Category: Editorials

Past submissions to a private newspaper on a variety of topics.

more storage please…

Dr. J.D. Wilkins2 Comments

How are you creative?

One of the joys of home ownership is all the repairs and replacements that have to be made over time, to keep your domain in optimal condition for enduring the elements as well as daily wear and tear. I really enjoy these tasks that only Mr. Fixit (that’s me) can do. I occasionally have to call in one of the professionals to do plumbing or electrical work to make sure the repairs are all up to code. But for the most part, it’s little ole me who does the majority of the work. Now, that said, my wife is creative in her own right, so she helps me in some way on all of these tasks. She’s got a real flair for decoration, so our home is always beautifully detailed with objects of art, photos, or general memorabilia that keeps our guests interested.

The most recent task became actually more a major project when my wife and I decided we needed a better solution for all our Christmas decorations. So, we agreed to take the space in our garage used for all my large tools, and create a space to store the decorations in a way that would be easier to access as we grew older. We’re just young chickens right now in our early 70’s, but decided to plan ahead anyway. Here are some before and after shots of our “creative” solution to Christmas storage. We also made room for our golf clubs, small hand tools, a plethora of nails and screws, as well as chairs for watching the grandkids play sports. What fun we’ve had being creative!

Back of cabinets
Now we can park inside again.

Breath of Heaven

Dr. J.D. Wilkins2 Comments

Christmas season is always a joy-filled time for me. Everything about it… beginning with the story itself of God’s great love for all mankind. The characters, Mary & Joseph, Elizabeth and Zachariah, the shepherds, the angels, the Magi, all centered around this baby boy born to lie in a feed trough outside of Bethlehem… the Lord of Heaven, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Amy Grant was inspired to write the lyrics and perform this song in 1992, and from that moment it became one of my all-time favorites among the plethora of great lyrical pieces all capturing the spirit of Christmas. According to Amy Grant these words explore “the journey of Mary, mother of Jesus, as she contemplates her role and the immense responsibility of giving birth to the Son of God.”

This past week my wife shared something from a friend of hers on Facebook. The post was written on November 23rd this year by Izabella Fabrizio, of whom I know absolutely nothing except the words of this post. Yet, these words ring true from all my personal study regarding the names of God revealed in Scripture.

If possible, I’d like for you to read these words through the lens of that baby boy leaving Mary’s womb, taking His first breath, snuggling close to His mother’s heart, and the mystery of His personal destiny on the cross.

Here is what Izabella Frabrizio wrote:

“There was a moment when Moses had the nerve to ask God what His name is. God was gracious enough to answer, and the name He gave is recorded in the original Hebrew as YHWH. Over time we’ve arbitrarily added an ‘a’ and an ‘e’ in there to get YaHWeH, presumably because we have a preference for vowels.

But scholars and Rabi’s have noted that the letters YHWH represent breathing sounds, or aspirated consonants. When pronounced without intervening vowels, it actually sounds like breathing.

YH (inhale: WH (exhale).

So baby’s first cry, His first breath, speaks the name of God.

A deep sigh calls His name – or a groan or gasp that is too heavy for mere words.

Even an atheist would speak His name, unaware that their very breath is giving constant acknowledgment to God.

Likewise, a person leaves this earth with their last breath, when God’s name is no longer filling their lungs.

So when I can’t utter anything else, is my cry calling our His name?

Being alive means I speak His name constantly.
So, is it heard the loudest when I’m the quietest?

In sadness, we breath heavy sighs.
In joy, our lungs fell almost like they will burst.
In fear we hold our breath and have to be told to breathe slowly to help us calm down.
When we’re about to do something hard, we take a deep breath to find our courage.

When I think about it, breathing is giving him praise. Even in the hardest moments!

This is so beautiful and fills me with emotion every time I grasp the thought. God chose to give Himself a name that we can’t help but speak every moment we’re alive.

All of us, always, everywhere.
Waking, sleeping, breathing, with the name of God on our lips.”

______________________

What amazing words and thoughts.

It was a very short 30+ years from the first breath of Jesus breathing in and out the name of God, until he hung from a Roman cross, having come to die for all Mankind.

