Reflection in Glass

Reflection in Glass

Inside our small village church
Cornered southeast in Nebraska
Back in ‘63

I sat in a hardwood pew along with
33 others while my father
Preached the text;

My teen mind wandered to the wall
Up behind the pulpit at
An under-glass

Painting--Jesus as a shepherd
Leading many sheep along
A lush green path;

But strangely, an over image
On the glass came from a side wall
Caused by sunshine

Many children of all colors,
A startling picture
Over sheep;

I sensed that could be my bright future
Guiding the young to follow Jesus;
Later, I did

Caring for emotionally disturbed,
Becoming a youth pastor, and
A high school teacher


In the LIGHT,
Daniel Wilcox

World of Trouble: Philadelphia Quaker Family in the American Revolution by Richard D. Godbeer

a well-researched history of Quakers surviving attacks by both sides

from Amazon:
An intimate account of the American Revolution as seen through the eyes of a Quaker pacifist couple living in Philadelphia

“Describe[s] in illuminating detail the sometimes dramatic experiences of this Quaker family, living in a major colonial city during a time of rebellion and feeling incessant pressure to modify their religious convictions for the sake of the patriot cause. . . . Well-written and fascinating.”—Robert K. Landers, Wall Street Journal

Historian Richard Godbeer presents a richly layered and intimate account of the American Revolution as experienced by a Philadelphia Quaker couple, Elizabeth Drinker and the merchant Henry Drinker, who barely survived the unique perils that Quakers faced during that conflict.

Spanning a half‑century before, during, and after the war, this gripping narrative illuminates the Revolution’s darker side as patriots vilified, threatened, and in some cases killed pacifist Quakers as alleged enemies of the revolutionary cause.

Amid chaos and danger, the Drinkers tried as best they could to keep their family and faith intact.

Through one couple’s story, Godbeer opens a window on a uniquely turbulent period of American history, uncovers the domestic, social, and religious lives of Quakers in the late eighteenth century, and situates their experience in the context of transatlantic culture and trade.

A master storyteller takes his readers on a moving journey they will never forget.

"Plumb your Words"--Avoid Mis-using, Mis-defining Terms (for emotional effect)

Millions of leaders now (and in the human past) commit the irrational mistake that thinkers including C.S. Lewis warned against--

using famous terms such as "God" and "Love" not for their denotative meaning,
but for their emotional impact.

Big-name words are so widely defined their meanings have become almost "empty-buckets." They are used to promote even contradictory meanings to their original definitions.

For example, the famous Christian theologian Paul Tillich defined "God" as the "depth" in human lives. Thus, even avowed atheists are really theists! John Haught a Roman Catholic theologian did this, too (in his books such as What is God?)

And in the case of "love," it is often used to mean "like," "lust," "infatuation," etc. In millions of novels, "making love" is only instinctive sexual intercourse with casual acquaintances.

These examples of humans who redefined terms is what the Christian thinker Oz Guiness called "Mystification"--using a famous word in such a way that readers get contrary meanings of it.

That is one reason I quit using "God," "love," and "Christian" because they are constantly used by multimillions of humans in such divergent ways one only gets an emotive effect, nothing substantial.

Plumb your words and check whether or not you are using them to explain real truths or are using traditional words for their strong emotional effect.

In the LIGHT,

Daniel Wilcox

Modern Christians espousing Garbage vs. What ought to be done

Sermon by Jodi Hickerson on the book of James

REAL LIFE CHURCH, Valencia, CA 6/7/26 on YOUTUBE
https://www.youtube.com/@rlcvalencia


and classic hilarious poem by Silverstein

"Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout
Would not take the garbage out!
She'd scour the pots and scrape the pans,
... And so it piled up to the ceilings:
.... . The garbage rolled on down the hall,
It raised the roof, it broke the wall
.... At last the garbage reached so high
That it finally touched the sky.
... But then, of course, it was too late. . .
The garbage reached across the state,
From New York to the Golden Gate.
And there, in the garbage she did hate,
Poor Sarah met an awful fate..."

by Shel Silverstein

time for an oldster's corny humor (from Cornhusker Nebraska originally)

My full name, what I needed to write on the official voting envelope for the California Primary 2 days ago--

Daniel Eugene Wilcox

So where's the joke?

We are at a celebration a while back, and I am holding up my favorite drink, Mountain DEW.

Hint--Check the initials of my full name;-)!!


Daniel Eugene Wilcox

Quilting --Heavenly Beauty

Created by my sweetheart. She calls it Braided Northern Lights.

Continuing movement toward vegetarianism

I continue in my efforts to show kindness toward conscious sentient animal lives (as well, of course, peace-seeking toward all humans).

Sometimes, I am still a second-hand vegetarian (gentle humor) like when I am with relatives celebrating. I don’t insist on a vegetarian meal. That would be discourteous.

I just quietly eat only the vegetables, beans, potatoes, etc., skipping bad meats—high conscious animals' lives such as pigs, cows, and sheep, or if there are other animal products, I select an item low on the food chain, a least conscious creature.

For at this late stage in my life, I avoid not only what is wrong to do but also the “self-righteous” rigid attitude of the crusader.
My movement toward vegetarianism isn’t intolerant fundamentalist, but centered in kindness and altruism, aimed toward not only no harm— but toward the Good, the True, the Just, and the Kind-Caring.

Maybe, a gentle witness toward care for all animals will be a stronger witness than an in-your-face veganism.

In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox