If you accent the second syllable, August is another word for awesome, or great. It's the root of that title given to ancient Rome's first emperor, Augustus Caesar; who is mentioned once in the Bible (Luke 2:1) as issuing a decree that all the world should be registered (for taxation of course). Seems that Julius Caesar is better known even though he was assassinated to prevent his becoming the first head of the Roman empire. So he got the month before August tagged with his names, July. And didn't july fly by for 2002? It was the month Governor Keating tried to get smoking completely prohibited in Oklahoma's public places, though up at Sapulpa the Creek County district judge ruled favoring a couple of business plaintiffs who sued to block such enforcement and got a delaying inunction. How the devil can drag his feet when being thrown out. So here in August we've got the heat, if not smoke and fire (plenty of that out in CO, AZ, UT, ID, CA & OR with these worst ever ones). But this month becomes truly august as leaves start to turn yellow and the landscape grows gloriously colorful for September. Maybe that offset some of the horrible recollections that 9/11/02 will bring. Just compare it to the only reason the mighty Augustus is even remembered in Scripture: to set the date of birth for baby Jesus.
Niece and I have had a cell phone for several months and find it so handy to contact each other. But thinking of one being used to set off a bomb in Jerusalem that killed five Americans (along with two Israelis) utterly sickens me. It gets around suicide to do the same sort of abominable bombing. Two Palestinian women were seen fleeing, having been tipped off ahead of time. I've been to that Hebrew University there on Mt.Scopus where my friend Jonathan Rosenthal once studied. That was back in the mid '70s. We called him "Yonie" then. He later became a concert pianist and toured over here performing in our major cities (Dallas was the nearest and I didn't get there, sad to say) He was a native-born Israeli who grew up in a Kibbutz. There was a special term for those born in Eretz Israel back then. Can't recall it now. Finally he married a girl named Irit. Then we lost touch after that, though I still recall the prayer I placed in a crack of the temple West Wall asking that I'd get to witness for Christ to someone there. Jonathan was the answer and we corresponded by mail for several years. When I took my mother over with me in 1980, he spend a whole day with us. I was amazed at all he knew of the current situation and learned more that day about Israel than in my lifetime up to then. It's been of keen interest to me ever since, for 22 years now. I'm outraged by such prostitution of cell phone technology. Had rather see them blowing themselves up to do their dastardly satanic work, terrible as the suicides were. Our cell phone speaks to me now of how impossible it would be to allow a Palestinian state next to Israel. Maybe at the South Pole or perhaps the moon, but not on the Golan, West Bank and Gaza strip. "No way, Hosea" that cell phone says to me. Could anyone secretly plant a bomb in it that would explode on Niece or me? That question makes the war on terrorism closer and a lot more real!
I understand that America's highest crime rate is black on black assault. And those seven in Chicago who ganged up in anger to pull two of their own out of a van and beat them to death (because of a traffic accident) seems to confirm such racial self attack. No one in the crowd of a hundred tried to stop the hoods, who all have now been identified as criminals. So the spectators were surely intimidated as they simply watched the murders carried out with fists and bricks. I lived in Chicago for part of a year in '45 and have fond memories of how friendly a city it was for service men. I was stationed on Navy Pier, sticking off into Lake Michigan just east of the Loop (but now demolished and removed). We heard often back then of Al Capone and the Valentines Day massacre. But it only seemed like ancient history because the windy city was big hearted and generous and we got free passes to sports and shows. Sundays I went to the tallest church in the world, Chicago Temple. Dr.Charles Goff was pastor and nationally knows as "America's conversational preacher." You would feel like he was chatting with you individually and everyone just called him Charley. I know it wasn't realistic, but Chicago seemed such a happy place. When the Democrats had their convention there in the sixties and everything went berserk over getting out of Viet Nam, I just couldn't believe it as I watched the protesters chanting on TV "The whole world is watching." They wanted to show how wicked the establishment was, and the cops just about proved it in plain sight. I've only been back there a couple of times since, but when I see the Sears Tower on TV WGN-news now, tallest in America, it feels good just to watch, even though Chicago's slipped to third place for size now. I spend seven years as a boy at Mt.Vernon in southern IL, and when we said "up at the City" there, we didn't mean OKC as we do here in PV. But some of the best Christians I've ever known are people of color. Thank GOD for all the black churches. Whenever I've been in a service, the healing love of Jesus is really felt. His power to redeem is the only true answer to such atrocities against strangers as seen on TV in Chicago. And now that heroic survival of a black and a white girl who were both held in such terror for a dozen hours by that guy the police finally shot dead illustrates blacks and whites overcoming together the monster of sex crime that's loose in our land. How we need to support each other the way they did and "be not ovrcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." Shalom/Salaam
Thank heaven Pauls Valley hasn't been hit yet with a half million dollar settlement for two citizens wrongly convicted of a crime the way Ada has. It was for murdering a woman over there back in '82 that two guys got the death penalty. One was nearly executed before DNA testing cleared them. Then they sued the city, state and federal authorities for millions. So now Ada's happy to get off paying only $500,000, as reported Wednesday in this paper. Doesn't that demostrates how very carefully prosecutions and convictions must be conducted when a town is made to pay so much for mistakes? Law enforcement has become like walking a tight rope. Thank GOD that injustice is prevented, but that leaves the real killers to still be found doesn't it. So Ada's hit hard both ways.