And with His dying breath he uttered these words, “It is finished”

The Breath of Heaven’s work was complete.

Where’s the Courage?

Dr. J.D. Wilkins2 Comments

Many famous people in history have put their own spin on the word “Courage.”

The most quoted spin, in the USA at least, might be from Franklin D. Roosevelt who said,
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.”

Mark Twain said,
“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.”

Plato said,

“Courage is knowing what not to fear.”

Martin Luther King Jr. said,
“We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.”

Maya Angelou said, “Without courage we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.”

J.R.R. Tolkien said, 

“It is not the strength of the body that counts, but the strength of the spirit.”

And last, but not least, John Wayne said,

“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.”

In a world filled with this cancel-culture mentality, hate being spewed from social media posts like Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park, and the constant barrage of negativity and fear mongering stories put out by the thousands from the national news media, we have become a nation totally lacking in any moral fiber or courage.

If Plato is right, then we should know better. 

If Martin Luther King Jr. is right, then why aren’t we building dikes to reach the sky to prevent the world’s influence on our minds, attitudes, and actions.

Where’s the courage?

Consider Tolkien’s quote. We are not just weak physically from bodies pumped full of over-processed fast food and who knows what pollutants on the produce we buy at the local supermarket. We are so weak spiritually in this county that I’m amazed we still exist as a nation.

Where is the true Christ-follower today with the courage to stand up and say, “This breaks God’s heart! This breaks my heart!  It is time for change.  It is time to NOT BE AFRAID anymore!”

You’d think I was making all this up.  50 years ago, I would never have thought the world as we know it today would exist.  But it does.  And somebody told us it would become this way, but we didn’t listen.

Maybe we should listen now.

Jesus told his closest followers about the days to come, and those days are here.

In Matthew 24:4-12 He said many people would come in His name and say they were the Messiah, the Savior, to deceive whomever they could.  He said there would be wars and rumors of wars.  He said nation would rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  He said there would be famines, earthquakes and more all over the world… but this was not the end, but only the beginning.

He said the world would hand over Christ-followers to be persecuted and killed.  He said Christ-followers would be hated by all nations, and because of this there would be a great abandonment of people saying they no longer believe, and worse, they would hand over their friends and loved ones to be tortured and killed, because of hate.

He said that lawlessness would increase and multiply, and because of this people all over the planet would turn cold and loveless toward each other.

This is our reality today.

Matthew 24:15-31 is a starkly dramatic image of days to come in our world which are not here yet. And many, many people will not have the spiritual fortitude to endure these times. Read it for yourself and see what’s coming.

So, where’s the courage??

Head knowledge is one thing but knowing the Author of this information is a whole different thing. And here is what I mean.

The common message throughout the Word of God is simple: Do not fear!

This phrase is used 365 times in Scripture… do NOT be AFRAID!

But the command by itself is meaningless unless there is some good reason why we are not supposed to be afraid. Right?  So what is it that allows Christ-followers to not be afraid?

Here it is.  And if you don’t have this underlined in your Bible, and memorized in your brain, then do it now.

Deuteronomy 31:6 (CSB)
Be strong and courageous; don’t be terrified or afraid of them. For the LORD your God is the one who will go with you; he will not leave you or abandon you.

There is an clearly defined underlying doctrine of belief in Scripture that is required of every true Christ-follower for the empowering of this mighty promise.

God is in Control. 

God’s Word is absolutely Authoritative for every believer. 

God’s abiding Presence is constant regardless of our circumstances.

There must be more than a cursory acceptance of intellectual understanding that these three statements are true.  They must actually rule over your every thought, attitude, and action.  They should be the filter through which every choice you make is made.  They MUST be so ingrained in your hearts and minds that no other construct of reality makes sense in the world today.

And when they do become all these things, then AND ONLY then, will you be able to be strong and courageous, instead of terrified and afraid of what comes next.

Pick a problem, any problem, happening today.  Covid, Political upheaval in our nation’s capital, Israel on the brink of war. The World on the precipice of WW-3…  none of these events takes God by surprise.

God is on the job.  He is in control, speaking authoritatively through His written Word, and constantly abiding with and in those around the world who believe this is indeed true.

So … where’s the courage?

