Who indeed would be more capable of preaching the ‘good news’ to anyone than Gator himself? Just about every rule that the Lord Himself gave Gator has been broken and dashed to pieces. Even the murder rule which Gator sought to break as he slithered around his old neighborhood. Gator’s thoughts broke Gator’s soul.

Looking for the man that deserved killing. Anger and retribution raged within him and the old German pistol, tucked in his backside was to be the tool. Fully loaded with 9mm hollow points. Cocked and locked. The offender was never seen, but Gator’s gang leader told him the job had been accomplished in a different way. A way of terror only as a prolonged, inevitable execution can be. Gator was glad. He raped my woman.

Now today, we watch and read of looting, destruction and again of guns and death. “If only they were given the opportunity to succeed” No, they are just doing what we would do if we lived there. “ Those people need a good education and healthy surroundings” How is that working for world leaders and wall street? We would be seated on thrones of wealth if opportunity was given. Corrupted, Just a little bit so no one will notice or care.

Same humans, just change broken windows and free stuff for derivatives and broken mortgages. More profit again.

‘If I ran things’ (Dr. Suess) I would give them/us money and free colleges. Just like us, ‘those people’ would leverage it into something a little more useful. A little profit over the expected. Maybe a lot of good connections to leverage law to my advantage (we call it lobbying) “Don’t lecture me! It’s perfectly legal!”

We are ‘those people’ We use excuses just like them and everyone does. I deserve better, it’s my right! They hate me. Why? Because ‘those people’ remind us of what we are inside. Broken and in denial of it.

After all we argue, look at the lions and the coyotes. They are just like us, Darwinian? Evolved into possessing the fang and claw to survive. There is a subtle but severe difference, we know that destroying life that is just like us is wrong. There is a built in knowledge that there is a right and wrong. We ‘kill’ each other with our knowledge of not being mere flesh and blood. Capable of higher things and mercy and love. “I’m no Hitler” we say. That’s good, One was quite enough. The majority of my neighbors would say so too. Unless I lived ‘over there’ in WWII and thought Adolph had the right idea. “Tell a lie once and it is seen so. Do it hundreds of times and it becomes truth”1.

As Gator realizes again after studying from Socrates to C.S. Lewis, all the twists and turns of philosophy turn us to observing our minds in different ways. ‘this is the right way to look at reality’ Good logic and often leading to discovery of good things. Not necessarily to the solution of finally seeing this reality of life as our brokenness, in desperate need of a solution. Somehow to do so much more than ‘forgiving ourselves’ once more for breaking a law that goes way beyond theft and our own judgment of others for being bad people.

Bad just like us. Sinful is a good term to use. We are all guilty and in need of a solution, to be whole and what we have been created for. Not red of fang and claw but worthy of loving only like one man ever did.

Ask that man and he will make you fresh and new if you really mean it. Jesus can do this for you.

It’s pretty good. Jack Gator

1. Joseph Goebbels

It was a child’s romance. A romance perhaps brought into full bloom by trauma and the need to escape it somehow. Fresh from the military that tortured him, Jack’s path beckoned him strongly to dissolve himself in marriage. A sudden formal engagement and the promise of the life he had never known seemed right.

The only job Jack had was performing songs learned from warm and scratchy vinyl recordings. Joan Baez, Peter, Paul & Mary, Carolyn Hester. The job at the YMCA for youth was better right away than the red line brig in Spain and got Jack the attention he craved.

The romance began with a girl from the YMCA gig. Jack was living in the basement with his mother and her Swedish 3^rd husband. Relegated to the room with a washing machine that supplied needed noise for Jack and his girl friend. This living arrangement was to be endured till the marriage anticipated, but the engagement ended as quickly as it had begun. She kept the ring and never came back. Jack’s beloved disappeared. Jack frantically swam through all the places she should be, and finally, a good friend told him: she had run off with an actor from the famous Guthrie Theater. She was gone.

