From Fannie mae [FNM] to Joe the Homeowner everyone wants to quickly hand over that hot potato called blame. I'm going to grasp on tightly to that potato, and as it scalds my hands I'm going to confess how this entire economic crisis is entirely my fault. So, borrowers can stop blaming lenders. Main Street can quit blaming Wall Street. Government politicians can leave the corporate elitists alone, and just continue to let them play Monopoly with real money. But, all of you should take just a few minutes to listen as I fess up and tell you what I did to cause this entire debacle.

I'm Kevin the Contractor, Joe the Plumber subbed for me on a couple jobs. I'm from the corrupt little state of Rhode Island, where it's all about “lobstas and mobstas.” [sic] I started my business in 1992, with zero capital, a pick up truck that was a year older than my wife, and a milk crate full of junk tools. Oh yeah, a couple other important tools of the trade I fully possessed back in those days were ambition and high hopes. Those things, not even five years after I started, got us into a home of our own, a middle class income, and a well established small business doing about $750,000.00 per year gross, with three employees -jobs I created, for real, not the way a politician claims to.

Then came the “mobstas”. I started getting screwed over left and right by crooked people in power, even if not officially in the mob. One of these douche bags, "The Prince of Providence", ended up in jail. Another, I sent for a gurney ride the day he tried to extort money from me for the second time (he succeeded the first time). I laid off my crew, sold my tools, closed my business, and went fishing...commercial fishing, off shore, for guess what? -”lobstas”. That's tough work, even compared to construction. You would be amazed at how this industry is so over regulated that a fisherman can barely make a living, while the mortgage industry is so under regulated that some schmuck loan officer can make six livings with so much less effort.



So then I became a schmuck loan officer for Countrywide [CHL]. For once in my life my timing was on point, and during the refi boom that ran concurrently with the sub prime fiasco, I was making ten to fifteen thousand a month...doing refinances, not ruining peoples lives by suckering them into those sub-prime-crap deals. I didn't do any max premium deals either. That's a deal where the loan officer refinances his own, or his buddies' houses at the highest rate, getting the highest commission, and then using that commission to pay costs and escrows, and even a couple principle and interest payments, therefore only making one mortgage payment per quarter, and at the same time screwing the banks by refinancing four times per year. Greed and corruption at all levels, ya gotta love it.

Rates began to climb, so my refinance business started to dwindle, and not to sound like sour grapes, but I was ready to trade in my tie for a tool belt anyway. I missed working with the class of people we know, thanks to Sarah Palin, as Joe Six-Pack, – people with more class and less money than Patrick Trust-Puppy. I didn't want to get back into the contracting scene I fought, literally, to get myself out of. But, I still wanted to build. So this is what I did, and it was this next move that caused the unprecedented drop in the artificially inflated values found in the housing market, that by domino effect sunk banks and insurance companies, and will eventually kill retail, except for the immortal zombie, Walmart[WMT], and lead to a depression just like in 1929 when people bought over inflated stock for 10% down.

I took $100,000.00 of equity out of our home, an additional construction loan, and built a house on speculation. No customer with color choices, no deadline with liquidated damages, no certified payroll, no bribes to receive final payment, no mobstas, no lobstas. All I had to worry about was a drastic drop in home values. I planned on a worse case scenario of a 20% depreciation. This was the real life scenario: In the 70 weeks that it took to virtually single handedly build this house, with the help of my Dad, it lost over $140,000.00 in value. So I basically worked my ass off for negative $2,000.00 per week. A year and a half ago, this house appraised at $280K , now it's on the market for a short sale at $99K and still hasn't gotten an offer. I wonder if the bank will accept half of what I owe them!



As my wife pleaded with me not to do this project, and put at risk the house we live in, and worked and prayed so hard to get, I heard another voice screaming in my other ear. This voice said “Kevin, you know that if you go ahead with this venture, you will cause the whole bottom to fall out of the housing market.” It also said “You saw first hand how these home values got so inflated. You loan officers get the appraisers to push up the values so the loan goes through underwriting. Then when the buyer hears what homes are being appraised at, they believe that is what they are really worth. Of course their Realtor agrees, after all, the higher the price the higher the commission. So the buyer figures why not pay what our dream home is worth, after all the bank said we can afford it, and they wouldn't lend us the money if they thought that we couldn't pay it back. The deal goes through at the price based on the inflated appraisal, and then that sale price becomes the comp. for the next inflated appraisal."