It’s time for some courage!

Let’s make it more personal…

Where’s your courage?

In the name of Jesus, what will you stand up for in courage, or stand against in courage, that would bring glory to God today?

What Time Is It?

Dr. J.D. WilkinsLeave a comment

“Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is?” written and sung by Robert Lamm in 1969 might be considered a startling question of extreme importance in 2023. The repeating chorus is worth examination, and goes like this:

Does anybody really know what time it is?
Does anybody care?
If so, I can’t imagine why
We’ve all got time enough to cry

– Chicago

He’s walking down the street and encounters a man who asks him the time. Then he passes a woman who says her diamond watch has “stopped cold dead.” Then he observes people being pushed and shoved “trying to beat the clock.” He doesn’t know where he is, where to go, can’t see in front of him, the snow is coming, everyone is worrying.

There are metaphors galore here for me, but can you see? I’ll point out a few I see, and maybe stimulate you to find your own in these uncertain times.

One of the things God did right at the beginning of it all was to establish “time” as a construct that mankind could rap their minds around. God separated the light from the darkness, and He called the light “Day” and the darkness He called “Night,” and we continue to use these very terms today. Even though it was God who instituted these definitions in the ancient past, mankind is still bound by them. Each light/darkness cycle was divided equally and became know as the 24 hour day sometime between 1550 – 1070 BC. And we have been using this standard of “time” since that time.

This is significant in the discussion of time today, and knowing what time it is, because most people are under the illusion that time as we know it is eternal. But they would be wrong. Time as we know it was established by God to define life as we know it, but this life will not last forever. Empirically we know this because death is still a part of our existence. Only without death will life be eternal.

Like the man who comes up to ask what the time is on my watch, he doesn’t know what time it is. If he doesn’t know the time, his life is out of sync. He’s confused about his next actions. He doesn’t know where to go next.

Like the woman whose watch has stopped dead, she seems totally lost, asking the question perhaps “Has time ceased to exist since my watch no longer works?” How silly, time marches on whether your own particular timepiece is functioning or not.

The chaos which ensues upon a person’s life when they lose all track of time can be devastating. They may not remember who they are, or how they arrived at a particular location. They might have difficulty remember recent decisions which lead them to this very anxious period of time for them. A person might even lose their sense of identity, personality, heritage, purpose, or any aspect of their previous existence.

Allow me in this moment to suggest some very real current applications of how the loss of “knowing what time it is” has wreaked chaos across the world today.

The heightened search for “identity” is directly related to not knowing what time it is. For example, all things being equal and remaining as they have in the past the average 12-18 year old adolescent has their whole future ahead of them to make as many mistakes as they want, learn and grow from them, and still live a productive life. However, things are not equal and remain as they have in the past. Today we have a culture bent on telling an adolescent they can make up their own minds about their “identity.” If they are male and want to be female, medical doctors, psychologists, school teachers, and parents who have lost all sense of time are telling these children they support this choice. And not just support it, but make it happen at all costs. And make no mistake, the cost is significant, but mostly for the child. All the doctors, teachers, and parents are just diving deeper down the black hole of delusion, but the child is facing a lifetime of consequences for these adult’s endorsements and actions.

The total abandonment of the “rule of Law” in this nation and around the world is a function of mankind’s loss of knowing what time it is. It is never a good time or even a right time to put a group of people so far above the law that they have no accountability for their own lawless actions. The whole “Cancel Culture Wars” which exist in our political systems, social media, mainstream media, Hollywood, and corporations who take stands on social issues is some of the best evidence of a whole world which has lost all sense of time and purpose. We can’t just co-exist anymore with differing opinions and preferences. Today if a person disagrees with another person they might be completely written off as dead to the one who thinks they are right and can never be wrong. In the past there were ways and means to come together and reason rationally between two points of view. But that time seems completely destroyed, and begs the question, “How long before we just destroy the whole human race, because we cant’s seem to find a way to get along?”

Perhaps the most severe sense of the loss of time perspective is found in the spiritual realm. This is not a time to talk of angels and demons and their powerful influence in our culture, perhaps I’ll address this in a future article. So, when I talk about the “spiritual realm,” I’m talking about knowing, understanding, and recognizing what God is doing right now, while the chaos caused by the loss of time on earth is growing more powerful every day.

