A Poem, My Quote & Glen

Deacon Steve gave a great Homily on Sunday’s Gospel, Mark 1:16-20. 

He asked us if we would have “dropped everything” and followed Jesus. 

Would we leave our families, our jobs and our homes. 

If I was Zebedee, how would I have reacted to my sons leaving?  

These are tough questions and they gave me reason to question my journey with Jesus. If He came by my home or stopped in at Church and said, “come after me,” would I follow? A difficult question for me to answer. 

“As he passed by the Sea of Galilee,

he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea;

they were fishermen.

Jesus said to them,

"Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men."

Then they abandoned their nets and followed him.

He walked along a little farther

and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.

They too were in a boat mending their nets.

Then he called them.

So they left their father Zebedee in the boat

along with the hired men and followed him.”

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 I was thinking, do I have to pay taxes on the days our Government was closed down? Perhaps a letter to my Congressman is in order.

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Thursday, January 25th was the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle. It was also my 71st birthday. An interesting coincidence, which made me take a moment to reflect on my life as a follower of Jesus. Then I read “Gods Word to All” by Beth DeCristofaro over at Your Daily Tripod.”

“Throughout sacred history, God placed people in the places in which they would best fulfill God's will.  They grew in stature as they responded to God's call, at times in spite of themselves.  Moses stuttered, Rebekah and Jacob cheated Esau, Thomas questioned, Paul of course persecuted until he saw the light, "Bill W" gave his alcoholism over to God and co-founded AA.  Reading the lives of the saints with all their warts and foibles allows us to hear "go out to the whole world" and share "My Word" in a new perspective.  Yes, God means me, limitations and all.”

So, for the second time in five days the Gospel has me reflecting on my relationship with God. This was not going to be a normal birthday for me. 

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 This is from Shawn MacKenzie’s blog, Dragons Nest. It is an introduction to writer Ursula Le Guin, 1929-2018. Even if you don’t know anything about her, take time to go to his blog. It contains a copy of her speech given at Mills College. The year was 1983, but when you read it, you will think it was written for 2018. 

“There are writers who touch us, who teach us, who look at the world in eye-opening ways. Writers who not only reflect the world we live in but also dare to shape it into something the rest of us mere mortals had not even imagined. And when they are gone, and their voices silenced, there is a hole in the world; we are all the poorer for their passing.”

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“Life is not about me,

It is about family and friends.

If I love my family and friends,

Everything will be as God intended.”

     Grandpa Paul

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Dee had me read a copy of Mother Teresa’s Poem, “Do It Anyway.” I like it and want to share it, so after viewing a number of websites, I chose this version, which I found at “Turnback To God.”

                 

Do It Anyway

              

“People are often unreasonable,

illogical and self-centered;

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind,

people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives;

Be kind anyway.

If you are successful,

you will win some false friends and true enemies;

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank,

people may cheat you;

Be honest anyway.

What you spend years building,

someone could destroy overnight;

Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness,

they may be jealous;

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today,

people will often forget tomorrow;

Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have,

and it may never be enough;

Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis,

it is between you and God;

It was never between you and them anyway.”

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 Glen Campbell - “Hey Little One.”

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A Coureurs des Bois Unit

I completed a unit of Coureurs des Bois this month. There are more on the way, but other figures require completion first. This particular unit is led by Jacques Trembly (fictitious name) who is from Quebec. He and his group usually work with the local Hurons and Ojibwa, raiding into New York. My granddaughter Ekaterina will love adding them to her Huron units.

The figures are from Old Glory.  I like the variety of poses and found them easy to paint.

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Historically the Coureurs des Bois have been referred to as “forest runners” or “runners of the woods.” They were French-Canadian traders that were close to the aboriginal peoples of Canada. There is some good information at the Maison Saint-Gabriel web site.

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Some Takes and Things

The NFL playoffs, this weekend. My selections, picks, teams that I would like to see get to the Super Bowl.

Minnesota Vikings versus Philadelphia Eagles. 

I’m going with the Vikings. 

Legertha

Jacksonville Jaguars versus New England Patriots.

I’m going with the Patriots.

Patriots

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The paragraph below is the beginning of an informative article written by Steve Weidenkopf. It was sent to me by my son Todd after my blog about “Knightfall."

“For many years, Hollywood’s treatment of the Crusades and the medieval period has been rooted in fallacy rather than historical fact (and not too popular at the box office), with Ridley Scott’s deplorable Kingdom of Heaven (2005) as a prime example. So, when I saw a trailer for the new History Channel series Knightfall, I was interested but wary of its accuracy. Unfortunately, my fears about an inaccurate portrayal of history (even allowing for appropriate dramatic license) were confirmed.”

I do not necessarily share his opinions but I do like the article. It provides some insight into the Knights Templars and is worth reading.

The Real Story of Christ’s Warrior-Monks by Steve Weidenkopf.

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 I posted a game that my son Todd, granddaughter Ekaterina played last week.

“Raid on Shelby’s Cabin - 1756.”

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Calvin

Contemplation 

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“I've always wanted to be somebody, but I see now I should have been more specific.”

         Lily Tomlin

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Snow arrived on Wednesday. It’s Friday and almost all gone. I love the winters in Richmond, Virginia.

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Carrie Underwood and Randy Travis, “Is It Still Over?”