I argued with my wife, to the point we separated and I spent five cold months living in the foundation of this house I went ahead with building. I also argued with that voice in my head. I explained how I had done loans for people with property overseas, in Australia and Portugal, and they reported the same double digit appreciation with the properties in those countries. “It's happening all over the world”, I reasoned. It must have something to do with there now being seven billion people on the earth. Plus, if property values are what they are, then my net worth is somewhere around $300,000.00. - not bad for a guy who started out only ten years ago with a net worth of negative $10,000.00. This is America. Isn't this what to expect after ten years of consistent, honest, hard work?

So there you have it, I ignored my wife, and I ignored the voice...to my own and everyone else's peril. Incidentally, this was the same voice that told me a few years earlier “choke that crook till he turns purple, then thrown him down and stomp on his head. You'll only get a few weeks in jail and a year on probation - the memory will last a lifetime. You will even get your final payment without having to grease anyone” That damned voice hit the nail right on the head, that's exactly what happened. If I had only listened this time too, we all wouldn't be in this mess that's going to take a lot more than a trillion dollars to bail us out of. Are they not already asking for more? The credit card comanies will soon be begging for the same amount. GM is next in line for a taxpayer hand-out. It's all my fault...and I'm sorry.

Now the voice is telling me that as soon as I, Kevin the Contractor, along with Joe the Plumber, and our buddy Joe Six-pack have all short sold our houses, or given deed in lieu, or just plain gotten foreclosed on, then things will get better...For Patrick Trust-puppy. Because the Government gave all that tax-payer money to the banks, admonishing them to be sure to lend it and not to hoard it. And lend it they will -to Patrick Trust-puppy, at a low interest rate, so he can buy up these now under valued properties. Then he'll rent them to us, if we pass the credit check. He'll hire us at somewhere between minimum wage and a living wage to fix them up, as he takes credit along with the politicians for creating jobs with the bailout money. We'll work eighty hours a week because we have that American work ethic, the best in the world. And with enough ambition and high hopes, after about five years, our credit will be good enough again, and maybe we'll have some down payment money, so we can buy these properties back from the twerp at what they should have been worth all along, figuring 4% appreciation per year. Of course this will give Mr. Trust-puppy a 100% return on his investment of our tax money, and about a 1000% return on his out of pocket investment, because there is no investment like real estate when it comes to buying on margin...And the whole silly cycle will start again, unless this crisis becomes the Second Great Depression that leads to the Great Tribulation.

So that I don't sound completely like a prophet of doom, let me say this: I have unyielding hope that Mr. Obama can led us out of this mess, with the help of us hard working Americans. Racism is dead in America. Now let's nip this social injustice thing in the bud before we have a class war on our hands!

I just got the notice; Countrywide is going to forclose on this house I built -three days after Christmas, as they threaten to foreclose on the home we live in. I feel like choke-slammin' me some userers about now...I'm pissed! But, I will control my anger while I pray that God helps our new president, backed by us ambitous and hopeful -working Americans, change this country back into what it was in my fathers day when an honest day's work (at GM) was rewarded with an honest day's pay; a wage you could live on; a yearly gross equal to the price of a modest home. I don't want our kids to suffer under the disfunctional, oppressive policy of "Trickle Down Economics" like we X generationers have suffered since Reagan. I'm confident that our new president will stop that from happening. Let's all back him up!

• 0 comments »

The Oyster Creek Mushroom Company is a cultivater of shiitake mushrooms and a puveyer of all sorts of delicious gourmet wild and cultivated mushrooms. Their unique New England farm resides in the town of Damariscotta found on the rock-bound coast of Maine.

They cultivate mushrooms, of the Shiitake variety, by the traditional oak log method. Starting with an oak log about six inches in diameter, the farmer begins the growing process by drilling 1/4" holes about six inches apart, a little over an inch deep, on the entire exterior of the log, generally about four feet long. When all the logs are prepared, the next step is to begin inoculating them…the mushroom farmers’ way of planting the crop.