Remember, I introduced the topic by saying God established “time” as a construct that mankind could rap their minds around. God didn’t say the time mankind had on earth was limitless. In fact the Word of God makes clear that mankind’s time on earth is very finite, and under the complete control of the One who established time in the first place. All a person has to do is read a few verses, in complete context of the whole Bible, to see from God’s own Divine Voice that mankind is speeding toward disaster by the very fact that no one seems to know what time it is.

Jesus said, (Matthew 24:12) “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.”

Just a cursory view of the news, breeze through twitter, Facebook, or another social media, will give a very clear image of how cold this world has become with all the hate-filled rhetoric which people type with no filter or thought of the consequences of their words. Murder is on the rise, regardless of what the news people say. Shoplifters don’t run out of stores anymore, they blatantly walk in, take what they want, and walk out, looking directly at someone taking a video with a mobile device, because they don’t care what time it is. In their minds… it’s time to loot.

The political landscape today is littered with the long dead careers of decent, honest, good men and women because their political opponents are so filled with hatred that they will say anything and do anything to move their own deluded time-is-of-no-consequence agenda forward. Power hungry sociopaths who arrive empowered by an office and a title believe themselves now to be above the law, and under no limit of time. For they will with every fiber of their being pursue staying in that place of power at all costs.

The Apostle Paul said of people losing all sense of time, (Romans 1:22-23)

“Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible mankind, of birds, four-footed animals, and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them up to vile impurity in the lusts of their hearts, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

From the early 1960’s well-meaning Bible-based teachers would use this verse to condemn the gay community and the spread of the deadly HIV-AIDS virus throughout the world. However, even these were deluded by thinking that this verse was so limited in scope and time. But how could they possibly have known what God already knew, that just 50+ years later the ramifications of this one passage from Paul would be so pervasive in cultures all across the globe?

This verse is very specific and deals very specifically with the LGBTQ+ agenda today. It is not enough that they hate anyone who does not affirm their agenda, it must be praised and lauded as the loftiest and sublime option known to mankind today. Does anyone in this culture really know what time it is?

Paul goes on, (Romans 1:26-32)

“For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged natural relations for that which is contrary to nature, and likewise the men, too, abandoned natural relations with women and burned in their desire toward one another, males with males committing shameful acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a depraved mind, to do those things that are not proper, people having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, and evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unfeeling, and unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.”

Here’s the thing. Today we sort of see Paul here, writing these words, as a Prophet, and perhaps there is that aspect of him. But from Paul’s perspective, he wasn’t writing about the future. Paul was describing the attributes of the citizens of one of the most brazen and godless cultures of history, Rome itself. We foolishly think the LGBTQ+ agenda is a brand new thing. It is not. Even as Paul was writing these words, the writing was on the wall for the Roman culture. Less than 400 years later Rome fell due to political, social, economic, and military problems.

Is anyone out there listening? Does anyone really know what time it is?

God Preserving Power

Dr. J.D. WilkinsLeave a comment

On Thursday September 15th, Pam and I set out on a 10-day journey to Colorado and back. We were so excited to start out that morning, heading for Amarillo, Texas for our first leg of the trip. We made it all the way to about 15 miles south and east of Amarillo, just west of Claude, Texas when we encountered a very dangerous thunderstorm. The rain was so intense I could not see the road in front of my bumper. Only by looking to the right side of the car could I see the white line denoting the shoulder of the road, just wide enough to pull a car out of the line of traffic. The downside is that when this happened, I happened to be in the left lane of a two lane road, making it almost impossible to reach the shoulder of the road safely. This storm lasted about 10-15 minutes and only by God’s preserving power did we safely reach the shoulder to wait out the storm.

Oh, by the way, did I mention the hail stones we also could not see? It sounded as though a thousand ball bearings a minute were hitting our car. When it finally stopped there was ice in sheets on the road in some places, with two inches or more build up on the side of the road meeting the grass for miles. Here is a 47 second video to give you some idea of what happened. I know in this video it may not seem the rain is as bad as I described. However, we are stopped on the side of the road filming this, and from these images you can imagine as this rain was coming straight into us as we drove.