Do you read our comic strips daily? I always look at the first one, Geezer, because Kevin Stark's a friend of mine. He's been drawing it for several years now and introduced us to a cast of characters, both human and canine. It's about as far out as a cartoon can get, but I like to see that senior citizen as it's hero. Have wondered where we got "geezer" for and excentric old man, which is what Webster says it means. Maybe from the pyramids of Gieza, which are pretty old. Or maybe from the Bible, where Gezer is a place mentioned over and over through the books of Joshua, Judges, both Samuels and both Chronicles. Anyhow, it's delightful to see old folks doing mighty deeds, just as in Scripture. I think Noah was over a hundred when he started building the Ark. Abraham was also a hundred when he became a daddy. And there was no viagra nor super-viagra then. It was supernatural power. Moses was eighty when he led the children of Israel out of Egypt. On and on, age is no barrier to accomplish great things. Makes me look forward to more even after two lifetimes already. Right on Geezer. Straight ahead, old man!
Rotary will be back at Pizza & More after the first Friday at the Bosa Center. We got a chance to pet some exotic animals from the G.W. Animal Park in WW. And we heard of the many rescues of abused creatures that the Park has afforded. It was reported also that WW's biggest car festival yet took place there last month. I got to see the parade in town before they went to that Park instead of WW's as in years past. Things keep getting better in WW, except for Jeff Van Arnam's little two year daughter. As you saw in Thursday's headline, she nearly drown in the Bosa pool. Thank the LORD for having Andrea Selman there to use her training and save the child's life. HE also had that hero at the fiery crash east of Stratford a week of so ago. "The eternal God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble." Praise to His holy Name.
Thank heaven Pauls Valley hasn't been hit yet with a half million dollar settlement for two citizens wrongly convicted of a crime the way Ada has. It was for murdering a woman over there back in '82 that two guys got the death penalty. One was nearly executed before DNA testing cleared them. Then they sued the city, state and federal authorities for millions. So now Ada's happy to get off paying only $500,000, as reported Wednesday in this paper. Doesn't that demostrates how very carefully prosecutions and convictions must be conducted when a town is made to pay so much for mistakes? Law enforcement has become like walking a tight rope. Thank GOD that injustice is prevented, but that leaves the real killers to still be found doesn't it. So Ada's hit hard both ways.
Do you read our comic strips daily? I always look at the first one, Geezer, because Kevin Stark's a friend of mine. He's been drawing it for several years now and introduced us to a cast of characters, both human and canine. It's about as far out as a cartoon can get, but I like to see that senior citizen as it's hero. Have wondered where we got "geezer" for and excentric old man, which is what Webster says it means. Maybe from the pyramids of Gieza, which are pretty old. Or maybe from the Bible, where Gezer is a place mentioned over and over through the books of Joshua, Judges, both Samuels and both Chronicles. Anyhow, it's delightful to see old folks doing mighty deeds, just as in Scripture. I think Noah was over a hundred when he started building the Ark. Abraham was also a hundred when he became a daddy. And there was no viagra nor super-viagra then. It was supernatural power. Moses was eighty when he led the children of Israel out of Egypt. On and on, age is no barrier to accomplish great things. Makes me look forward to more even after two lifetimes already. Right on Geezer. Straight ahead, old man!
Rotary will be back at Pizza & More after the first Friday at the Bosa Center. We got a chance to pet some exotic animals from the G.W. Animal Park in WW. And we heard of the many rescues of abused creatures that the Park has afforded. It was reported also that WW's biggest car festival yet took place there last month. I got to see the parade in town before they went to that Park instead of WW's as in years past. Things keep getting better in WW, except for Jeff Van Arnam's little two year daughter. As you saw in Thursday's headline, she nearly drown in the Bosa pool. Thank the LORD for having Andrea Selman there to use her training and save the child's life. HE also had that hero at the fiery crash east of Stratford a week of so ago. "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble." Praise to His holy Name.
Dave Agee had our Rotary program and presented former DA Tuley McCoy to speak. McCoy's running again after preiously leaving that office in '94. He's a native of Chickasha and I understood that he' been with the state attorney general, but is eager to be district attorney again. The club's new exchange student, Dnilo from Brazil, was introduced. He's only 16 but speaks Portugees (natvely) Spanish and English. He's from San Paulo, Brazil. Our speaker next week that Ryan Alexander has booked is former Gov. Nye, who has served a number of the past years as president of Central State University in Edmond. Remember what a popular governor he was as "good guy Nye?"
We drained our pond out front of the Pinkhouse here in WW because of the dangers of West Nile Virus. The headline of our WW Gazette said "Nine Confirmed Cases in Oklahoma." Sure don't want any mosquitoes if we can avoid them. Just one can be like a single cancer cell, deadly.
School starts here Aug.14 and we have both a new superintendent and high school principal this fall.