Then this unknown woman, I am trying to ignore,  is pushing me for an answer as to what is my favorite verse.  I explain to her about this curse of amnesia and how I am lucky on most days to even remember my own name!

Then I remembered 1John ?:7-9.  Aargh!  But what chapter for the life of me I could not remember on the spot.  So, she flipped open 1 John and decided that chapter 1 must be the correct one.  Unfortunately, later I remembered it was actually chapter 4.  Whatever, they both say basically the same thing.

But as the day clicked by, I thought on this interesting idea of having a favorite verse.  Again, nothing swam through the fog of my mind to trigger any memory, much less why there would be such a thing as a favorite verse.  John's concept of Light and Truth being the same, that Love is what transcends our humanity, that God is Light/Truth/Love.  So terribly interesting to my mind ... again, mystery.

And my mind now grows tired.  It is so hard to try and think outside the black hole which is my mind.  Even just remembering this has exhausted me more than I can understand.

Luckily, I have not had to see her again.  I am quite adamant about the end of my personal friendliness towards those whom I do not know.  Yeah, I understand that is not whom I am, I am generally really friendly, but history has shown I trust too easily and given the level of damage I have sustained across the past recent years - it just is not worth the cost I have paid.

And I have to admit that many of those I can remember from the other side of 2012, yeah, I have little trust in them either.  It seems I live in a "let's do lunch, I'll call you" culture.  

"Ya, sure you betcha - I ain't ever going to hear from you again, Slim."

But, God has seen fit to place a small group of people directly in my path - very frustrating, but if God is moving, I will respond and then be left to wonder about why He does as He does.  All things go somewhere but I longer have the ability to see where, so I have to just trudge along in faith - my mind watching and relearning ...

The Problem of Wealth

Okay, so in Mark 10:17-22 we are told about the rich young ruler.  And Mark continues Peter memory with Mark 10:23-31!  The young man was rebuffed by Jesus for his wealth.  That wealth would eventually become a real problem for him.

Augustine is quoted as having said, "Our hearts are restless until they rest in You."  The worries of this world rarely relent enough to actually allow us to rest.  Wealth, personal relationships, children!, jobs, the daily stresses all rob us of our rest.  But, those whom have wealth have a worse time of it as they stress over losing what they have, or maintaining what their inherited, or worse yet - how to gather more wealth!

Admit You Are Rich
Do you have a place to live?
Do you have a room?
Do you own stuff?
Do you own a car?
Do you own a change of clothes?
Do you have food for tomorrow?

If you answered yes, just once, you are richer than the majority of the population of this planet.  And if you are rich, they you have a bit of responsibility to consider.

Murder The Myth of Wealth
Does money bring happiness?
Does money bring importance?
Does money bring security?
Does money bring God's Blessing?

No, money/wealth/materialism/power are all falsely shown by supposed Christians to be proof of God's approval!
It is a falsehood to look for friends, respect or money as signs of God's blessing on you.

Prosperity versus Poverty ... neither are Biblical proofs of anything.

You must look to your heart to see where you really stand with God.

Realize The Roadblocks Money Creates
It is doubtful that Jesus actually was saying "camel" rather than a rope using in shipping.
However, the ridiculousness of the saying is apparent either way, you can neither stuff a camel or a hope through the eye of a needle. 
It is impossible.
Children were being blocked from hearing Jesus or coming to Him.

The rich can become Christians, but it is very hard.

Consider:
The question of serving two masters
The story of Lazarus and the rich man
The story of the rich fool

It does not look well for a rich man when facing God.

Master Money or Be Mastered By It
God versus wealth - or two conflicting masters!
Matthew 6:21, "...where your treasure is..."
The thought that shows our allegiance is at best shaky towards God.

What is your wealth doing to you?
Which are you actually serving?

See Temporal Things Through Eternal Eyes
The short of it:
The rich are all going to die.
The poor are all going to die.

Not one of us will make it out of this life alive, save for the rapture.

So there is no difference between any of us, in front of God's eyes.
You can live as a slave for God.
Or a slave of money/wealth/materialism.
And you will be rewarded appropriately.

Rich, Young, Ruler

I have always thought that this story in the Bible was interesting.  Certainly, I have seen this played out in my life: that riches stand directly in the path between you or me and God.  I have been dirt poor in life and conversely quite well off at other times; honestly, I found when I had little - to be far better - because I was FORCED to rely on God and not my bank account!  Sad condemnation on the concept of faith.