So, here’s the thing.

Did our car get really beat up? Yes, it did. Will we lose money on this claim? Yes, we probably will. But do you realize, just as we do, that cars are just “things”, and money is so temporary as to have almost no eternal value?

What matters is that as I have testified so much in the last few years… what matters is that God is sovereignly in control, that His Word is the sole authority for our lives, and the HE IS PRESENT with us everywhere, all the time!!! Praise God! He kept us in this storm. We look back at how many 18-wheelers just barreled past us going extremely fast and stand amazed that many people didn’t die.

Pam and I proclaim it to be the Preserving Power of Jesus Christ the LORD, who is God over all things. Even for us, in the midst of the storm.

Praise His name. Say His name. There is power in the name “Jesus.”

The True Light

Dr. J.D. Wilkins1 Comment

The following image was taken yesterday, July 12th, 2022, in front of my house in Argyle, Texas at 11:37 P.M.

One might think upon a casual glance that the image is of the midday sun. But they would be wrong. Here is the full image taken by my iPhone.

And even here, it is not clear the time of day, since the chimney on the house across the street is still clearly visible. So, here is one more for perspective’s sake.

Even here, while the night sky seems incredibly brighter than it should be at almost midnight, you can clearly see the darkness surrounding the houses and the trees, and the house illumination is from a street lamp not far away.

It’s a curious thing, and today I was able to put my thoughts in order to share a simple truth about the moon and the sun, and us and the Son.

The fact of the matter is that the moon does not produce light of any kind. The only reason we even know of its existence is from the moon’s illumination by our sun. The other side of the gigantic orb in the sky is completely void of light, from which we get the phrase, “the dark side of the moon.”

We could say the moon is defined by its darkness. Yet, clearly this dark globe has influence on our planet and here are just a few examples:

  • Because the earth is tilted at 23.5 degrees we have seasons, and the moon helps keep this tilt mostly stable, the moon acting as a guide while the earth travels around the sun
  • The moon’s pull on the earth causes the earth’s crust to rise, and ponds, lakes, rivers and oceans to experience tides effecting atmospheric events, like rain and wind.
  • Without the moon our days would last only 8 hours instead of 24 altering patterns of awakeness, sleep, mating and hunger.

The point of all this fact-checking is that the true source of light in our world is the sun. Making the moon simply a mirror of a much larger, much more powerful, light giving source… the Sun.

About now, you might be asking, “What does all this have to do with us and the Son?” Well, I’m glad you asked. Let me begin with the words of John the Apostle, in The Gospel of John, translated by J.B. Philips.

“At the beginning God expressed Himself. That personal expression, that Word, was with God and was God, and He existed with God from the beginning. All the creation took place through Him, and none took place without Him. In Him appeared life and this life was the LIGHT of mankind. The LIGHT still shines in the darkness and the darkness has never put it out.” (John 1:1-5)

John also wrote a letter while at Ephesus to the churches at the end of his life. Here is what he wrote there:

“Here is the message we heard Him give. God is Light, and not the faintest darkness can exist in Him… Anyone who claims to be in the light and hates his brother is, in fact, still in complete darkness.” (1 John 1:5; 2:9-10)

We don’t really need to look very hard these days to see that lost people act like lost people because they really are living in darkness. But here’s the thing…

When a person steps over the line of faith into Jesus, God plants in us the ability to become exactly like the moon! Because we know the Son, then we can be transformed from living in darkness, and live in the light as He Himself is LIGHT! In fact, we are never more like the moon than when we live in ways that bring Jesus great glory, and cause people not to SEE US… but to SEE HIM in us. Mirrors of the true light!

David instructs us on exactly how to do this: Psalm 105:1-4

“Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon HIS name; make known HIS deeds among the peoples! Sing to HIM, sing praises to HIM; tell of all HIS wondrous works! Glory in HIS name; let the heart of those who seek the LORD rejoice! Seek the LORD and HIS strength; seek His presence continually!”

Next time you look at the moon… remember the words of David!

