life lives less in the present than in future, less in both together
Age saw two quiet children Go loving by at twilight, He knew not whether homeward, Or outward from the village, Or (chimes were ringing) churchward. He waited (they were strangers) Till they were out of hearing To bid them both be happy. “Be happy, happy, happy, And seize the day of pleasure.” The age-long theme is Age’s. ’Twas Age imposed on poems Their gather-roses burden To warn against the danger That overtaken lovers From being overflooded With happiness should have it And yet not know they have it. But bid life seize the present? It lives less in the present Than in the future always, And less in both together Than in the past. The present Is too much for the senses, Too crowding, too confusing— Too present to imagine.
Carpe Diem by Robert Frost as published in The Witness Tree (Henry Holt: New York, 1943).
With happiness should have it and yet not know they have it.
Why do spend so much time wanting what we don’t have and not even understanding what we do have?
Always remember … carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero is the complete quote from the poet Horace.
Or …
Seize the present; trust tomorrow e’en as little as you may.
Way I heard it was … seize the day … for tomorrow a new day comes.
after horse is gone or when the steede is stolne shut the stable durre
Out walking on the Island with my wife took the path that runs along the cross island parkway to the bridge over Broad Creek.
For sometime I have noticed that at one point, we walk through a gate in the fence that lines the parkway.
The other day, I looked a little closer and noticed we weren’t walking through a gateway in the fence along the parkway but through a fence that seems to have been set up so there could be a gate.
If ever, and we have never seen it closed, the gate where to be closed, it would be a matter of 4 or 5 feet to walk around the gate.
I wondered why out loud and my wife pointed out that maybe it was to block access to path if you had a vehicle of some sort.
I agreed that that would work but to someone who was going to drive a bike or ATV or something that fit on the path, the closed gate would not be much a deterrent.
From a point of law I guess, if one were asked was the gate closed, and it was, then it should be understood that access was restricted and those who continued around the gate would be understood to be in violation of whatever reason the gate was closed.
Still its a gate that doesn’t close anything or offer passage to anyway.
In 2012, much was made of the Governor of Alaska and they she fought for funding for a ‘Bridge to No Where’.
At the time I pointed out that didn’t bother people in Michigan as Michigan built a Bridge to No Where in 1957.
Still I stand in front of my open gate and I walk around to see what would happen if the gate might be closed.
What came to mind was the old saying of closing the barn door after the horse has left and if you this set up for your barn, closing the barn door before the horse has left wouldn’t make much difference which led me to search out the orgins of the phrase about the horse and the barn door and that led to a feller name John Heywood who put pen to paper back in the Henry 8th era.
And boy did Mr. Heywood put pen to paper.
He recorded a lot of things that we say and whether or not he SAID them first, he wrote them down and published them first in his book, The Proverbs of John Heywood, Being the “Proverbs” of that Author (Printed in 1546).
The way he put it was When the steede is stolne shut the stable durr.
Other thoughts in his book include:
But better late then never to repent this.
And while I at length debate and beat the bush, There shall step in other men, and catch the birds, And by long time lost in many vain words.
Wedding is destiny, And hanging likewise.
A hard beginnyng makth a good ending
Two heddis are better then one
And also I shall to reueng former hurtis, Hold their noses to grinstone, and syt on theyr skurtis.
The nere to the churche, the ferther from God.
Be they wynners or loosers, … beggers should be no choosers.
A man maie well bring a horse to the water, but he can not make him drinke without he will.
According to Wikipedia, John Heywood (c. 1497 – c. 1580) was an English writer known for his plays, poems, and collection of proverbs. Although he is best known as a playwright, he was also active as a musician and composer, though no musical works survive. A devout Catholic, he nevertheless served as a royal servant to both the Catholic and Protestant regimes of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I.
Boy Howdy! But anyone who served Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I and survived deserves to have also said If you can keep your head when all about you, but he didn’t.
(It seems Mr. Kipling did.)
Mr. Heywood did say I know on which side my bread is buttered, but he didn’t say why toast always falls buttered side down.
