1872- TEXAS ‘HOLD-ER’ [Texas Hold-em is a popular scratch off down here in Skynard land]

I had an interesting day on Facebook yesterday.

I kinda hung out for most of the day- reading my friends sites and all.

Being I’ve been living in Texas for the past 32 years- to me it’s neat to see all the old pics from my hometown area.

Some of my friends post classic/current pictures of my old stomping grounds- that’s so cool.

As I perused the landscape- I also noticed something- many of my friends get lots of comments.

At first this seemed like a good thing- but as the day wore on- and I watched the news [Holder story- in a sec] I began letting ole slew foot in the door.

‘Yeah- why do they get so many comments- and I get none’?

‘Wait John- don’t go down that road- you know where it leads’.

Okay- I resisted ‘resist the devil and he will flee from you’ [James].

Yet- the more comments I saw- the worse it got.

‘John- focus on the word- find a short- 2 or 3 word verse that you can fixate your mind on’

Good idea!

‘Love those that treat you wrong- don’t get even- don’t be jealous’.

I mean- there are so many to choose from- plus- they sound real good- but I can’t seem to ‘get satisfaction’ by focusing on them.

I also saw lots of old Rock pics and stuff- yeah- even ran across that old Stones tune ‘I can’t get no satisfaction’ I know what you mean Mick.

So- after a while- I found a short- 3-4 word phrase that seemed to do the trick- but it came from the Facebook site itself.

REPORT/BLOCK THIS PERSON

Oh yeah- sweet- so sweet.

Easy to remember- and it feels sooo good!

Okay- I kid.

Now- what actually did get me riled up a bit?

As a news watcher- I flip the channels nonstop.

I watch em all.

So- as I’m resisting the jealousy thing- I see that Eric Holder came to Texas to address the NAACP.

They showed a few short clips of the speech.

He has sued our state multiple time- he just sued Corpus Christi last week [few posts back].

So as he’s giving the speech- he criticizes the new voter ID law.

He even mocks good ole Texas.

You know- Skynard said ‘southern man don’t need him around anyhow- in Birmingham we love the govn’r’ yeah- he stuck it to old Neil Young.

So Holder says that the new law would permit you to vote if you showed a pictured gun permit- but you could not use a student ID.

Yeah- you preach it Holder!

Doesn’t that sound like Texas is filled with a bunch of A holes?

Boy did they roar in the crowd.

He then went on and said the law- which requires an ID [I’m pretty sure you can get one for free if you don’t have the money?] is a POLL TAX.

He said we were all racists.

This is our attorney general.

‘John- be honest- it’s because he’s Black- isn’t it’?

No- that’s only about 5 % of it [okay- I kid once more].

The truth be told- this is indeed playing the race card- and for the chief officer of the justice Dept. to be playing this card- well- that’s bad.

I mean why would a gun permit do the trick- yet a student ID wont?

In Texas- many students [thousands- 10’s of thousands?] are not U.S. citizens.

It’s not against the law for a non citizen to have a Texas student idea.

Yet- you can’t get a gun permit without an extensive background check.

If you have a permit- you are a citizen.

Now- Holder knows this- so what he did was pure politics- he appealed to the racist instinct in all men- yes even in Black men- and he played the race card.

This is shameful- it is racist- and the man needs to resign his job- now.

Okay- see- now I’m struggling again- just like the comment thing ‘love your enemies- pray for those who do you wrong’.

Yeah- I know.

But BLOCK THIS PERSON.

It just feels so much better.

All right.

Psalms 78.

I have been reading/meditating on it the last couple of days.

The Psalm recounts the story of God meeting the needs of his people when they came out of Egypt and were in the wilderness- for 40 years.

You find the story in the book of Exodus.

During this 40 year journey- which in reality was a couple of day journey- but they wandered in circles for 40 years because they would not believe the promise God made to them.

So- during this time they complained- lots.

‘we will starve out here- we have no bread- no water- no meat’.

And time after time God would do a miracle and give them what they needed.

In the Psalm we read that he gave them bread from heaven- it was called MANNA- the word means ‘what is it’.

It was called Angels food.

It was a little wafer type thing [Catholic friends- think Host] and in the morning when they got up it was on the ground- every day- for 40 years.

They wanted meat- they started complaining about the Manna ‘Manna every day- cant we change the menu up Moses’.

So God sent them meat- he caused a strong wind to blow and tons of Quail blew in from off shore- they had meat ‘until it came out their nose’- yeah- this is a quote from the bible.

So- God did provide for them- yet they still complained.

Years ago when reading the story I came across a verse I liked [almost as much as BLOCK THIS PERSON].

It said Moses kept the ordinances in the wilderness for 40 years.

Think about that.

After God parted the Red Sea- they spent 40 years wasting time.

They were supposed to go right into the promised land [Cancan- Israel] but because of their whining- it took 40 years to make the 3 day trip.

Yet- God gave them ordinances- religious type rituals that he wanted them to keep- Passover- etc.

And Moses kept observing them- even though the promise was so far away.

Yeah- that’s the tough part if you will- what divides the men from the boys.

It’s not your talent [or how many darn comments you get] or your good looks.

No- at the end of the day- can you keep the ‘ordinances in the wilderness’.

Can you do what needs to be done- even when all hope seems gone.

Yeah-  that’s the key.

So- as I end this post- I too have a choice.

Will I think ‘happy thoughts’?

Nah- the BLOCK THIS PERSON still seems to give me that extra umph- one more night with the frogs will have to do [one of the 10 plagues- it’s a long story for another day].

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook Profile- I have posted lots.