Bourbon Rotisserie Pork Loin

Dr. J.D. WilkinsLeave a comment

I’m starting a new adventure on my blog. For the past few months I’ve only posted bible studies and the occasional option or observation style article. Today is the first share on my new endeavor to learn more about cooking, grilling, and rotisserie recipes to try.

In 2021 my wife and I did a remodel in our backyard with one feature which has a particularly high value for me. The new DCS natural gas grill with rotisserie option was a great decision.  I like to grill much of the time, I also have an electric smoker which I use regularly.  But this new rotisserie option was a whole new thing for me.  Most of the people I’ve talked to love the rotisserie chicken available in the local food marketplace.  And I have and will do chicken many times in the future.  However today, I was to give you a birds eye view my process for cooking Bourbon Pork Loin on the rotisserie.

This is a 2.05 lb pork loin, which will be enough for the dinner, and a leftover meal or sandwiches.

I started with a wet rub to add flavor to the pork loin overnight.  Light brown sugar, coarse black pepper, brown spicy mustard, paprika, garlic powder and onion powder. After whisking the dry ingredients together in a bowl, I covered the pork loin all over with the brown spicy mustard, and put the dry mixture on both sides. It looked like this in the basting bag, before going into the refrigerator for at least 12 hours, mine sat for about 15 hours.  I rolled all the air out of the bag wrapping it tightly so no air could infiltrate.

About an hour before cooking the pork loin I took it out of the refrigerator and brought it to room temperature, about 45 minutes on the counter. You can see that I tied the pork loin with cooking string to keep a uniform shape while it cooks. After placing the pork loin on the rotisserie spit, I went to work on the Mop for basting the pork loin as it cooked.

The Mop includes bourbon whiskey, light brown sugar, 1/4 small pureed yellow or sweet onion, ketchup, dark corn syrup and more spicy brown mustard. When the mop was mixed and ready, I fired up the rotisserie burner on the grill allowing plenty of time to get to the correct cooking temperature.

Here is a short video of the pork loin turning while the burner is lit to a bright orange indicating it is time to get this show on the road!

I cooked this pork loin for a little over 2 hours 45 minutes, left it on the spit, and covered it with aluminum foil to let it rest for about 20 minutes.

For the final phase of the meal I made Almanzo’s Fried Apples N Onions on the stovetop.

2 Fuji apples peeled, cored and sliced, the other ¾ of the sweet/yellow onion cut into matchstick sized pieces, brown sugar, and some ground cinnamon.

Melting a ½ cup of butter in a sauce pan, then adding all the ingredients together and cooking about 15-20 minutes, my side dish was finished.

After taking the apples and onions off the heat to cool a little before serving it is time to slice the pork into ¼ or ½ inch slices for plating.

Here is the dinner plated and ready to eat!  It was amazing to me how well the apples and onions paired with this pork loin.  The juices from the side dish made a great sauce adding even more flavor to the pork.  It was time well spent and a great adventure in cooking.

One last note… these are not my original recipes, I found them by searching for rotisserie options online.  For the exact details for these recipes, the links are here:

Pork Loin recipe

Apples N Onions recipe

Going Somewhere

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In my distant past I read books. By this I mean I preferred hardcover books to paperback, and I shunned those who purchased the first electronic reading devices as though they had a serious and contagious illness to which I was vehemently determined not to succumb. As I said this was my distant past.

For the first time in too many years, two weeks ago while pondering the beautifully leather bound classics my wife inherited from her father at his recent passing, I determined to pluck one from the shelf and read it. I did this as much to honor the man who willed us these books, as to simply read an actual book. Much of my reading over the last 15 years or so has been using my Kindle reader on my mobile devices. So yes, I did succumb to the evil electronic readers available today.

Imagine my surprise when I opened the pages of a book never read, a book which had been printed and bound, and boxed and shipped, then put on a shelf to live out its days, unread. Instantly I was greeted with the fragrant musky scent of old paper and leather. My mind raced back to former days and the joy of buying that hardcover book and breaking it in, before ever reading a word. I did this now with a leather bound copy of Treasure Island, originally titled The Sea Cook A Story for Boys, first published in 1883.