Stunned again by sudden betrayal, Jack went deep into the rabbit hole and gave up the promised good life and got involved with another vet who hooked him up with some heroin smugglers in California. Money, a mansion in the hills of Berkeley and using his Military skill set, Jack became a member of the air force of drug smugglers. Mexico to the California desert. Heroin gave Jack relief from all the pain of his life. The poppy blooming in Jack’s core became the path to victory. No back pain, no mental anguish, no fears. Just nirvana and complete oblivion.

Deep into addiction, a voice entered Jack’s room in the mansion. Five simple words: “Life or death, choose now” The stupefied Gator chose life and was instantaneously delivered from the death path. No withdrawal. Of course, the swell new job was over and the usual reaction was another betrayal and a narrow escape. Jack left the flying close to the ocean trade, still alive and another life came upon him. A drug free city government gang that drove cabs. He was Hippy restaurant singer and then steel track work brought the money. The city gang was left for the railroad gang, but Something was awry and had to be done for freedom from the inside pain upon him again. Never trust your heart to another. That was entrenched into Jack’s very being, trauma of the past.

Through a city friend, Jack found his fiancé locked in a mental ward downtown and bluffed his way in posing as a youth pastor to see her. She was heavily drugged and overweight, groggy but she came into focus for a short time and asked Jack “why are you here?” ‘Because I love you!’ came quicker than thought and it was over. The hurt, the rejection, the betrayal. Better than the heroin that never lasted and blinded Jack to the fact that his miracle of deliverance was love, not doubt. This was Jesus seeing and telling Jack what Jack really was. Then the light grew slowly but surely. Plans afoot to take Jack to places he could not imagine. Places of trust. Real fulfillment. Real music with love.

‘Never betray the sword, never betray beauty, and never betray a friend’. It’s a good way to see the life we live as men and warriors of the Word. Freedom from fear and self hatred is a special gift that can only come from our Lord and Savior. It’s pretty good. Jack Gator

It was early in the morning when Jack saw the delightful smell drifting in from the kitchen. A haze,

It was Stijn, his son, cooking bacon for the family breakfast. Delightful, visible and delicious.

A combination of several senses at once.

Another combination is lightning. The stroke, which grasps our sight as suddenly it appears and

continues for a very brief time afterwards as dark lines as we blink it away. Then comes the sound.

Calculating in our mind the speed of sound @ 1125 ft/s we come up with a mile every 4.7 seconds.

It’s fun to see how close the strike is by the timing of the thunder. So, we have sound and sight in

combination. If the lightning is close, there is a smell of the ozone as well. The fertility of the earth

is enhanced by the generation of Nitrogen. A natural fertilizer and the ozone protects us from the

harmful radiation from sunlight! Quite a few senses involved. Sight, smell, hearing and the

engagement of our mind in calculation and awe.

Along with the lightning, comes the wind and the rain. So now we combine sight, smell and sound

in a different way with seeing the rain, hearing it spatter on our head or the rap on a roof. Then

comes the smell of freshness. Does anyone have few words for the smell of the rain? It’s the smell

that aromatic companies try to duplicate for those horrid car ‘fresheners’ or scented soaps and dryer

sheets. That isle in the big box store that gives us the challenge of holding our breath until we wheel

past with the wobble-wheel cart, looking for toilet paper (Same breath holding reaction to the kitty

litter aisle)

There is, of course, the smell of an old bound hard-cover book while reading it. We could talk about

the delight of those two, but that’s another sense we have. Awe. It’s a natural emotional response to

the senses combined. It’s a sense of presence of the Numinous Creator God. You may call Him a

different name in your awe, Jack calls him Yahweh or Lord or God, the best one for him is Jesus.

Another sense often occurs with that Awe, shivering or a tingling of suddenly being aware of the

supernatural that is always with you but now, sometimes visible (It HAS happened to the Gator,

but is very rare.) After all, no one is supposed to see the face of God lest he die. In the words of

Pogo..”Death, I can live without it”.

It’s not the face of God Jack has seen, it’s the result of His presence he has seen. Jack knows He has

permitted him to see things and hear things, along with that presence that is unbelievable when Jack

talks about them. That’s OK if someone scoffs at these things, Jack knows, He was there.