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Raid On Shelby's Cabin - 1756

My son Todd, and granddaughter Ekaterina, visited us the first Sunday in January. I set-up a game based on “Buckskins and Rangers.” The rules were modified for ease of playing. This is a brief description of the game along with some photos.

Game Setup

Raid on Shelby’s Cabin - 1756

Intro

A message was received that a small group of Hurons and Coureurs de Bois (Ekaterina commanding) were moving toward Shelby’s cabin. The local militia (Led by Todd) had been gathering supplies at that location for transportation to Fort Oswego. The British command in Albany sent Lt. Neville (aka. Grandpa) to the cabin to oversee the protection and defense of the cabin. He arrived with a small group of Briartun militia.

The Game

Owen Fitzhugh took his group of militia and moved forward and left of Millstone Creek. His plan was to slow down any threat coming from that direction.

Issac Gantt took a defensive position at the cabin, lining his men behind the fence-line. This would be reinforced by Owen’s group as he fell back. Lt. Neville was confident that they would be able to hold any advanced by the Hurons.

The Hurons advanced quickly and with a concentrated heavy fire took out two of Owen’s command. Owen was unable to hold his forward position and retreated back toward the cabin. He lost another man at the wood edge and retreated toward the fence line. The musket fire from his unit was not as accurate as the Hurons, who suffered no casualties.

A second band of Hurons surprised Owen’s group and he lost another man. Once again he was unable to inflict any casualties on the Hurons.  

All the Militia were now defending behind the fence. Both sides exchanged fire. Two more men from Owen’s group went down while only one causality was taken on the Hurons.

The Hurons charged in and engaged into some heavy hand-to-hand fighting. 

Lt. Neville did like how things were going and decided to move what loaded wagons he had back to Briartun. He was able to safely retreat leaving behind half the supplies. Unfortunately the militia were all eliminated.

Dragons, Knights & X-Files

The image above is one of my favorites from Shawn MacKenzie's blog, "Dragon's Nest." I found it years ago and had a copy of it on my work desk here at home. While I was looking for something new to add to my blog I thought this would be an excellent choice.
So if you like dragons and dragon things, take the time to visit Shawn's blog.

Paul's Bods continues to put together some interesting miniatures. This week he has a "Medieval Drinking contest."  

Colleen O'Sullivan's thoughts about Wednesday's reading, 1 Samuel 3:1, 7-9a.

"As I reflected on today’s Scripture readings, one line, in particular, stood out: during Samuel’s ministry under Eli, “a revelation of the Lord was uncommon and vision infrequent.” It’s true we are told in 1 Samuel 2 that during the entire period of the Judges in Israel, there were very few prophets or revelations recognized. But if we believe that God is in all things, or as Gerard Manley Hopkins more eloquently put it, “the world is charged with the grandeur of God,” it seems more likely that people, in general, weren’t actively looking for God or listening to what God might be saying than that God was purposely remaining silent or hidden."

Colleen poses the question, "how different are we today from people in Samuel's time?" I find it interesting that we, as children of God, often forget that He is always here. I guess we get too concerned about our surroundings and fail to look "outside" them. Life is not easy, we all have journeys that are not always smooth. Try to talk to God each day. Try to listen. Open your heart and your mind, be patient.

"Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for."

      Will Rogers

They're back! Scully and Moulder have returned. The first episode was excellent and I'm looking forward to watching the series. I became a fan back in 1993 have never missed a TV episode or a movie. Thank you Chris Carter. If you're a new fan or just want some background information, Wiki has a nice write-up.

Miranda Lambert and Jamey - “Bad Angel”

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Sports, Weather & Stuff

Hockey outdoors, the 10th Winter Classic. This year the New York Rangers defeated the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 in overtime. It was cold, about 20 degrees, but that didn’t seem to bother the fans. I was pulling for the Sabres. You can view game highlights at CBS Sports.

The Citrus Bowl, the Irish Lads against the LSU Tigers. The first half ended with only three points on the board which was a field goal by the Irish. Then both teams scored in the third quarter putting the Tigers ahead 7-6. The real action and excitement started in the fourth quarter. Watch these highlights from ESPN.

Wood has been gathered and stacked for the winter months. The harvest was good and the villagers have a sufficient supply of food and drink. They have prayed and made sacrifices to Wōdan. Required preparations to combat the cold have been made on their homes, barns and great hall. They are ready. 

Ymir, the winter god, approaches. His minions will freeze the ground and the air, preparing for the snow storm. The south has already been hit.

And here I sit, waiting, but also ready. The temperatures have been in the low teens and will get into single digits this Friday and Saturday night. 

Winter has begun.

Thursday morning, after the snow has stopped falling I was watching our local weather report. A new weather term was introduced ... "bombogenesis." An interesting word that has connotations of Biblical origins. It's still cold and there's still snow. A good day to work on writing and painting miniatures.

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” Helen Keller

Tony, Me, Roger, Jack, Lou and Dave- New Year's Eve

Me and Dee - New Year's Eve

I did not paint as many miniatures in 2017 as anticipated. This has happened in previous years, so maybe I set my expectations too high. This year the new plan is to put together Briartun, a little bit at a time. I figure that if I work in sections it will be an easier task but will still show how the village is growing. 

My collection of painted and unpainted American Revolution figures are going up for sale. Need to have room for Briatun. More information to follow.

Jon Pardi - “She Ain’t In It.”

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