Rod Serling Twilight Zone The Shelter is Great Food for Thought

I love old television episodes of various genres.  The original Twilight Zone is one of them.  Recently I saw one episode that actually has a lot of food for thought in it.  It is called 'The Shelter.'  It struck a cord with me because it illustrates a growing trend of ill preparation for, and at the sacrifice of, the future for the emotionally perceived needs and wants of the here and now.

'The Shelter' takes place at a suburban residence just outside of New York City.  It is a birthday party for a doctor who had a strange obsession with preparedness.  The party is complete with family and friends all with fond feelings and happy faces.  In particular, his preparation included building a bomb shelter in the basement of his home.  How stupid and dumb, right?  Low and behold, only as Rod Serling can do it, a mysterious raid is publicly announced and people are urged to seek shelter.  What happens next was truly food for thought for all modern day man.
Watch Twilight Zone 'The Shelter'
The doctor and his family immediately brought down necessities to the bomb shelter.  This consisted of water, radio, his doctor's bag and other items to sustain life.  As they were headed down the stairs a knock on the door sounded.  It was one of his close neighbor friends who sought shelter for his family in the doctor's bomb shelter.  An argument broke out because the doctor was adamant that the shelter is only designed for three people and that he cannot take any more.  This basic scenario continued.

All the close friends and their families soon came over and in a violent manner began to threaten to break the door down.  Among them though started tensions as they all pinned their family's lives as more important than the other's.  As they continued to pursue the protective cover of the doctor's they were told through the door that they were warned but wouldn't listen.  If only they prioritized and had fewer parties and frivolous pursuits.  No sooner did they break down the door another public announcement was given that it was a false raid.  It was only harmless satellites overhead.

The moral of the story is to contemplate how firm is our foundation of the lives we've built.  Are our friendships strong through thick and thin?  In our personal lives are we shoring up future happiness by preparing for hard times?  Hard times doesn't have to mean bombs or wars.  What about the loss of job?  What about injury or sudden illness?  What about fires?  What if your son with a family lost his job.  Will you let his children suffer?

True happiness will never lie in the here and now.  It dwells in preparing for the future in all aspects that life may be sustained in order to pursue continued happiness.

These people thought the doctor's pursuits were trivial.  Yet, at a critical moment what was considered a lifetime friendship turned out to be convenience only for the moment.  Once a friend - can instantly turn to foe for those who are weak and ill prioritized.

I highly recommend Rod Serling's Twilight Zone original episode of 'The Shelter' for an intriguing true look at the psyche of the willing, and unwilling, mind.

Boston Marathon Verified for Wabash Trace Nature Trail Marathon

It's official!  The Wabash Trace Nature Trail Marathon in Southwest Iowa is Boston Marathon certified!  Competitive runners, new and seasoned, numbering 450, give or take, will be celebrating September 12th, the Wabash Trace Nature Trail Marathon's new status as being Boston Marathon verified.  Thanks to the decision of the USA Track and Field Road Running Technical Council, this 26 mile marathon gives a renewed prestige and vigor to Southwest Iowa, particularly for Imogene and Shenandoah.

This trail is truly unique, as is the opportunity to have such a profound organized event take place on it.  It is a privilege to host runners from around the world as they consider it an honor to trek it.  To many, and now officially, completion of this marathon will be another feather in their hat relative to even the famed Boston Marathon.
All Proceeds to Wabash Trace Marathon
Recognition like these afford communities the opportunity to reflect and reinvest in new traditions and focus of pride.  As the Wabash Trace Marathon winds down to the finish line in Shenandoah, Iowa, runners enter a promising city with people ready to welcome them.  I would challenge all Shenandoah residents to view this new "blue ribbon" for the Wabash Trace as being Boston Marathon certified and consider your future participation in the event.  This doesn't mean you have to be a runner, but there are a host of functions you can donate your time to in order to make the marathon as great a success as it can be.

I'm not a good salesman or advocate, but in this case I will express my encouragement to embrace the Wabash Nature Trail and the marathon that takes place on it.

It is hardly my nature to engage in fitness with a positive and motivated mood.  Yet, for the past few years I have been active in fitness whether it be lifting weights or cardio workout.  For quite some time now I've been running the Wabash Trace after my time at the Shenandoah Community Fitness Center.  I run the length from the old depot in Shenandoah to Highway 59 and back.  It's probably a little over 4 miles round trip.  Still, I admire the determination of even the newest to the fitness world.  Where I lack they tend to succeed, but at least it gives something to strive for.  Anyhow, I've found the Wabash Trace very therapeutic not only for the body but also for the mind as well.  That silent quality is what makes this area and marathon different in a special way.