As Jack has said before, he was there and he is not claiming any thing else. Just a gift we get if we

would know it is so. Jack Gator looks forward to this gift from Him with a smile of expectancy. Jack

never knows when it will occur, but it does and gives him more than he can try to describe in the

description of senses. You probably have had this happen to you, the reader, but perhaps have

thought of it as incredible luck or coincidence unexplained. It’s Joy, that’s for certain.

It’s pretty good. Jack Gator

Gator took on a home project the other day, replacing the kitchen faucet. It took all day, odd tools and a session with Gator’s past habits. It began, like most ‘easy’ home projects without any trouble. Removing that drippy faucet was awkward for an older Gator on his back, under the sink, and being somewhat careful to not disconnect any pipes of drainage and to avoid set mouse traps. Two fittings did not seem possible to remove. They were up high, constricted and large. Rummaging in the old big toolbox in the standard dimension wrench drawer revealed a very old Ford wrench that amazingly, seemed correct for the job. It was a perfect fit and was offset . A one inch open end, perhaps for Gator’s old 41 coupe?

Gator took the old faucet and noticed it was a major brand that sets forth a ‘lifetime warranty’ Sounds good! He took it to the major big-box store where it was purchased some years ago and ran into an instant refusal. The initially friendly young woman behind the counter asked to the paid receipt and it was long gone from years ago. He was expecting ‘no problem, it’s warranted for life! Go get another one and bring it back for exchange” It happened when the original one failed a decade ago. There was no receipt then either. Things had changed at the big-box. Then an an argument ensued from what was supposed to be an easy return.

It got heated, at the final refusal, Gator spun around towards the door and threw the defective faucet on the sidewalk and it lost a few pieces in the process. He slunk away, one of his digits shaking from the emotion and sat behind the wheel of his Gator Mobile. Gator knew he was wrong and he prayed for somehow to make it right.

He finally came back in and the counter woman had an expression that was unpleasant to see. Gator went up to a smiling worker and asked for the store manager. He came and after a short, somewhat snarky conversation, gave in and told Gator to go get another one off the shelf and bring it back. The manager opened the box on the counter and pulled out the faucet and parts and ‘tossed in’ the remains of the old one. Gator took the awkward double handful and put them in the Gator mobile. What he had just done worried him a lot.

He went back in (3^rd time) and went shopping with the list. He met the manager a ways down in the huge store and called him over by name. Gator was genuine and mild by now in apologizing for his attitude. The manager understood Gator and they shook hands. For ‘some reason’ Gator remembered the managers name to call out to him. Astonishing, it Felt good. Gator tracked down the clerks he had words with and humbled himself as best he knew how and also apologized and asked them shake on it. It felt right.

Later, on the drive home, Gator realized the freedom he had experienced and broke down while listening to a friends song about someone that was still hurting but was still able to look back on the Lord and ask for forgiveness and strength to do what was good and right. Gator knew another change had occurred within him. Deep with truth about his brokenness and looking for help from the only one that could help. It’s pretty good. Jack

There was a time when a rural township with a large amount of land was threatened by one of their neighbors in a most unusual way. It was at first a subtle threat, an undercurrent of incredible dimensions.

The threat came, very surprisingly from the township’s own of landed gentility, a solid and respected farmer with a century of landed property. There seemed to be nothing behind the threat except a thirst for money. Incredulously, the people began doing the only thing they knew how to do. They prayed, they read the scriptures and met in their homes and church’s to see what the Lord was saying to everyone. Some folks began pointing fingers with gossip about that farmer in spite of the Lords gentle but firm commandment not to do so.

I was led to visit that farmer and that usually wasn’t done as he was busy managing and being an appointed chairman of the large township. It was a lonely and somewhat frightening experience for me. That chairman was known to be a man of explosive temper. Still, I was accepted as I knew his father as a close neighbor from a half century ago and a conversation began. It was made clear I respected him and that character assassination and gossip was not on my agenda. It was my plea for honor to prevail.

Much talk of earlier times took place and even a bit of laughter about that man’s humorous and friendly father. But after a misunderstanding between them upon a second meeting, a phone call with bad language and cursing my faith came forth. Surprised, still persisted.

