Sunday 12 April 2015

My mind wanders . . . .



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One of our favourite programs to watch is Bluebloods.   I wasn't sure at first that it was going to be my cup of tea . . .  after all there was a New Kid on the Block in it  . . . but I was pleasantly surprised and we have both been enjoying it throughout five seasons of it, although admittedly we are still watching the fifth season.

What I like about the show is that the characters are portrayed as good and decent people, with strengths and weaknesses.   They don't set themselves up to be holier than thou . . . but, what I like most of all is the family values it espouses.   This is a family that cares about each other through thick and through thin, they have their ins and their outs  . . .  but at least once a week they all meet together over the dinner table, they bow their heads together as a family . . .  and they pray.  They are a family with faith.  It's a very rare thing to see such a thing on the television in this day and age. 


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In the episode (recorded) that we watched last night, a couple of young men set a homeless man sleeping on a bench in the park on fire with gasoline.   He died of course.  Apparently one of the pre-requisites for belonging in a gang they wanted to join was to kill a homeless person . . .

Don't say that wouldn't happen . . .  because it did.   A couple of autumns ago now.  In a small town.  In Nova Scotia.  A very rural community. A small town filled with honest, decent, law abiding, had working citizens.  No gangs or drug culture that I know of . . .  not a lot of criminal activity or behavior to speak of.

A homeless man, with no place and no one to call his own, sleeping in a bus shelter with all that he owned on this earth, was set alight and burned to death, with gasoline as a propellant by two young men, who were later arrested and charged with murder.   You can read a bit about it here.   The whole thing was very shocking.  It was also very sad to think about what this world has come to when things like this can and do happen.


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Homelessness is not a new thing.   There was a man, when I was growing up, who was well known in the Valley, by the name of Harold Clem.  Back then they were called Bums, or Hobos.  He seemed elderly to me, but was probably younger then than I am now.  He was chubby, with a beard.   He walked the roads of our community 365 days of the year.   He was dirty and very unkempt, with raggedy clothes and he obviously didn't have any family about.   You would see him walking the roads on a daily basis and up and down the corridors of our local shopping centre.  He usually had a roll of balogne and a crust of bread under his arm for sustenance . . .  he was a legend.   Everyone loved him.   Nobody bothered him, or made fun of him, or was cruel to him.   In fact at one point, the community set him up with a small place to live.  He had portraits done of him by artists and many an article written about him.

You could say we all loved Harold Clem and considered him to be an important part of our community.  Harmless.   Good natured.  Valued.

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He was not deemed as worthless.

What has happened to our values since then?   As a community of humanity when did this change?   When did people who seemingly have nothing . . .  become nothing?

And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 
~Matthew 24:12

The bible is talking about the latter days in this passage, and all of the inquities which shall abound during that time . . .  one of which is a cold heartedness towards others.

Food for thought . . .

We had another pretty gorgeous day yesterday, although it didn't start off that way, and it was a LOT colder.   I have the heat on this morning.

A thought to carry with you through today . . .


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"In prayer it is better
to have a heart without words
than to have words without
a heart."
~John Bunyan
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Cooking in The English Kitchen today . . .  Golden Syrup Dumplings with Custard.

I hope you have a lovely Sunday.  Don't forget . . .

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 And I do too!


6 comments:

  1. We are certainly living is some sad days Marie. There seems so much inhumanity to man..very sad indeed..and as you say all prophised in our Bibles..Unfortunatly although the bible is supposed to be the top selling book ?..It is read understood and acted on by so few people...we are slowly marching towards the end times for sure...
    Hope that you have a lovely day ahead. Although looks a bit like rain up with you..down here the sun is shinging and the sky is blue, so fingers crossed that if the chilly wind dies down we will get sitting out this aftrnoon.

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  2. There are so many sad things going on our world. It is a shame.

    We have had another beautiful day which has been spent carting old wood to the curb for our once a year council clear up. I wish it was more often. There is so much to remove in this household and some very resistant persons. A man came and took some of the hoard. I took some to the church for their charity shop. The bin is groaning.

    God bless your sleeping and your day.

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  3. Hi Marie. I remember when I was a child we too had a homeless man who used to roam the streets. Unfortunately he was also an alcoholic . He had been married but his wife had divorced him and remarried. He never got over this and his drinking got even worse, he would drink anything with alcohol in it. Yet everyday he did a 10 mile round trip to a convent where the nuns used to feed him. But he always returned to the area where his ex wife was. As a child I was quite scared of him, mainly because he was drunk, although I knew he was basicly harmless. As an adult however, looking back at his life I just can't imagine the heart break he obviously felt over losing his wife. But it must have also been extremely difficult for his wife who must have seen him so often deteriorating year after year. Have a lovely Sunday , lots of love xxx

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  4. I just starting watching Blue Bloods and do like it. They are a family of love and faith and It is a rare thing to see on TV. That is probably why I like it so. Homelessness is just about every where we go these days. Our church offered shelter to them when it got so very cold out this past winter. Sad to see, but there were very few that took advantage of having a warm safe place to be out of the cold. It's sunny here this morning but like you it is chilly out and the heat is on here inside. Hope you have a blessed Sunday !

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  5. It's funny we watched it..but we never found it again after 2 seasons I think..
    I have always loved Tom Selleck..Magnum PI..Friends etc..
    ..
    Sad....there is a lot of pain and suffereing..you don't have to look far..:(

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  6. Best selling book of all time Sybil, and yet so few live it's principles. Crazy. We had very strong winds yesterday, but are looking forward to some nice temps and sunshine this week so they said on Country File! xoxo

    It sure is Suzan. Even a bit of a cull can be cathartic, so although you haven't been able to get rid of as much as you would have liked, at least you got rid of some of it" xoxo

    How very sad for that man's wife Kate! Its funny how very differently we see things as adults than we do when we re children. Love and hugs. xoxo

    We could use more programs espousing family values Pam! WE had the heat on here last evening also. xoxo

    I have always loved Tom Selleck also MOnique. Twins again! xoxo

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