Take it as a promise from me that if you endeavor to walk or run the Wabash Trace with a small degree of open mind, you'll find nature's remedies for whatever ails you.  The promise don't apply where the body is concerned except for good exercise, but the Trace is a great place to go and hash things out from within.  Heck, its a good reason to enter the marathon if for no other reason than peace of mind!

Here are a few things I've noted along this small stretch of the Wabash Trace during my morning runs in solitude:

• Right outside of Shenandoah you have this stretch where there's no trees on either side.  Though sometimes windy, it is a great nature scene to view soybean and corn crops just a few feet away.  
• Also at the end of this small stretch you get a gentle cool "tunnel" breeze as you enter the highly wooded part of the Trace.  This comes as the air is compressed through the "tunnel" made by the greenery on both sides.
• It's weird.  Right before you hit the first bridge (small tributary to the Nishnabotna River) there is a brief open spot that makes me feel like someone is right behind me.  I don't know how, but your shadow is magnified right there and it makes it seem like someone is following you.  Needless to say it is a good motivator to - go faster!
• The Nishnabotna River bridge is the capstone of the trek!  It is very scenic and refreshing.  It has been a great source for inspiration and a great "halfway point" on my journey.  As pictured above the bridge is nicely built.
• Beyond the river to the north there is another very brief spot where you can clearly hear highway traffic from a distance.  Perhaps it is how the trees there are situated.  I don't know, but that peculiar clarity isn't evident even as you draw closer to the highway.  

These were just some of my thoughts on the Wabash Trace.  If you are considering entering the marathon I would highly suggest it.  You won't regret it.  Furthermore, I would encourage people in the area to donate your time to its success or at least come out and wish the runners well.  Positive reinforcement is helpful in all fashions.  

Wi-Fi Disconnect Awakening and Wificolonitis

Are you frequently on the Internet?  Do you watch Netflix on your Roku or use Wi-Fi for your entertainment?  Is your home office or employment heavily dependent on the Information Superhighway?  Is your child or yourself forever on the smartphone?  If your answer to any or all of these questions is yes, then you are probably suffering from a condition I call Wificolonitis.  Excess dependence on the "online" experience may warrant a painful withdrawal procedure called a Wifiectomy.  In all seriousness, our time willingly spend on the Internet is increasing exponentially.

Recently, many people in my geographic area went without the Internet for about 24 hours.  Whether it was due to service maintenance or towers down really doesn't matter.  For most people, myself included, this became annoying from the start.  Where's my news!  Where's my entertainment!  Did Hillary convert to ISIS?  Did Donald play the Trump on national news?  Did Ms. (or Mr.) Jenner take a miracle pill and decide to go back to the manly life?  Did the Kardashians join the Amish community?  It was an immediate withdrawal that almost left the individual in a hungered frenzy for satisfaction.

However, once you get past the contention in your heart there was a valuable lesson to be learned in this experience.

Looking back on my own childhood I remember adventures walking the train tracks or building forts in the woods.  Heck, in grade school my buddy (Jesse) and I used to crawl up the old fire escape tube of our school.  To demonstrate our manliness we scaled the bricks all the way around the building.  I miss going to a nearby hay barn and jumping around on hay bales thirty feet up.  As a teenager, well, let's just say that I was a complete angel without any complication or desire for mischief......

By and large these active youthful activities are becoming extinct due to the addiction of the online experience.  During this 24 hour period people got bored and went to bed early that first night.  However, gradually there was an increase in outdoor traffic as people were awakened to the reality that there is sun outside and that the grass is really neat to walk on.  Still annoyed, whether we admit it or not we realized our over-dependence on the Internet and silently was grateful for the opportunity to "reset."

This will be a short post.  I found this experience important and interesting.  When we come across inspired occasions we should be willing to record it and share it.  As we grow the callous on our thumbs while texting or develop carpel tunnel while typing on our laptop or Chromebook, let's do so with a degree of responsibility and moderation.  The human body was designed for activity and growth and not to veg endlessly in search for useless dialogue and satisfaction.

