Watch closely, the video is only 14 seconds long.
The best time to practice magic tricks, as you will see, is when your parents aren’t home. I’m not sure, but I think this is how Gandalf got his start.
Be very careful when you practice this trick.
Adults are free to try it, too–but be prepared to do some fast talking.
Let’s start our Sabbath day with this, one of the most gorgeous hymns ever written–Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Hard indeed is the heart that isn’t stirred by this!
Like I say, “Keep your rock, we’ve got Bach!”
But even Bach is nothing without the Holy Spirit.
Let’s sign off on a positive note, shall we? Thanks, Erlene, for suggesting this hymn, When We All Get to Heaven.
Sing louder, everybody: sing louder.
I love this hymn, and I think it would be good to start the day with it. Actually I started my day with vacuuming, but this is a better start.
I have just about learned how to play this on the harmonica. My favorite hymn to play is Hyfrydol–my uncle’s little Marine Band harmonica might have been specifically made to play that hymn.
Keep those hymn requests coming, folks–I’m all caught up. And if you haven’t yet requested a hymn, well, come on in!
Hi, Mr. Nature here! No more politics for a while, eh? Let’s look at lizards instead.
Here is an adult male bearded dragon–they’re from Australia, and have become very popular as pets–getting upset with his reflection in the mirror because it doesn’t seem to know the rules that govern lizard interaction. It just copies whatever gesture the real lizard makes. Anyone who has had a kid brother or sister knows how irritating that can be.
A lot of unrelated kinds of lizards use head-bobbing as a means of communication. The polite response, among bearded lizards, is to answer the head-bob with a submissive gesture, which keeps everything nice and peaceful. If you bob back, as the reflection does, you’re looking for a fight.
Note the lizard running around, trying to see if he can get behind the mirror to take a bite out of the supposed newcomer. Like most animals, lizards can’t recognize a reflection for what it is. Unlike some people, they won’t fall in love with it.
When I was a kid, I had a dime-store “chameleon” (not a real chameleon, but a Carolina anole) who went absolutely postal whenever he saw his reflection. You wouldn’t believe how mad he got.
In real lizard life, though, head-bobbing, arm-waving, stomping, push-ups, and other gestures often preserve the peace and keep lizards from getting injured in fights. Once they get to know each other better, and decide they can get along, they stop the head-bobbing.
My iguana never head-bobbed because he got along with everybody–except for a certain cat who would come into the room for no good purpose, and the iguana knew it. Her he would attack on sight, never mind the head-bobbing. With the other cat and the schnauzer he was the best of friends.
Let’s join Nathan (auto-harp) and Lyle (guitar) and some of their family members for an old gospel song from 1917, The Love of God.
(See, Lee? It’s okay to play hymns on something other than an organ or a piano.)
Nice way to start the day.
And remember, all of you out there in the world–you can always request a hymn, if you’d like to see it posted here. Not many are taking advantage of this ongoing offer–so step right up.
After all that business about politics, let me get back on course and rinse out my brain with some of that living water that Jesus had to give (see John 4, the Samaritan woman at the well: one of my favorite chapters in the Bible). So, by reader request, here’s All the Glory, performed by Caroll Roberson.
In fact, this request almost slipped through the cracks, but I like to go back over the comments in case I’ve missed one. So if you’ve got a hymn, anybody, that you’d like to see posted here, don’t be shy, please let me know–and I will get to it.
So we’ll start the day with There Is a Redeemer, by Keith Green: here you go, Linda.
If you’re new to this blog, or just haven’t spoken up yet, I want you to know that anybody can request a hymn–the more, the merrier.
We need to proclaim our faith. We need to encourage one another.
Sing louder!
Here you go, Allison–you requested this rock ’em, sock ’em Christian song, and you’ve got it: Guilty, by the Newsboys.
Are we prepared to stand up for Jesus Christ Our Lord–as Peter and John did, when the Sanhedrin ordered them to stop preaching in His name?
Maybe if a lot more of us had been willing to be judged “Guilty!” years ago, our country would not be in the shameful and ridiculous position in which she finds herself today.
Here you go, Erlene–a nice rendition of How Great Thou Art.
I can’t hear this hymn without thinking of my Grandma, who used to hum it as she sewed. Grandma died when I was 11, a long time ago, but she has been much on my mind lately. Having raised six daughters, she was mighty happy when her first grandson came along, which was me. Oh, my grandparents on both sides were mighty good to me! And I will never stop missing them until we’re all together again. In Christ’s Kingdom.