A lot of goofiness for a goofy gate in one essay.
I try to chronicle words, word usage and witty word play but what it comes down is what it says in the Bible.
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
made it very clear not what he thought … someone else is always to blame
Nathan Admonishing David by Rembrandt van Rijn – Metropolitan Museum of Art
Adapted from the New York Times opinion piece, I missed the part about the Divine Right of … Presidents? )April 19, 2026) by David French where Mr. French writes:
He [That man currently in office] posted an image on Truth Social that depicted the president as Jesus healing a sick man, with worshipers looking on in adoration, a flag of the United States waving in the background and mysterious figures floating in the sky.
The image was clearly blasphemous, and I was gratified to see a number of people whom I’d consider MAGA Christians strongly criticize the president. For example, a popular right-wing commentator, Cam Higby, posted: “I support Trump, and I spend 8 hours a day defending him. I will not defend blasphemy.” Riley Gaines, a college swimmer turned conservative podcaster, tweeted to her 1.6 million followers on X: “Why? Seriously, I cannot understand why he’d post this. Is he looking for a response? Does he actually think this?”
To consider the contrast between the biblical model of religious conscience and the actions of Trump’s Christian loyalists, recall one of the most famous confrontations with power in the Old Testament, between a prophet named Nathan and King David.
In the biblical story, David repents immediately and writes one of the most memorable psalms in Scripture. “Have mercy upon me, O God,” it begins, “According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions.”
Now let’s look to the words of Franklin Graham, one of the most prominent evangelicals in America — and one of Trump’s most zealous supporters.
In a public statement after Trump posted the image of himself as Jesus, Graham pretended to believe Trump’s absurd explanation of the image, writing, “I’m thankful the President has made it very clear that this was not at all what he thought the AI-generated image was representing — he thought it was a doctor helping someone, and when he learned of the concerns, he immediately removed the post.” But Graham didn’t stop there. He lashed out against Trump’s critics, “I think his enemies are always foaming at the mouth at any possible opportunity to make him look bad,” he wrote.
Someone else is always to blame.
We played the waiting game after that man posted that image and then claimed he did not in any way see himself as anything but a doctor in the way the image came across.
We waited.
Surely … SURELY … this crossed the line and there would be a reaction by Christians who had been saved by the Blood of Jesus Christ and who loved their Savior for the grace he offered that replaced their sins.
Surely …
When Franklin Graham finally said something, he said, “When I looked at the illustration, I didn’t jump to the same conclusion as some. There were no spiritual references — no halo, there were no crosses, no angels. It was a flag, soldiers, a nurse, fighter planes, eagles, the Statue of Liberty, and I think this is a lot to do about nothing.”
Folks, as Mr. Churchill might say, Here, surely, is the world record in the domain of the ridiculous and the contemptible.
Mr. Churchill was speaking out against the claims of one Benito (This whipped jackal) Mussolini and Mussolini’s claims of Italian victories over Greece in World War 2.
Mr. Graham was speaking out on a subject that Mr. French said was “clearly blasphemous.”
My first reaction to Mr. Graham’s public statement was … is he on crack?
My second reaction to Mr. Graham’s public statement was … is he on meth?
My third reaction to Mr. Graham’s public statement was … is he on crack and meth?
My 4th reaction to Mr. Graham’s public statement was … why is he lying?
Mr. Graham and I grew up in the same age and era and for the most part, the same type of churches.
We spent hours on Sunday Mornings in Sunday School where we were taught Bible stories with what was know as flannel graph illustrations.
A board was cover in flannel and printed paper cut outs of figures with flannel pasted on the back would go up on the board where they would stick.
Printed paper cut outs of David and Goliath with one image of Goliath standing tall and another of Goliath landing flat and the cut outs would be swapped to go along with the narrative of story.
Anyone and I MEAN ANYONE with a biblical flannel graph saw the image posted by that man currently in office and immediately recognized who that figure was.
Mr. French doesn’t say Mr. Graham lied.