Ok, now to post this on Twitter and Facebook......

Ground Shattering In God We Trust Religious Liberty vs Nihilism

There are law enforcement agencies on local levels throughout the United States of America who are increasingly choosing to post "In God We Trust" on their vehicles via decals.  Other venues are also being employed to visually declare allegiance and through who's authority and power we owe all our happiness and life's pursuits.  Many choose to be offended by this and continue to inflict legal action.  However, at the core it is un-American to make this a legal issue or even to legislate against someone using their judgement to recognize that Higher Power.  Not just law enforcement but public officials are also heeding the internal cries of our Forefathers and recognizing that Power this country was literally built upon.

Hear and read this:

To be offended is a choice.  It is not possible to have this condition inflicted upon you.  It is a choice.  Therefore,  to be offended is an inner problem and not external.

"In God We Trust" is charged with breaching the separation of church and state.  However, this is not the case.  I know it because our Founding Fathers have said it.  There are scores of quotes from noted George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and even the controversial James Madison encouraging the acknowledgement of God in all things especially where government is concerned.

May I offer a quote from George Washington:

"Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."

Because "to be offended" is a self-reflective decision I don't want to delve too deep into how proclaiming the belief in God does not establish for the state a religion.  Nothing I say will convince the offended otherwise.  What I will say is a comment that piggybacks on the highly important quote from Thomas Jefferson.  Referring to the Virginia Act of Religious Freedom he states:

“Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed, by inserting the word “Jesus Christ” so that it should read, “a departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion”; the insertion was rejected by a great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and the Mohometan, the Hindoo, and Infidel of every denomination.”

What this epic quote tells us is that even the authors of our most revered national documents intended to impress upon the people, and their ongoing posterity, the importance of recognizing God. Yet, they took steps to not capsulize who God was. This is key!! They knew it was important for the pursuit of happiness, the continuing order of a people and the humility of a liberty-given people to be anchored in that Higher Power - however you believe that Higher Power to be! You can believe God to be spirit. You can believe God to be corporeal. You can believe in the Trinity. You can believe in three separate and distinct members of the Godhead. You can believe that God is blue (yes, this is an established belief especially in south Asia). You can be more modern and believe that God is a flower or even a shoe. Our Founders did not force a given outline of who God was. That was inspired so as to ensure true liberty for all Americans to worship as they see fit.

Since I love George Washington let me offer another quote of his from 1782 to a protestant church in Kingston:

“Convinced that our Religious Liberties were as essential as our Civil my endeavors have never been wanting to encourage and promote the one, while I have been contending for the other…”

I will say this though you may never see it ever as plainly as I will state here.  I say this being an avid student of the Founding Fathers of the United States.  

It is my belief that you cannot truly effectively govern in this country, as was intended by our Fathers, without a basic principle belief in something greater than you - something to whom you are accountable to.  

That statement alone should draw some ire but I stand by it.

In my observations of government, and the men and women who've held posts within, it is evident that without this basic ideal to live by it is next to impossible to govern a people equally.  When your accountability only goes as far as the nameplate on your door it is inevitable that temporal or carnal agendas will intercede in the discharge of your authority and power.  You will begin to not see "the people", but instead live your days as a respecter of persons.  That's just the way it is.  Period.

What manner of man ought we to be?  As Americans, what principles should we live by?  Many things have come into play that have brought our people into a state of apathy and nihilism.  No longer do we burden ourselves with the "good of the people."  Instead and often for favor of voting blocks, we succor and diaper select groups.  Little by little, when the majority becomes disenfranchised chaos and disorder ensues.  From within we cleft and divide often with harsh and bitter walls.  

When this happens the silent yet powerful shame occurs:  The value of life is diminished.  

People begin to focus on personal agendas, entitlements and the things that make them "offended."  They seek not for hard work unto happiness.  In fact, they see no benefit in work at all.  They forsake all effort in accountability and a belief in God - hence the plague of any people called nihilism.  

"In God We Trust" draws contention from those hearts that have been divinely touched by that statement, but will not acknowledge or admit to it.  Were it not so there would be no contention.  In this simple phrase breathes the living outreach of our Founding Fathers.  In this simple phrase lives the secret to happiness - that being religious liberty.  

I offer you another quote from me that will also harden hearts against me.