I brought a tonic of elderberry juice prepared by my wife. On my first visit I saw a persistent cough. I never got the empty jar back. On my fourth visit, I brought raspberries . this gift was dismissed as he told me he had them in his garden. ” Give them to my son” who was standing nearby at the machine shed. Now, legal battles between that that chairman and the people began to get unpleasant and expensive.

Billboards, lawn signs and legal briefs of all sorts. We have an attorney who lives here and donates his time.

The courts move slowly as most courts do and there seemed no way to go back to the pleasant life of all who live here. There are many lakes and cottage owners that use them in the summer. At a town hall meeting the ex chairman shouted ” The lake is dying!” It was over the top of arrogance from a man that was assumed a steward of the land. His home and hundreds of acres of land are not located near any of the lakes. He must have a really efficacious hvac system on his shopping list.

The battle between him and our neighbors continues even though it seems hopeless. Our legal battle for his opening the gate and selling 40 acres to the hog farm developers removed his chairman’s position and resentment continues to grow.

Whatever the courts decide and the underhanded and stiff necked way the former chairman acted and talked are going to be remembered like a forest fire . That memory will linger long afterwards. The family name is now tarnished. In no uncertain terms I told him there were three options available. Keep pressing in and succeed and your family name will be despised. Keep pressing in and loose the battle and the same result will occur. Third choice. Publicly announce that his plan was not good and he would most likely be voted back in as township chairman. He did an excellent job before.

There are celebratory events now over the near miss but the he is now in a jail of his own. It could have been much better for him. Wealth is seductive and destructive and that man is despised by his neighbors but his sons are viewed with suspicion as to what may come next.

Another farmer also is a political figure is another county south of ours, and also closed his fields for snowmobile traffic He was angry that the bad publicity would thwart t his plan to do the same thing in his township. A child’s behavior indeed. Another family name that is tainted.

The original plan is now being challenged by all enjoined people and the plan itself is being brought to light as even more insidious as first appearances were. Pollution of a well used and known river in the watershed threatened.

The foreign country, China, is well funded and connected to the state legislators that seduced my neighbor is working their way to still possess and exploit beautiful country side. It has already gained foothold in neighboring states.

The whole countryside is being destroyed by the high powers and it seems there are not many ways to stop this disaster. Parts of Iowa are in a no breathe zone and western Minnesota people cannot have outdoor picnics, dry laundry or even keep their windows open. Hog manure from huge factories have already ruined the air and water down south from North Carolina.

It’s a need for pork for China and the butchered carcasses are shipped in refrigerated containers to them. 25 thousand hogs on 40 acres with 8 million waste pools is normal for these ‘farms’ It is a foreign invasion of sorts and the ‘profits’ of the exploitation are motivated by Chinas need for the resources of our county. The state legislators are bought by well funded lobbyists with campaign funds.

“Get big or get out” creates a farmers dreams of fortune and dazzling profits. It’s seemingly unstoppable but there is one far above everything and everyone that owns everything anyone can see. He owns the the cattle on all hills and He owns the hills too. By the way, He owns the planets and stars. After all, the Lord made everything that has been made.

Petitions have been given in various ways to the Lord and it is known that He Hears and responds to each and every one. The response is up to Him and the people to then listen. The world once again awaits awesome revelation and direction. At one time, the God was asked which beautiful name would be given to the people to call upon Him. He answered, “I am”.

Jack Gator

It’s a common play yard device, the sandbox. Castles and moats and endless small buckets packed full. My curiosity found me wandering about the internet, seeking wisdom on the makeup of the sun. Stepping out of the sandbox a little and wondering what some of the other prognosticators have to say.

Plasma and sunspots and coronas oh my! Probes abound on the moon and mars, sending information on the astounding makeup of our cosmos. Of course the inevitable billions of years pops up as though there is an atomic clock complete with seasons of bombardment and planetary wobble. I admit the science of construction is sound. Speculative origins and reasons for origins are a bit dicey in the science. The most popular one these days is the ‘Big Bang’. You know the one. A big firecracker went off somewhere and all the see-able universe came out of that explosion. Carl Sagan and his billions and billions of years. A cosmic lay-away plan for evolution.