Here, we have someone whom is identified as being Rich, Young and a Ruler in the various Gospels.  And he had his path to God nailed!  So, he approached Jesus, the oddity Rabbi of his day, to find out if he was on the right path.  He expect to be told he was doing good, on the right path, be praised for his piety - but Jesus did not quite reply as expected.

It is the application of the answer which should slow down anyone believing they are saved and on the right path to God or that God is blessing them with riches ...

Mark 10:17-22

Ask The Right Question
Our pious young man runs to Jesus, kneels and asks his question.
He assumes there is something he can do to earn salvation.
He assumes salvation can be earned under our own power.

Ask The Right Person
He to Jesus, not knowing whom He really was.
He assumed he could trust Jesus and His answer.

Take An Honest Look At Yourself
He wanted a checklist.
He did get some things he needed to do as a Jew.
He came thinking he was righteous but then realized that he fell short of expectations.
He strove to do good.
God wanted a relationship with him.

Hear The Challenge
Jesus loved him and his heart - he was told the truth.
His wealth stands in the way of his salvation.
Give the wealth away.
Let go of your idol: wealth.
Follow Me.
Gather treasure in Heaven, same as the Apostles.

Respond The Right Way
He came happy.
He left sad.

He could not correct his heart.

It would be nice if wealth did not stand in the way of our salvation, but in all honesty, as I saw within my self that I was less reliant upon God when I had wealth, so I have also see innumerable times in churches I have attended.  And we think piously of ourselves and our wealth, that it is not a problem - that if only others were as faithful as I, then they would not be poor either.  Or, a better one, if only they could brush away their sins, as I have done, then they would be blessed as well!

But, it always ends the same.  You plant wealth as your testimony and it always comes up destroyed by the whirlwind.  God does not need you or your wealth and if you think you can argue that point - then you really do not know God nor His power.  (Had that conversation more than once with those whom believe that they are chosen to be rich so that they can bless the Church ... really?  Someone needs to start reading their Bible!)

God blesses you with a penny, remember it is His penny and He is loaning it to you.
God blesses you with millions, remember it is His millions and not yours.
Yes, I suspect that you are expected to make a living, provide for yours with what you are given, but we hog and bank it or speculate with it.  This is where Dave Ramsay's classes fail, God can provide for you tomorrow, just like He did yesterday and today.  Take what He has given you and save it for tomorrow and you just told God you do not need Him any longer.  And He will hear your faith and reward you with exactly what you asked for.

Sorry, but we live in a God-less culture, where wealth has become the god, even those whom should know better have betrayed His desires and actively seeks others to follow them, not Him, in the future.

No, we do not need to live as paupers, but this is a far cry from how we do live.  More on this thought tomorrow.

Taxes

I hate taxes.

Every year I am forced to undergo the trauma of just trying to find what the accountant wants in order to report whatever it is the government wants to hear.  The first time I had to do the 1040, I finally was reduced after three months of ALL of my time and never being able to actually create the same paperwork twice to finally give up.  I took all of my data, all of my attempts, paperclipped it together and then wrote in crayon, "If this is so @#@# important, you figure it out."

A month later I got $10.39 back from the IRS and to this day I have no idea as to why.  They also charged me $16 to tell me that.  Whatever, it truly makes no sense to me.  Just random numbers that they say meaning something to them and therefore should be important to me.  I hate the thought that I am somehow liable for tax errors when I have proven a complete lack of any ability in math.  Sigh ....

This year, I took my stuff into the accountant as usual. Of course, even the closest check of having everything, still sent me back home for more stuff!  Aargh!

The accountant typed all of the various figures from meaningless boxes into his computer program and eventually, for the first time since 2001, actually get money back!  Go figure!  So, it looks like I am going to head to Denver later this year to visit my mean-cruel-ex-step-mother!  She is quite old, quite ill and although I would guess she has many years left in her (unlike my old mining partner I just visited with!), it would be good to see her.  Well, we will see.

But for now, I have to concentrate on the immediate - another antique show today I am setting up for, even as you read this in the early morning!  And then, no more antique shows!

I still have at least one arms show to do, in hope of liquidating my collection.  It may take two or three to get rid of everything.  But, if the shows are successful, I will much less in debt by the end of the end .... the goal.