Liberty is not a right nor is it something you are entitled to.  Liberty cannot be legislated but can be trampled.  Liberty is a privileged path toward happiness.  Liberties are the venues and bounds given for a people to experience wider fields of choices - as they begin to view on our trek.  Liberty is the most powerful gift to ensure personal and family happiness, yet is the most fragile unto utter loss when broken.

Liberty is what dusts us when the banner waves.  It cannot be seen, yet is true and real nonetheless.  It values and magnifies life in all its stages.  Hence, when a people flirt with nihilism we forsake liberty.  When we forsake liberty - amen to the people.

Instead of shunning the proclamation of "In God We Trust", let us first look inward at why we may be offended.  Change comes from within first before we can have a hope of it changing a people.  However, when we try to change a people when we personally feel no accountability toward something greater we surely cause harm to that people and nation.

This is all food for thought and I challenge anyone who may be offended to first look inward at what may be wrong.  The golden rule I live by is that when you point the finger, there is always three pointed back at you.

Campaign of Conscience Shenandoah Iowa 2015 Let the Water Flow

Few know the relationship between an elected official and the constituent.  That relationship starts when the elected official is the candidate and the constituent is the voter.  The connection goes much deeper than marking the box and, with enough marked boxes, a term of office gets to be served.  People tend not to trust government whether local, state or federal.  Federal I can understand.  State I can even understand.  However, you should at least be able to trust your local officials.  You should know them - you voted for them.  This article will examine this God-ordained relationship between the people and those whom they've elected to make decisions that affect the entire community.

Do you know how many questions I was asked about politics or local issues during my first term campaign for Councilman at Large?  Absolutely none!  I will grant you that this may be, in part, due to the small population in comparison to the larger metro areas like Omaha or Des Moines.  Issues are everything there and seldom are the fond small town feelings that people may have one with another.  I will also grant you another truth.  I was uncontested in my first election.  This had saved me the humiliation at the time of being smeared and mocked.  Still, not one question asked.

Not many people know me in person but know me in name.  I highly advocate a non-public life for myself, but when I am public it is due to a compelling of the heart and conscience to make a difference.  This outreach of mine into the community and world over the past 15 years has earned a moderate degree of trust in my judgement.  This trust of the people is something I treasure and I draw upon that strength to foster informed decisions in this elected post.

In truth I prefer to be a recluse.  Anxiety plagues me to great extents.  When I do reach out into the community I do so because I am compelled to do it.  I've tried to live by the edict that if your conscience tells you to do something then you better do it.

I bring all this up because there are deep issues affecting the city of Shenandoah.  There are issues in every community but obviously my concern is with this one.  Distrust will always be on the rise with controversial issues and that's to be expected.  We have a new multi-million dollar water plant being constructed, and there are serious issues that have slowed progress.  This has led many to question the judgement of the City Council and even the contractors.  Again, to be expected, yet how to heal is my direction.

I would ask taxpayers all across the fruited plains of the United States of America just one favor to consider.  You always have the right and responsibility to question with boldness.  That doesn't mean to be contentious but rather question - in clear and resolute language.  It is your hard-earned tax dollars and you have the right to know how it is being spent.  Yet, I would ask for a degree of reservation in judging how your elected officials vote on any issue in your community.  Right now you are looking at this with your head kinked and thinking, "huh."  Grant me this opportunity to explain what I mean.  This will expand on the relationship between the elected and the constituents.

Why do we elect people?  To what are we electing them?  Is it to just fill a post that the government says needs to be filled?  These are serious questions we should all ask ourselves.  We should be electing the willing to office that they may discern information and make good decisions for the greater good.  Content to be discerned includes information that is not readily available or known by the public.  The media can only report so much, but how an official makes a decision in the end depends highly on information gathered outside Council chambers.  Its not hidden information but rather bits here and there that help form judgement.

Serving on the City Council  involves much more than showing up at the public Council meetings.  I'm not sure about other communities but here each Council member is assigned as a liaison to multiple boards and commissions.  This provides continuity to the fabric of the community.  This is where the meat of issues is brought up and tendered.  This is where old subjects are discussed and new ideas are born.  It is also here that the magic of the official/voter relationship lies.  This is where you, as a taxpaying voter, place your faith and trust in your official that discernment will be used to form a good decision.