“I think, therefore I am an intellectual” So many voices vying us, telling us how old, how far, and yet, how unknowable. Always from as far as we have historical writings. I am, of course, assuming that up until fairly recently in the billion years the earth was created that the impossible microbial and double helix ‘came into being’. It would seem that carved stones and historical records were just not up to snuff to survive those millennia as we evolved from Reptiles I get on board with that one, but humor aside, , the bees and the flowers evolved at exactly the same time so both could continue to exist.

There has been found ancient beeswax (not the old candles in our kitchen drawers either) All speculation on the thinnest evidence for eons. Atheist writers such as Darwin, Wallace, Origen and Dawkins believed adamantly in their cleverness and intellect seeing things themselves that any thinking man (if they were as clever as they were) would doubtless agree with. We can add Steven Hawking to that group as well. Of course, all dead, they now know the truth as must we when our time comes.

I prefer the wager that Pascal wrote. Simple bet, really. If I believe in the Lord when I have lived, then when my life is over, I spent eternity with Him. If there is no God then nothing happens when I die. If I do not believe in God, when I die I spend eternity without Him in eternal misery. If He does not exist then nothing happens. The added plus is a changed and joy filled life if we look to God for His truth.

Not much of a bet for the unbeliever. Death means ∞ either way. It’s where we spend it that counts.

It has been an ‘interesting’ time here on earth for us and lately, it has actually gotten worse on a global scale. We are desperately wicked and we are getting used to it as the frog, slowly boiling, relaxes in the comfy hot tub. Why not just have our sun go nova and wipe out the whole mess of us and start over?

After all, we deserve it for our ways of worshiping ourselves instead of the obvious creator of all things. Time and again. Amazingly, the ‘astronomical price’ for all this horrible behavior we do, or even want to do has been paid. Talk about benevolent! God himself paid the price. There are many folk tales and fascinating fables such as Balder for one that tell this story. Echo’s of the real event. God dying and coming back to life. C.S. Lewis put it well in a fable, ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’. A fable that came to be true. It really happened and is documented in so many ways. God died and lived.

Remember Baal? That false god demanded children be burned alive to appease him. Now we still kill them, but have added a profit of selling their body parts. 68.1 million so far, a large amount from black neighborhoods. Our government adores this murder for profit and eliminating people they deem ‘non productive’ Planned Non-Parenthood or something like that it’s called.

He made us and all we see with a thought! I am glad He is merciful as well as wrathful. What is the tipping point for us? He has sent His Son fairly recently to show us the truth. It’s pretty good. Jack Gator

There the whole Gator family was, searching the ranch for Jack’s wallet. In the car door, where it usually resides. In the car, in the shop, in the house, on the driveway. Over and over. Feeling foolish and forgetful. “Where is the last place you were?” Lets see, I remember that Greta (Mrs. Gator)was trying boots out at the Boot Scoot Boot shop up the hill from town!

Jack remembered he had to use the bathroom there and Greta called them. A short time later, they called back and had found Gator’s wallet! What a relief. Quite a few rapid fire prayers before that good news. You know how they sound. Sort of a reverent muttering as everyone tears around, trying to do the impossible task set before them. Prayer is the best way to get close and hear God.

The next day, Jack went swimming (Gators favorite place-the pool) and swung by the Boot Scoot shop to pick up his wallet. There it was, next to the cash register, rubber banded and a note hooked on under the rubber band. YES! There it was, intact, all the credit cards and drivers license in it. The money pocket was completely empty though. Quite a bit of paper was in there, 160 dollars or so.

1. Who would find the wallet, take out the money (after opening it) and put it back where it was?
2. Why not just bring it up to the cashier after gleefully pocketing the cash?

A thinking thief of being identified as the finders keepers type. “well heck, you got it back!” Gator wonders about the time the whole family found a lot of 100’s on the sidewalk at one of the big box stores. After a little speculation on what that money would buy, they took it all inside and gave it to the store manager. He said they could most likely use the parking lot cameras to come up with the person that lost it. Temptation is strong with those finds but the lesson has been learned. Do unto others as you would have done to you. It really feels good long after that chain saw could have been bought.

