Half-dozed ramblings

I'm sitting here watching TV and noticed that my eyes are glazing over.  At first I thought it was the subject matter, but I realized that it was because I'm sleep deprived.  

The Dickson County school system is currently experiencing a two week fall break.  The first week, my wife and daughter spent visiting my in-laws while I stayed home (somebody has to earn a living.)  I discovered that it is a good thing that I am married.  If not, i would be a work-a-holic.  I found myself staying at the office until 8:00 or 8:30 most nights and then staying up doing mostly nothing (i.e. flipping channels) at home until 2:00 am.  I still haven't caught up on sleep.

Hmm, Trisha Yearwood is on Leno and it appears that she has lost weight.  She has always been a beautiful regardless of her weight.

Access Hollywood is on now...I just don't get Lost.  I guess you "hadda be there."  Of course, when they first started billing it, I thought it was another "reality" show.  That was a major turn-off for me so I never watched it.

Well, that's all my foggy brain has for now.

I Swear to tell the truth...plus some other things for good measure

Okay, I've got some time now to really comment on my last post.  It wasn't intended to be a dis against the Roman Catholic Church which, as do most churches and religious organizations, has its problems.  It was more a commentary on today's society and where things are going in this politically correct world.

I fully understand that portions of the Bible were written as poetry and, in some cases, as allegory.  One can't say that the parables of Jesus were true historical stories; they were just stories to make a point.  However, these stories were prefaced as such prior to the telling.  Some books of the Bible are also prefaced this way as well.  Song of Songs (or Solomon) is a love poem that gives a word picture of the intimate relationship God desires with us.  Proverbs is a book of sayings and, well, proverbs or "rules of thumb," if you will.  This does not diminish its significance.  After all, they were written by the wisest man alive.

Most books of the Bible, the old testament especially, were written as historical documentation.  The book of Genesis was written as an historical telling of the history of the Hebrew people from the beginning of time to the death of Joseph.  It tells how they became God's chosen and how they came to be in Egypt prior to the time of Moses.  Now, I am sure that much of this was the writing down of many oral traditions, but I fully believe that Moses was guided in his writing by the Spirit of God.  Additionally, many ancient Egyptian artifacts point to the validity of the writing.

Additionally,  there has not been one historical fact in the Bible to be disproved.  Those throughout history who have attempted to do so have often done the opposite.

Many say, "What about the translations?  What about all the changes people are making?"

I say, "Prove it."

Now, The King James Version, that so many take as the only Bible, (I usually use the New International Version, myself) is a translation of  a translation.  Many say the translation was politically motivated.  Maybe so.  It was intended to break the growing rule of the papacy as a political entity.  But, with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other manuscripts, we found that it was not that far off.  If anything, a verse or two got added by the Vulgate and, hence, the KJV, but nothing was really altered from the original meaning.  

The gospel is still the gospel.  The truth is still the truth.  And, if you can't believe the truth, there is nothing left to believe in.  So help me God.

Catholic Church no longer swears by truth of the Bible

The following is an excerpt from an article from The Times Online.  The complete article can be found at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-1811332,00.html:

THE hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church has published a teaching document instructing the faithful that some parts of the Bible are not actually true.

The Catholic bishops of England, Wales and Scotland are warning their five million worshippers, as well as any others drawn to the study of scripture, that they should not expect “total accuracy” from the Bible.

“We should not expect to find in Scripture full scientific accuracy or complete historical precision,” they say in The Gift of Scripture.

The document is timely, coming as it does amid the rise of the religious Right, in particular in the US. 

Okay, if some of the Bible is true and some is not, what parts do you want to believe today?  The Bible declares itself to be inerrant and infallible.  Was that a lie, too.  If the Bible cannot be trusted, what is the point of the Church?  Doesn't the Catholic Church negate its own purpose by embracing this drivel?  I guess that means that it really is okay for a priest to molest children.

I am certainly glad that the Creator provided me with enough intelligence and spiritual insight to make up my own mind and not have some group of politically correct, spiritually impotent priests and bishops tell me what to believe.

What do you think about this?

Dial-up -- Ugh!

Free dial-up is even worse :-(

I am exhausted just getting to this point. I don't think any additional posts will be made this weekend.

More bandwidth given to loading ads than to loading a page. I can't believe I ever used to use this.

How did anyone ever get the idea for the world wide web when dial-up was pretty much all that was available? Of course, I think microwave ovens are too slow as well.

Ugh pretty much sums it up

Welcome to Cotton Country  *sniff* *sniff*

It's early morning at the in-laws.  I'm the first one up.  I've already had a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee.  Why is it that, on the days I able sleep in, I can't?  Charles will probably be up in 15 or 20 minutes, so, I guess that leaves me some time to write.

They don't even have a computer, much less an internet connection.  I can't surf and I can't post this directly to the blog.  I reactivated my old Netzero free dial-up account before came on this trip.  I may try later to upload this.  If you a reading it, you know I managed.

I'll be leaving tomorrow to go back home, while Lynn and Jenna stay here for a week or until they can't stand it anymore.  From the looks of the in-laws' living room, I think Lynn has her work cut out for her.  Lynn's middle sister decided before labor day that she was going to re-decorate Mom and Dad's living room for them.  The only thing that has happened since labor day is that the wallpaper border has been removed, a new couch has been delivered and all the furniture is sitting in the middle of the floor.  It looks like Lynn gets to help paint this week.  I'm pretty sure that is what Nancy was counting on.

We are going to the Reelfoot Arts & Crafts Festival today.  We will probably leave at about 10 this morning.  I'm looking forward to it.  The mild weather should make it really nice to be outside.  I'm just glad there is not a lot of cotton near Reelfoot Lake.

I could feel my sinuses clogging up and my head beginning to pound as I entered Crockett County last night.  The cotton gins are going full bore, 24 hours a day.  At 9:45 last night I passed several cotton fields with two or more pickers still running.  They will do that this time of year all over cotton country, 24 hours a day, as long as rain holds off. 

At least it is not quite as dangerous around here this time of year now as it was when I grew up here.  It was not unusual to top a hill or round a corner to find a very slow moving, unlit cotton trailer in the middle of the road.  At least two people I went to school with were killed in separate car accidents with cotton trailers shortly after we graduated.  You still have to watch for cotton pickers traveling from one field to the next, but they move pretty fast and are very well lit.  

Now, they compress the newly picked cotton into a huge truck-sized bale in the field and leave it.  Specially equipped trucks, operated by the cotton gins, go to the field to retrieve the bales and transport them to the gin to be processed.  These trucks are fully road worthy and, although they operate day and night, they are well marked and lit for night travel.  They also don't waste any time; they have a lot of bales to transport.

They only real danger left for the average joe in cotton country is just being here.  The air is full of microscopic and not-so-microscopic cotton fibers and dust churned up by the equipment.  While not toxic, it just plays havoc with the upper respiratory system.  A lot of people blame that on the defoliant that is sprayed on the fields a few days to a week before it is picked.  This is a chemical that causes the cotton plants to lose their leaves and they bolls to open up completely.  This makes it easier for the machinery to pick the cotton without getting a lot of trash that has to be ginned out.  (A farmer's production, and his pay, is based on weight after it is ginned.  A ginner will weigh the cotton before it is ginned, but will penalize based on the amount of debris and moisture content.)  Although, the defoliant can be smelled strongly after it is dispersed (usually by aircraft), it doesn't stay in the air long.  I personally believe it is the cotton itself, or, at least, the process by which it is picked and processed.