It is never fun to see decisions made for your community that you view as incorrect.  Harsh feelings tend to be fostered and the disconnect widens.  Likewise, it is also not fun as an elected official to make decisions that you know many will not like.  The one eternal fact of life as an elected official is that it is impossible to please everyone and it is irresponsible and unproductive to try.  The votes sustain that the people trust you to use your good conscience to form decisions that affect the whole.

I would remind elected officials everywhere to discipline themselves and govern worthy of that trust.  Govern with a true conscience devoted to the people in whom you provide selfless service.  On the balance side of the spectrum I would hope to remind the people to question their representatives with boldness.  Yet, anticipate an answer agreeable with the fact that you may not have information that you've placed in the trust of your elected official.

There is a huge responsibility on both sides of the balance that all may be edified in their prosperity.  Your vote is an outward expression of faith and trust in the candidate's conscience and ability to discern information.

For three years I've been adamant of not running for reelection.  However, in counsel with scripture my conscience compels me to run again.  My campaign is a "Campaign of Conscience."  With difficult decisions made and yet to be made in Shenandoah, right now is an opportunity to remind and instruct all of us of what our Founding Fathers intended for our Republic.

I would ask all voters to revive your faith in your conscience at the time you marked the box.  I would ask all elected officials to draw from that faith that you may be sustained with a sound conscience commensurate with your discernment of important information.

This, I believe, is the magic of America - learning to live in order, while expanding and magnifying our liberty to pursue happiness.

Mine is a Campaign of Conscience - Let the Water Flow!

Increase Signal Strength Bars

Most of us use electronic devices whether Smartphones, Ipods or whatever.  These require an invisible signal strength which we sometimes aimlessly wander around the house or community searching for more signal strength bars.  Yet, in our oblivious pursuit for signal strength in order to be globally connected is our attention misguided?

With that last sentence I've already lost 80% of you at best.  That's fine.  Me don't care.  I do, however, care about those few who are humble enough right here, right now, to receive this little message.  I was in receipt of a quote today that was rather profound for all to hear.

"Too often we are concerned about the signal strength of our electronic devices rather than the signal strength we are receiving from the Holy Ghost."

I'll make this post as brief as possible so all who read this can quickly disregard it and get back to your lives.  Not too many years ago we didn't have Internet-ready phones.  Not long before that we didn't have convenient cell phones.  Before that not many satellite phones.  During that time landlines that had the all-too-fun for kids curly cord in the home prevailed.  Before that there was the huge box wall phone that had a speaker you held to your ear that had a not-so-fun straight cord and you talked into a hole in that box.  Before that was probably telegram and Morse Code.  It continues on back with more simple and archaic forms of communication.  Still, the disbelief of our time is that not long ago we were not hopelessly addicted to our electronic device.

Now, how many of us are so consumed with our attention being on that of everyday life?  Are we too concerned about how people view us on Facebook and adjust our posts accordingly?  Do we blog or tweet on Twitter stupid and useless information all to uphold a face to people that we have a life?  Are we not in such a hurry to access the latest world news so that our cup of despair can be regularly filled with doom and gloom and hopelessness in the world?  In essence, are we not consciously or unconsciously eroding our very foundation of our integrity and who we ought to be?  Duh, for most of us there can be only one answer - yes!

Let us use logic and reason as so many people today claim for their own advanced humanity.  You've engulfed your entire belief and faith in that which you do not physically see.  You know it exists because you are able to be satisfied with the lollipop of information and useless communication, and because you see how many bars or signal strength you have.  It's called Wi-Fi!  Along with this modern marvel vast increased numbers claim that there is no God or Supreme Power.  Yet, if you know anything of what the faithful claim about the Holy Ghost you would know that it is something not physically seen yet, if you're humble, can govern your actions and thoughts accordingly unto a daily and lasting happiness.  In comparison, the more humble and teachable you are the more spiritual bars you have.  Thus your foundation of who you are, your happiness in your daily interaction with people, the quality of your communication, and your assured knowledge of a Supreme Power shores up and firms your foundation of integrity.

I do not post this in vain.  I am also on Facebook, Twitter, maintain this blog and seek after world news via electronic means.  However, acknowledging my own fault is the first step in tempering and balancing it.  Being teachable and tearing down the walls of false pride is the first steps to discerning what decisions are right and which are wrong.

Don't be ignorant and stupid in proclaiming there is no God just because you can't see Him.  You can't see your Wi-Fi signal strength except by the number of bars you have.  How can one possibly discount higher forms of signals from something greater than we ourselves?