Actually, taking the money in any situation like those has consequences that are off the thief’s radar. A knowledge of good and evil is a basic lesson, a basic premise of logic. This is a pivot point in our Post Modern world. A quote from Solzhenitsyn from The Gulag Archipelago, “Young people are acquiring the conviction that foul deeds are never punished on earth, that they always bring prosperity”

The money will soon be absorbed into the greater picture of the Gator’s budget but the memory will remain of the sad thief that will be punished. Because the post-modern world does not realize that there are absolutes. These things are basic precepts known for all times. Again from Solzhenitsyn: “ From the most ancient times justice has been a two-part concept; virtue triumphs and vice is punished”

The illusion, once again that the only values that matter to us are personal peace and prosperity. In a much bigger picture of our nation, the same thought prevails. In simple terms, Personal Peace means just to be let alone, not to be troubled by the troubles of other people…to have our personal lives undisturbed…prosperity or affluence means a life filled with things, and more things—success judged by and ever-higher level of material abundance. 1. Indeed, modern man has been found lacking and we are in trouble when our fellow man is someone to feed off of. Ask Gator about his eating habits. It’s not easy embracing truth and precepts unshakable. It can be done however. Takes time.

The alternative to the current moral morass is to listen the Man that is more alive than any man that has ever lived. Read all about Him, ask around, you’ll find Him everywhere. It’s pretty good. Jack Gator

1. Francis A. Schaeffer ‘How should we then live?’

Gator was mulling over some recent friends that came instantaneously and once having befriended him, walked out of sight, mission accomplished. Those memories stick and stand out when found in our soul memory, recalled years later with clarity and a smile. The important memories. It could be someone found us in need or we did the same to another stranger.

It usually begins with a smile and spoken word or three. “Can you help me?” or “Are you OK?” No hustle seen in their eyes, no agenda except contact given. Gator recalls wandering about in the big box, seeking a certain odd piece of weather-strip. A man near where it should have been. Not an employee. Gator asked him if he knew of this thing and he did. The man immediately walked a ways to the west (built in magnetic field detector, all Gators have them) It was quite a few aisles away and found among a special display of woodworking specialty items.

Thanking the man for being so kind and going way out of his way, Gator realized something that is also a detector within. He has to pay attention to use it and be bold when it comes forth. Gator looked the man in the eyes and asked, well proclaimed: “You are a Christian aren’t you” Yes was the smile. A hand of brotherhood, a gift of fellowship.

Another time, another big box, parking lot this time. It happened in in an odd way. Gator had his purchases (including the newspaper his recent column was in) and getting close to his car he noticed an anomaly. The rear bumper was in a bit of a decline, bad dent and a few scratches for accent. Awful.

Somewhat surprised and puzzled, Gator figured someone didn’t like the way he was parked. He made a rather loud noise but didn’t rant and rave nor drop his purchases which were intended for the trunk. A woman approached him from a parked car and began telling him she was sorry and Gator was relieved that she had stuck around. Calm now, information was exchanged. Her insurance company, phone number. The usual things. She thought her brakes failed so Gator, assuming his professional auto repair persona checked her brake pedal and told her it was safe to drive home. She said again how sorry she was and Gator stayed calm but somewhat dismayed at the body work that it would take. Photos were taken. She told Gator she was frightened at a confrontation and very pleased at Gator’s calmness.

Later that day, she called and told him her address which Gator had forgotten to write down. She had already called her insurance agent. Gator thanked her and then knew what to say: “you’re a Christian aren’t you” She asked how Gator knew and he told her, “it shows, I could tell” She was somewhat surprised and was very encouraged. Things went well for her, Gator also knew that. It will come to you too, this wonderful conversation. As you once again pilgrim, walk over a bumpy section of the path, at a crossing, stop, look and listen and you will hear His gentle encouragement;

“Tell them I know them. As I know you. This will give them My joy.” Be bold, listen to the Lord of all creation and tell world what you hear. It’s pretty good. Jack Gator