Instead, Mr. French says, “Graham pretended to believe …”
Think about that.
Graham pretended to believe.
Not sure what comes to your mind when you here the words, pretended to believe but I think of the Bible verse, Matthew 7:22-23 where Matthew records:
Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
Not a lot of wiggle room to be pretending.
Look, I am in NO position to criticize anyone on anyone’s personal relationship with God and Jesus Christ.
If anything, I feel sorry for Mr. Graham.
I feel sorry for anyone who has to pretend that their love of Christ was not and is not offended by that man currently in office.
I guess that is why the Apostle Paul felt it was necessary to tell us: continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
It is nothing to pretend about.
And in this case, there will be no one else to blame.
The University of Michigan regent Jordan Acker, who helped lead the university’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian students, appears to have made obscene sexual comments about a Democratic party strategist in a group chat, messages provided to the Guardian reveal. The Slack messages, attributed to Acker, also include lewd comments about a female U-M student and a picture of her with her friends.
Mr. Perkins states the he reached out to lawyers who represented Mr. Acker about whether or not Mr. Acker admitted to making these comments on various social media and communicating platforms.
Mr. Perkins reports that:
When asked by the Guardian whether Acker denied writing the messages, his attorney responded: “Your understanding that Mr Acker does not deny this is not correct or incorrect.”
Lets all say that again.
Your understanding that Mr Acker does not deny this is not correct or incorrect.
Now in my day as a student at the University of Michigan, I doubt I could have named a regent or even defined their job other than to rubber stamp an approval to whatever the President of the University wanted to do.
We, as students, pretty much understood that Regent slots were doled out to the political party faithful and whichever party was winning that election cycle got to reward some long standing donor to serve and get free football tickets along with great parking rights.
Now a regent at the University of Michigan makes worldwide headline news.
Gosh, any recent worldwide headlines about Michigan (aside from the recent Basketball triumph) usually focused on the football team and the problems they were having in court.
Funny that it just hit me that the Michigan Basketball team makes headlines ON THE COURT while the Football team makes headlines IN COURT.
But I digress.
Lets get back to that statement.
Your understanding that Mr Acker does not deny this is not correct or incorrect.
Right there with Joe Tacopina, lawyer for that man in office talking about that man’s testimony about hush money payments to a porn star when he was if his client told the truth, replied, “Of course it’s not the truth! Was he supposed to tell the truth? He would be in violation of the agreement if he told the truth“.
And Mr. Gore’s “My lawyers tell me I did nothing wrong.” (After attending a fund raiser at a Buddhist temple.)
And Mr. Clintons, “That depends on what your definition of IS … is. (Indeed!)
foul tirades demean presidency, the country … every one of us
In today’s Opinion Conversation in the New York Times between Frank Bruni and Bret Stephens headlined, The Second Coming of Trump, Mr. Bruni states:
I think it’s a mistake to become too practiced at shrugging off his depravity — which is a non-hysterical, wholly accurate word for it.
I agree that focusing exclusively or excessively on it and hyperventilating is a waste of good breath, but his foul tirades demean the presidency, demean the country — demean every one of us — and it’s important that we never forget that.
We can’t let those tirades become the new idiom for political discourse; we can’t pretend they haven’t diminished our standing in the world.
“That’s just Trump being Trump” is an inadequate response when, for example, he posts a video of himself as a pilot dumping torrents of excrement on protesters. (That was his A.I. gift to us in October.)
Mr. Stephens replied:
I agree.
Yet 77 million Americans voted for him.
That’s the country we live in.
We can’t pretend.
If the latest images that man currently in office showing him as Jesus and with Jesus do not offend you as a Christian then I feel I am on solid ground when I point out that you have plank in your eye.
I got lots of planks in my eye but the one I am pointing at in yours will cause you to take paths you don’t want to be on.
It’s important that we never forget.
God is not mocked.
The foul tirades of that current man in office demean the presidency.
The foul tirades of that current man in office demean the country.
The foul tirades of that current man in office demean every one of us.