Reflect on your own lives and purposely discipline yourself by shutting off those electronic devices every now and then.  Get out and physically contribute to the world around you.  Provide selfless service and seek to gain 5 bars of excellent signal strength that'll make you happier than all the apps in the world. :)

Bald Eagle vs Turkey Vulture on American Patriotism and Hope

So why did the patriotic bird say, "Fear not and shrink not from the sting of hatred.  Freedom is a gift from God, and it is He who inspired the Founding Fathers to weave religious freedom, prosperity and happiness into the very fabric of the United States of America.  Fear not, but be diligent and stalwart in defense of this great nation!  Fear not, for my posture is a symbol that those who dwell in this nation can overcome all obstacles and the fiery darts of the adversary.  Fear not, but believe in the foundation of this country - freedom!  Fear not - and realize the full potential of happiness of the one and the many!"

Answer:  Because we as United States citizens needed to hear it.
#DeclarationofIndependence
Though written to start off as a joke it is obviously not.  Yet, it is a good segway into the context of a profound spiritual experience I had on the Wabash Trace in Southwest Iowa just outside of Shenandoah.  Though overwhelmingly God does not vocally speak to us in person, He does speak through other means.  This includes other people, life situations and the environmental setting.  These experiences can only come at the perfect time for that person to receive it, decipher it, acknowledge it and choose to implement it.  I would be remiss if I didn't share the magnitude of the one given me on a perfect sunny June morning in 2015.
#Constitution
I'm not a great orator, prophet or even Clark Gable.  Thank goodness I'm not Justin Beiber!  Anyhow, though this may sound completely stupid, those who know me well enough know that I seek meaning in all things I come in contact with.  With that said here is what the Wabash Trace revealed to me.

I usually hit the Shenandoah Fitness Center five times a week.  I follow this up with a stroll on the Wabash Trace from the old Shenandoah Railroad Depot to the Nishnabotna River bridge.  Thoughts of current events and the many paths of life's choices are companions on this journey.  Often I become very ill-motivated from these thoughts, but if it keeps my blood flowing and my heart pumping then the more power to it.

Seeing the Nishnabotna River is something this guy looks forward to.  Because I was ready to receive it, this time as I ascended the walkway arch my eyes were drawn upward at a high dead tree on the other side.  Atop this tree sat eight large vultures.  Every couple minutes another would coast in circling toward toward a branch.  When it landed one took off.  What impressed me so what that at any one given time four of the birds sat there majestically upright with their wings still and spread.  They looked just like the eagle on the quarter!  These four were each facing a different direction - against the four winds if you will.

As many know, the four winds have an ancient historical significance to the beliefs and culture of many peoples of the earth in all dispensations of time.  Having studied this it was significant to me as well.  Standing there watching these birds drew many ideas.  I've never seen foul act like this before.  They were fully taking in the wind, the resistance from all directions, and sun that was afforded them.  They stood as a symbol and inspiration of hope that all things can be overcome and conquered.  This was the message to me.

My mind tracked over to a scriptural passage of Genesis 3:23-24:

Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Up till now this passage understandably came across as a form of punishment for Adam and Eve.  In part that may be, but the new insight was that it was also a positive motivation given to them.  They were given a glorious heavenly being to look toward not so much with fear, but with hope and knowledge that though they couldn't touch the Cherubims, they could live their lives in such a way that they could receive the majesty that they were privy to.  They could overcome the painstaking trials of life and still come out favored.  The Cherubims were symbols of hope just as the vultures were to me at this particular chosen time.

I constantly struggle to find meaning in everything I come in contact with and experience.  The dead tree may represent the decline of values in the United States.  Condensing it down to me, it may also mean a decline of hope and courage.  Though a real Bald Eagle was not manifest, a vulture was sent with the same message of hope until the time that I or the nation is worthy of the Eagle.

In conclusion we each have our own occasions of inspiration according to who we are as individuals.  This one to me at this time was profound and gave hope that because of the freedoms we have, we have every reason to be positive in the light that all despair can be vanquished.  The threats against us as individuals and as a nation are great.  Yet, because of WHO WE ARE - we shall conquer in the end.

Once we get over this hurdle and realize, once again, who we are - the world will know us again.

#America #Patriotism #scriptures #GardenofEden #birdwatching #Nishnabotna #Iowa #WabashTrace #ShenandoahIowa