Mushroom plugs are sterilized, birch, repurposed furniture pins that are fully colonized by pure mushroom mycelium that is grown from spores -the Mushroom "seeds". Mycelium is actually the vegetative part of the plant that gathers nutrients and produces the fruit that is the mushroom. About an inch long, these plugs will be hammered into the holes, and then sealed with hot wax. About thirty are required for each log. Six months to a year later, this medicinal, gourmet food will spring forth. Even a backyard garden with a dozen logs can produce up to twenty five pounds of Shiitake mushrooms.

Once thought of as a food with no nutritional value, research is beginning to prove that not only are they an excellent source of protein and carbohydrates…they prevent the development of tumors, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, and stimulate the immune system. Good food, good medicine; and at over $6.00 per pound retail, the Shiitake mushroom has also proven itself to be a valuable crop.

Another factor that makes the oak log cultivation of Shiitake mushrooms a viable addition to the New England farm is that they don’t need the two things that are so essential to most other crops: Sun and soil. As a matter of fact, some acreage of evergreens, not even suitable for firewood, makes a perfect habitat for these inoculated logs. The goal is to protect them from direct sunlight and wind. These trees do a good job of that, and make good use of otherwise wasted land.

At Oyster Creek Mushroom Company, the owners, Candice & Dan Heydon bring the locals into their act. Residents in the surrounding area of their business, who are proficient at gathering wild mushrooms that grow naturally in the woods, are more than welcome to sell their finds at the wholesale prices Dan and Candice offer. The season that just passed brought in over 9,000 lbs. of Matsutake mushrooms, 3,000 lbs. of Hen of the woods, 600 lbs of chanterelles, but only a small amount of Chicken of the Woods.

The same mushroom can be known by several different names, not counting the scientific identifications. In Rhode Island, due to the large Italian population, the Hen of the Woods is known as "signorina." While wild mushroom gatherers all over the world are very secretive about their spots, they must give up those top secret locations eventually. If Nonno -your Italian Grandfather dies without telling you where his signorina tree is...you don't go to his funeral!

Along with the cultivated crop, most of these gathered mushrooms are dried, packaged, and delivered all over the world. The Heydons have definitely chisled out their own niche in the heath food and specialty food markets as they provide an interesting way for Mainers to make some extra money from the bounty of nature, while making a living for themselves on this unique New England farm.

• 0 comments »

"Anchor Text" is text that usually gives the reader descriptive information about the content of the link's destination. The anchor text may not contain any of the actual text that makes up the URL of the link. When done correctly, only the anchor text appears, and the URL is hidden behind it somewhere in cyberspace.

EzineArticles.com sent an instructional email to show me how to do this. I tried it in an email to myself, but I couldn't get the text of the URL to disappear. So, this is my second attempt. I think it will work in my Blog. so here goes:

It's important to know that temperance is a virtue, to learn more, click here

Wow! It worked, I'm souped! I'm learning-out-loud here, so try to follow as I wrap this up. This is cool stuff. Using "achor text" in this Blog of mine, is going to allow readers to jump around effortlessly from article to article. I'll be able to write concise 500-800 word pieces, and then just use anchor text to jump to another article that expands on the topic or is otherwise related. Neat!

There is also an advantage when it comes to search engines crawling a blog or website, because the anchor text will have keywords that may not be in the lengthy URL address.

If I wanted to expand on a word like temperance mentioned in an article, by pointing to an article I wrote all about "temperance". Wikipedia recommends using "click here" as opposed to always slipping the anchor text into the text of the sentence, like in this example:

Today our troops have liberated another country from tyranny.

The more concise way of coding that would be:

Today our troops have liberated another country from tyranny. To know more, click here.



So, here is what the code looks like to get the results that I impressed myself with in that example above. Did we learn something?

• 0 comments »

How to determine if you are smoking too much herb

How you ever found this article is beyond me. There is a sea of information out there on marijuana detox. The advice ranges from how to beat an addiction to weed, to how to beat a drug test for weed. I'm going to talk about both ends. My advice will include a home remedy that will allow you to pass a drug test for only $5.00. But more importantly, I'm going to help you to determine if you may need to detox in a more permanent way.

Let's talk temperance. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines it like this:

Temperance is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods. It ensures the will's mastery over instincts and keeps desires within the limits of what is honorable.

