Category Archives: Gratitude

Ben Franklin, Rainy Days and Libraries

Posted on by April 24, 2016

Ben Franklin thumb picture

Benjamin Franklin credited libraries with turning common tradesmen into smart citizens. Especially on rainy days. Ben said it this way: “our people having no publik amusements to divert their attention to study, became better acquainted with books.” They didn’t have anything else to do on days with bad weather, rainy days.

Franklin began the first circulation public library in 1731 in Philadelphia, actually in all of North America. It soon caught on. Similar libraries were formed by other do good citizens in all the colonies. read more

Thomas Jefferson’s Birthday!

Posted on by April 13, 2016

ThomasJeffersonThomas Jefferson should truly be remembered and honored today. What did he accomplish? I’ll just mention a few here. He graduated from William and Mary College and then studied law for 5 years under George Wythe, the first law professor in Virginia.

By then he was already an accomplished violinist and dancer. He fell in love with and married another musician, Martha Wayles Skelton. He had already begun construction on Montecello, so they moved in to the one room that was finished there. He worked on building and remodeling for the next 40 years. (If you haven’t been there, you should go to visit and to observe the detail and the beauty of his mansion on the hill. read more

James Madison and the Bill of Rights

Posted on by April 6, 2016

JamesMadisonThe Constitution was undeniably the idea, design, and proposal of James Madison, but so also was the Bill of Rights. The first 10 Amendments to the Constitution. Once the Constitution was ratified and signed by the 55 Representatives of the States in Congress, it had to be approved by each of the States individually.

In an effort to gain the votes of the States, Madison, together with John Jay and Alexander Hamilton wrote the “Federalist Papers” to fully explain the meaning and importance of the Constitution. Nine State had to adopt it before the Constitution would replace the Articles of Confederation as the principle document uniting the States. read more

Thomas Jefferson and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Posted on by April 3, 2016

800px-Mtchoirandorchestra_ConferenceCenter_(cropped)On one occasion I was speaking to about 300 people at a convention in Provo, Utah. My topic was “The Pursuit of Happiness—Thomas Jefferson.” I had 55 minutes to tell about Thomas Jefferson’s life and accomplishments. Needless to say, I only got to the highlights.

Afterwards a very kind lady came up to visit with me for a minute and thank me for my address. She introduced herself as a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. She went on to tell me about a choir tour that she was a part of. The Choir toured, visited and sang at some important places involved in U.S. History. read more

Easter Sunday and Religion

Posted on by March 25, 2016

Illgegal Trial of Christ coverI’ve got to get some new quote books! I looked in six of my favorite quote books to find something said about “Good Friday.” There was nothing in any of them. How does that happen? Well, I guess they’re not really religious quote books, but still . . .

I did find some quotes about Easter—but only in one of those books. It did have several quotes, but none from anyone you would have heard about.

Since it is Easter weekend, and I am the author of “The Illegal Trial of Christ”, I thought I’d better include a few quotes about Easter at least. So here are a few (but you’ll have to look in your Encyclopedia to find out anything about the famous person being quoted! read more

Baseball Spring Training and George Washington

Posted on by March 20, 2016
Polo Grounds during World Series Game, 1913 from the Bain Collection by David Shapinsky from Washington, D.C.

Polo Grounds during World Series Game, 1913 from the Bain Collection by David Shapinsky from Washington, D.C.

Growing up I was a fan of Ted Williams. He was quite a batter. When he was approaching 40 years of age he began closing out his career with the Boston Red Sox. At that time he was suffering a pinched nerve in his neck.

“The thing was so bad that I could hardly turn my neck to look at the pitcher,” he reported. That year he batted under .300 for the first time in his career. In 1959 he batted just .254, his lowest batting average, but he was still making $125,000.00. Well, that was a lot in 1959. read more

Benjamin Franklin and Authors

Posted on by March 17, 2016

Ben Franklin thumb pictureI received a letter a few days ago asking me some questions about my book “The Illegal Trial of Christ.” I politely responded and answered the questions asked of me.

Then today I received a phone call from this same person, with a couple of more questions. We had a nice chat and it was apparent that this person had done a great deal of reading and research about the death of Christ and what led up to it.

This man said he was a neurologist and he is writing his own book about the medical reasons of Christ’s death. Basically the premise of his book is that Christ actually died from a loss of blood. The crown of thorns was really the cause of loss of more blood that had previously been attributed to it. That he was in reality the sacrificial lamb, and it was the time of year for that major sacrifice. He fulfilled his purpose in coming to Earth. read more

Christ and the New Movie “Risen”

Posted on by March 12, 2016

Illgegal Trial of Christ coverToday my wife and I went to see the new movie titled “Risen.” As you can imagine, this movie is about the resurrected Savior—sort of. Naturally because of my book “The Illegal Trial of Christ” we just had to see this movie.

The main plot revolves around a Roman Centurion who was at the foot of the cross as Christ was crucified. I kidded my wife that this whole story line is detailed in Chapter 13 of the book of Acts, in the New Testament. Of course it isn’t. There is no such tale in any of the Holy Writ. It is totally made up. Kind of like the novel “The Robe” by Lloyd C. Douglas in the 1940’s. read more

True Friendship

Posted on by February 28, 2016

Landsdowne paintingGeorge Washington was one to give words of counsel and wisdom to those he associated with (or with whom he associated, if you prefer). Pearls of wisdom just seemed to fall from his lips. Some were actually written down. Here’s one I like and understand:

“Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.” read more

John Adams vs. Thomas Jefferson—Vitriolic Elections

Posted on by February 26, 2016

JohnAdamsIn discussing last nights GOP Presidential debate, one commentator boldly stated that there possibly hadn’t been an election with as much acrimonious attacks since Adams and Jefferson. Of course, none of us were alive to really remember that—and there wasn’t any TV coverage.

But it’s true, there had developed some animosity between the two stanchions of the early years of America. They disagreed on the French Revolution, and about the appointment of judges by Adams at the end of his term of office (hey, is that going to come up again?). read more