My copy of Robert Louis Stevenson’s book was printed and published in 1975 as a limited edition by the Franklin Library, Franklin Center, Pennsylvania. It includes copies of the original illustrations by N.C. Wyeth and used by permission from Charles Scribner’s Sons. From first to last these 305 pages of story kept me captivated for days. I highly recommend this book, however, the point is that it served as a bridge for me. A bridge back to the joys of reading an actual book you can hold in your hands.

Is the story less rich or less enticing when read electronically? No. Does the meaning and moral of the story diminish in anyway when read electronically? No. But that is not my point. It probably won’t change my lifestyle of using my mobile devices to read a book when I’m out to lunch without my wife, or when I’m on vacation, or at any other time when it is necessary or convenient to do so. The Bridge part is that I’m now going somewhere. I’m going back in time to that place where one of the best parts of my day was to sit down with a good book and read.

Everyone has good intentions. I do too, having the intention to read more than just one of these leather bound classical works. I’m not sure I can do it in my lifetime, for while there only 88 of these beautiful and colorful books, they include works and titles that are very heady reads.

The Tragedies of Sophocles, Political Writings by John Stuart Mill, The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, Thucydides – The Peloponneisan War, War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, Pensees by Blaise Pascal, and the Trail by Franz Kafka.

It might take me a year or two to get through just these 8 books and there are 80 more of the same vein, all classical works in their own right. So I may have good intentions to read all 88 before I die, and while it remains a noble crown to achieve should I do it, I’m 68 years old in a couple of days, so it seems a daunting endeavor.

So there before is The Bridge. I would never have to purchase another book in my lifetime to fill my mind with thoughts above my own, more brilliant than my own, more entertaining than my own. It is a bridge which I’ve set my foot upon and I dare not turn back. I wonder if I’ll make it all the way across…

#WordPrompt

Are you an extrovert or introvert?

Dr. J.D. Wilkins4 Comments

The answer lies in whether you see yourself through your own eyes (self-examination) or through the eyes of others (expressed in how they respond when you are around). Herein lies the problem. The definition of extrovert vs. introvert is almost always housed in psycho-babble more confusing than it actually needs to be to help a person answer the question. Here is one example:

“Introverts are most comfortable interacting in small groups and with one-on-one relationships, and are energized by spending time alone. Extroversion is a personality type characterized by traits such as sociability, assertiveness, and cheerfulness.” (quote from: https://www.simplypsychology.org)

When I typed this title question into the BING search engine it produced 2,200,000 results, which is probably as telling as anything I’ve said so far. Then I revised my question to ask “extrovert or introvert test” which produced 2,290,000 results. On of these tests, I took the time to answer every question as accurate as I could, and in the end came up with the answer I already knew about myself from my own self-examination over the years. Here is what came back:

“You are an ambivert – a mixture of both personality types. It means that depending on your mood, you can gain energy either from socializing or being on your own. You enjoy social interaction, are interested in other people, and love to get to know them. But just like introverts, you feel the need to withdraw and stay on your own after a social event. Yet, too much alone time makes you feel restless and lonely, and you find yourself craving social contact again.” (https://www.learning-mind.com/introvert-or-extrovert-test)

This word describes every aspect of the various seasons of my life, from High School, through College, marriage, and working in different environments where I was forced to be an extrovert part of the time, wanted to hide like an introvert part of the time, and for the bulk of the time was a blending jumble of both/and not either/or resulting in Ambivertness. (Yes, I know that is not a word, and the incorrect use of grammar, but there it is – I said it anyway. My extrovert is showing.)

The problem I’ve discovered over all this time is how our culture today has taken this whole either/or concept and made it into an art form. You can either be this or that, but not both at the same time, or move from one into the other and back again. And, you don’t change at all, becoming one or the other over time, you just are, or you aren’t one or the other.

Wrapping people up in tiny little boxes with labels has been the problem for thousands of years. In fact, one of the greatest evidences of this is found in how people treated Jesus of Nazareth. Ask yourself, “was Jesus an extrovert or an introvert?” How most people answer this question says much about their own knowledge of Scripture, but specifically their understanding of what Jesus said, and how Jesus behaved, as a Hebrew male in Nazareth and Jerusalem and all points in between or nearby.

