Thoughts For The Day From Papa ‘a

Good Morning All & Happy Sunday!

We’re nearing the end of August already!  Wow, how time flies!

Speaking of time, it’s just about time for our newest grandchild, Rowan Ezra Cathey, to make his entrance into this world of ours.  How about that!  Very exciting.  Prayers are lifted up that all goes smoothly for baby & mom.

Last night was one of those nights where I laid around thinking about events of the past few days, most especially the tragic loss of our service men and women in Kabul at the hands of a suicide bomber while they were trying to help innocent men, women & children trapped at the Kabul airport.  There’s a picture that is seared into my mind featuring a young Marine in uniform as she held a baby carefully in her arms.  According to the article I read, “Her long hair was pulled back in a bun and rifles sat on either side of her.  But her face was gentle as she looked down at the small child.  The service member was Sgt. Nicole Gee, 23 years old of Roseville, California. who less than one week later would die in the terrorist attack outside the airport.  Gee’s social media accounts showed a dedicated Marine and a loving friend.  In February, she posted a tribute to her husband on his promotion to sergeant, big smiles showing through their masks “before being stuck in pre-deployment quarantine…”  “Gee’s last post on Instagram before her death was a photo of her helping evacuees load onto an airplane at Hamid Karzai International Airport.  In her second-to-last post, also in uniform, she reposted the DOD photo from Twitter.  The caption:  “I love my job.”  “Gee’s father, Richard Herrera, remembered her as “a very determined kid,” someone who excelled in school and was remarkably self-guided.  She always had straight A’s, he recalled, “except for maybe one time in her life when she got a B.”  “News of her death prompted an outpouring of love and grief from friends and family.  “My best friend.  23 years old.  Gone.  I find peace knowing that she left this world doing what she loved.  She was a Marine’s Marine.  She cared about people.  She loved fiercely.  She was a light in this dark world, wrote one friend, Mallory Harrison, in a tribute posted on Facebook on Friday evening.”

And the tragedy of it all is that the deaths of Sgt. Gee and her fellow service men and women didn’t have to happen.  It was due to the negligence, malfeasance in office and dereliction of duty of our current president and his advisors.  They deserve to be forced to resign from office or removed through impeachment or other appropriate action.  There actions dishonored the sacrifice of these beloved service men and women and those Afghan civilians who lost their lives in this senseless act of violence at the hands of evildoers who follow a religion that promotes hate, revenge, retribution, the subjugation & abuse of women, and the killing of unbelievers.

Our world moans as we continue our disobedience to our Creator.  The God of the Bible who showed His love for all of us by sacrificing His only son so that our sin and disobedience through pride, ego, greed, selfishness and trying to be in control would be forgiven.  This is the God we should be worshiping, not the God of the Koran.  Woe to us who choose to worship & follow anything other than our loving Creator and His son Jesus.  They bring us life & light and not death & darkness.

It is hoped that our country will never again attempt to “nation build,” but rather be an inspiration to all nations to seek freedom & liberty for their own people and to assist them where appropriate in achieving that goal.  Too much treasure is lost when we get mired in other people’s wars & disputes.  You would think we would have learned from the Vietnam experience, but we seem to be led by people with little or no sense of history, common sense and/or good judgement.  We have paid a terrible price for this disgraceful leadership.  May it never happen again!

Now is the time for all of us to seek to support efforts to create a viable third-party that will reflect our “true north”…finding “the middle ground” if you will, realizing that the truth in politics is found somewhere in the middle, not through the “left” or the “right.”  Our country cries out for better leadership at all levels of government.  I hope we find an articulate and visionary person from the heartland of our country with an engineering background to run for president in 2024 on a third-party ticket.  Until then, many prayers will need to be lifted up, asking God to help us survive a debilitated presidency.

Here’s to all of our country’s men & women who are or have served in harm’s way to protect freedom, liberty and justice throughout the world.  May our government leaders be worthy of their sacrifices.

 

Speaking of “service above self”, here’s to Bad Rock Fire Department emergency medical technician and firefighter Brandy LaTray who was recently recognized by the Governor of Montana with a “ServeMontana Award…”  “LaTray’s husband, Ron, who is also a volunteer with the department, motivated her to join the force after some of their own firefighters often needed medical help on the scene when responding to emergencies.  She volunteered for a year as a firefighter to get the raining she needed and then the department and the county paid for her training as an EMT.  It was a tough go, she said.  She was working full-time, then going to night classes at Flathead Valley Community College in addition to responding to calls with the department.  She goes to more than 150 calls a year and is often the first medical help a victim sees in an emergency.  “I do it for the community,” she said.  “I’ve never done it for the awards.”  LaTray said she deals with the potential trauma of being an EMT by simply doing the best she can.  “You do the best you can while you you’re there,” she said.  “Do what you can 100 percent.”

—“LaTray recognized by governor for service to Bad Rock community,” Hungry Horse News, Wednesday, July 28, 2021, p. A6.

Can’t we find and elect leaders that reflect the “service above self” of so many of our service men and women and first responders?  The future of our democratic republic depends upon it…

Speaking of better public service, check out the following link:  https://www.washingtonpolicy.org/publications/detail/real-world-situations-show-why-a-long-term-care-mandate-and-tax-should-be-repealed.  It describes the ill-conceived and poorly written law recently passed by the Washington State Legislature and signed by the Governor which will require a payroll tax on employed people to fund a long-term care insurance plan that many will never see any benefits from.  The State Actuary of Washington concluded that the program won’t raise enough money to pay the promised benefit, making further tax increases and larger cuts into employee wages inevitable.  Sadly, with the program underfunded by $15 billion, today’s annual tax of $580 per $100,000 of income will likely increase to thousands of dollars a year.  Does this sound like a common sense approach to funding long-term care to you???

One has to ask one’s self, with all the poor leadership being displayed, when will common sense prevail in the halls of government?  Do you ever get the feeling that you’re “being taken for a ride”?

 

Here’s the fact for the day:

Before Stephen Hillenburg created SpongeBob SquarePants, he taught marine biology.

 

Here’s the thought for the day:

“Mama said:  “Don’t go near that river”

“Don’t be hanging around old Catfish John”

“Come the morning, I’d always be there”

“Walking in his footsteps in the sweet Delta dawn.”

 

Born a slave in the town of Vicksburg, traded for a chestnut mare

Lord, he never spoke in anger, though his load was hard to bear.

 

“Mama said:  “Don’t go near that river”

“Don’t be hanging around old Catfish John”

“Come the morning, I’d always be there”

“Walking in his footsteps in the sweet Delta dawn.”

 

Catfish John was river hobo who lived and died by the river bed

Thinking back, I still remember I was proud to be his friend.”

—“Catfish John,” song by the “Nitty Gritty Dirt Band”

 

 

Here’s to a great summer Sunday and lots of love and good wishes to all!

Press on,

Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, Mark, etc.)