Marijuana is a created good. It has a purpose, and it has a place. It is an herb that has a place on a broad list of all the things that God made sprout from the ground on the third day. On a very narrow list, this plant could be placed right near the willow tree. Why? Both have medicinal properties. Hippocrates, two and a half millennia ago, derived a powder from the bark and leaves of the willow tree that relieved pain and cured headaches. Later the compound that was responsible for this, salicin, was discovered, isolated, and today we have aspirin.

Let's not stretch that comparison
too far though. No one is about
to make some popcorn, put on Pink Floyd, and pass around a bottle of aspirin. Sure, marijuana can relieve pain and increase appetite for those battling cancer. It's use is effective in decreasing nausea from chemo therapy. But, in no way does it have the therapeutic benefits of aspirin and therefore it is classified as a Schedule 1 drug- a substance that has a high potential for abuse and no medical application or proven therapeutic value. But what is considered abuse, and what is considered balanced, pleasurable use within temperate limits?

Alcohol had a somewhat medicinal purpose. In Noah's day it kept grape juice, an extremely healthy human nutrient, preserved. Remember, back then they didn't have electricity, there was no way to run their refrigerators. If it wasn't for this byproduct of airborne yeast, and the sugars in the juice, they would have had juice only in short supply. Also, the alcohol acts as a blood thinner with the same positive effects for preventing
heart disease, as aspirin. So now that we have a plethora of non alcoholic preservatives, and we have aspirin to thin blood, then why isn't alcohol a schedule 1 drug? It also has a high potential for abuse. Even Noah the only good guy on earth in his day, got sloshed after the flood.

Face it, no one drinks alcohol for the taste. No one is coming home on Friday, from a long week at work, kicking off their shoes and unwinding with a glass of juice. It's the "unwinding" effects caused by the slight intoxication the alcohol in a glass of wine offers that is the pleasure that attracts us to that beverage choice. If you want to unwind with the intoxicating effects of weed at the end of the week, illegality aside, what is the difference? Alcohol and pot each offer a somewhat different, but still pleasurable "buzz". And as we are no better than Noah, they both tempt us into exceeding honorable limits in amount and frequency. So let's try to define those limits.

Marijuana, years ago, if you were to compare it to alcohol used to be like an 80 proof rum. Now, most of what you find is like Bacardi 151. Today's lower grade stuff is comparable to the high test stuff of yesteryear. To keep the rum comparison going, consider the average potency pot equivalent to 100 proof rum. Now, a shot glass full...Okay, plus a little splash, in some Coke makes a drink with about the same alcohol content as a bottle of beer, or a glass of wine. A chunk of bud about the size of a pencil eraser, the whole eraser, not just the part you see, would be like a shot, a beer, or a glass of wine. If you were to sit and smoke a whole bud, the size of your thumb, in one sitting that would be beyond the limits. It would be like downing a twelve pack...Abuse.

So go by this "rule of thumb" and keep your use in check. If a twelve-pack lasts a week, you're probably not ready for AA. If you consume a "thumb" of weed every day, you need to seek help...you're an addict, a fiend. There is so much more in life to pursue for pleasure, and even joy. There are other very important virtues too, but temperance is a good one to start with. As far as the promised home remedy to pass a drug test for THC is concerned ~ Click Here:

Detox Secret Home Remedy to Pass a Drug Screening Any Time ~ $5.00

• 0 comments »

The solution to pollution is dilution. You need to dilute your urine, that is polluted with THC, so that the amount in the urine will be under the threshold, even if the amount in your fat cells is over the limit. If all you needed to do is pass the dipstick test, then drinking a lot of fluids, and peeing as many times as possible before finally going in the sample bottle would fool that test. But there are two important tests that you need to pass before the dipstick test is administered.

Temperature- This is the first test that needs to be passed before they will even waste a dipstick on the sample. If the temperature reads way below 98.6 degrees, they will assume that you are using someone else's urine...and fail you right there. I have to tell this funny and true story:

I know a guy who got an American Bull Dog puppy for Christmas and right away started using the dog's pee to pass his drug screening. He kept the substitute pee in a latex glove, close to his body. This kept the sample warm enough, and he passed two consecutive tests. A few months later, the third test came up. He repeated this tried and true method, confident he would pass again. To his surprise, this time he failed. Actually, the puppy did! Staying loyally by his master's side had subjected the little guy to so much second hand smoke, that the puppy's pee popped positive!