In Scripture, we see Jesus in the middle of crowds of thousands, teaching, healing, playing with children, confronting His enemies who would later have Him killed. But we also see Jesus calling those 12 men He chose, pulling them aside and away from the massive crowds for alone time. Within that smaller group, we also see Jesus taking just three of them, Peter, James, and John, even farther from the 12 to do side trips. And last we also see Jesus moving away by Himself, for quiet-alone times by Himself, away from every other person or distraction. Jesus was neither an extrovert or introvert. Jesus was an ambivert.

I have known for some time now that I wanted to model for people around me, what it means to be like Jesus. Now, I’ve found that as an ambivert, I am like Him. So, what can you do with this information?

If you know your tendency is to be an introvert: shy, silent mostly, and alone much of the time, find a way in your own life to be like Jesus… find some friends, hang out, speak up, be bold. He will help you do this.

If you know your tendency is to be an extrovert: ready to party, ready to meet new people, ready to speak your mind, find a way in your own life to be like Jesus… calm down, get away, shut your pie hole one time and let someone get a word in. Trust me, He will help you do this.

Regardless of what your tendency might be, remember these words from the Apostle Paul to the church in Philippi describing his own ambivertness (I did it again):

“I know how to get along with little, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” [Philippians 4:12-13]

It’s So Morantic

Dr. J.D. WilkinsLeave a comment

Words.
The old Bee Gees song lyric was, 
“It’s only words, and words are all I have to take your heart away…”

Words are what make us unique from every other species on the planet.
We communicate in language… in words.

I may occasionally use the wrong word with the right intention and be completely misunderstood.

On rarer occasions still, because my tone was correct, or my inflection convincing, your own five sense look past the words as they fall on your ears, and see my heart loving you, beyond any word known to man.

When our eyes meet, when I feel the gentle stroke of your hand on mine, is it any wonder that I struggle to put two words into a sentence that make sense to the world?

When we say the exact same thing, at the exact same time, and laugh out loud at the timing of such a silly thing, it’s not really the words at all… it’s the connection we share, the fleeting intimate moments of oneness.

You know when I say bass-akwards, the meaning is something else.
Just like when I heard you say, “It’s so morantic,” I knew exactly what you meant.

So, proving the old Bee Gees song is in fact just good lyrical writing, it’s not about the words so much at all is it?

In the end, it’s about being…
Romantic
Kind
Funny
Generous
Forgiving
and … first, last, and always…
Loving

It’s about us.
And I choose us.

Faces

Dr. J.D. Wilkins1 Comment

Some years ago it occurred to me that even though my life lacked romance and intimacy, that these were elements of my life I hoped would come to me one day. Using this as motivation, I wrote a series of free-form verses of poetry. Sometimes they rhyme, many times they don’t. Yet each conveys a yearning for something more… and I have finally found it. This is the first I’ll share, with a few more to come, until the love of my life says “that’s enough.” I’m not sure she ever will… for they reflect what I have found in her.

_________________________________________________________________

Faces

The smile.
The frown.
Sadness.
Disbelief.
Comprehension.
Fear.
Doubt.
Peace.

Just a few of the faces I’ve seen.
All coming from one set of muscles designed to demonstrate unlimited tales of emotion.
The face.

Yours is beyond beautiful.
The lines of time in all the right places, enhancing your glow, casting spells on all who care to see.
The eyes, nose, cheeks, lips all perfectly placed, what a marvelous creation.
Each expression a diamond mine to explore until time is no more.
And even then, there would be no end to the joy that is your face.

Mine seems to be one dimensional compared to yours.
I lack the luster, and grace of the excitement of your eyes.
My nose just sits there whether I talk or listen.
Yours with all it’s tiny curls and twitches brings brilliance to every laugh, drama to every tear.
My lips too long have drawn taunt with frustration, anger, depression.
Yours always inviting conversation and the taste of life and love.

Why is it that women’s faces are always so beautiful, and men’s always so worn and chiseled?
It doesn’t seem fair until I realize one simple truth.
Men were never intended to look into mirrors.


They were created to look into the divine and bring him glory.
And to facilitate that end, God in his infinite wisdom gave man the greatest of all gifts.

The faces of the woman he loves.