Color- If your urine is diluted enough to pass the dipstick test, then it will be too clear to pass the color test. Again, you will fail before they even drop in the dipstick. Or, if the creatine level is also very low it can fail even if they let it slide on the lack of color.

The recipe that I'm handing over, for a small deposit of $5.00 into my PayPal account, will remedy the color problem and the creatine issue as well. What is so cool about this detox drink, isn't just that it won't cost you $50.00 per bottle. It has many other benefits. Mainly, it prevents urinary tract infections. It is a health drink and an energy drink, chock full of vitamins. Drink it every day anyway. If you are subject to random drug screening, you'll be ready to pass anytime.

Some other tips:

• Try not to give early morning urine for the test sample.
  
• Drink a full 32 oz. bottle of this remedy 1-2 hrs. before the test.
  
• Coffee, and water in addition will help. Urine that is "too yellow" may send up a flag.
  
• Indicate that you take vitamins and supplements if questioned.
  
• Abstaining from herb for 10 days or more before an expected test is a good way to practice temperance, and pass w/o the remedy.
  
• Remember, the best way to pass drug screening is by NOT using drugs.
  

Thanks for the five bucks! I'll send the recipe right out to you. Let me hear from you.

• 0 comments »

My priest, during lent last year, gave me an assignment. He told me to pick three fathers from the Bible, and write about them. He asked me to relate my own fatherhood to these examples. This is what I came up with.

• 0 comments »

Mordecai

“He had taken her as his own daughter”


The book of Esther is a story about the close relationship between a step parent and a step child. I don’t like the etymology of the word “step”. It comes from “steop” meaning deprived, or bereaved. Modern psychology likes to say “stepfamilies are born out of loss” This idea and feeling about a step relationship gives an already confusing and complicated family dynamic a negative connotation. Because in today’s culture the loss that these step relationships are born from is usually caused by divorce and remarriage, it’s assumed that the “real” parent is still around and probably causing problems. It is looked at as less than the ideal and outside of God’s will. One man, one woman bound in Holy Matrimony, raising the children they procreate, together under one roof is the ideal. That can’t be denied, it is God’s will. But do these ideal circumstances automatically bring about ideal relationships completely within God’s will? I don’t think so.

Some people think the word “step” describes how the new parent suddenly “stepped” into the life of the child and the place of the biological parent. This connotation isn’t any improvement on the outlook. This is why I like the word “foster” in place of step. The etymology of this word hits closer to the mark of what it means to be a father to a non-biological child. Foster means to nurture, support, feed, bring up. But in this culture, this would signify that the acting parent is getting paid by the state to nurture the child, so that takes all the wind out of that sail. Barney, the quasi-satanic purple dinosaur says “a family is people and a family is love” but this is completely over simplifying, and does not define anything, especially the important roles with an associated title each person in the family has.

It seems the only way that any prefixes to father can be shed is by legal adoption, but then before you know it you’re back to “adoptive” parent. There are always problems with the way people look at these situations too. They are intrigued and wonder about the circumstances that brought about the adoption. Was the child orphaned by death, abandonment, loss of parental rights? I won’t even get into surrogate, that’s one that creates even more familiar intrigue. Unfortunately there is no suitable title for a person who is in a position as important as that of a father. If the responsibilities and duties of this role are taken on and carried out correctly then there is hardly a discernable difference. So whenever I get called “Mr. Lambert”, being confused with my stepson’s biological father, I’ve been known to correct the person by responding “it’s Mr. Leland, John isn’t the fruit of my loins, but I love him just the same”. Then I get a chuckle out of their reaction to being corrected with such weird language, and informed at the same time of what our relationship is really about –without a proper title to describe it.

What it is about for me and John is a lot the same as it was for Mordecai and his foster daughter Esther. Mordecai stepped into the life of his orphaned little cousin and had taken Esther as his own daughter when her mother and father died. It’s as simple as that. He took her in and nurtured and encouraged her. He looked out for her interests, and found an opportunity for her that put Esther in position as Queen. He did this very magnanimously. It turned out later that through Esther’s mutual love and affection for her foster father, she would risk her life to save him, and the rest of her people. This story tells about how she steps in to prove to the King that her foster father isn’t the insolent rebel that his enemies try to make him out to be and not only prevents his execution, but turns the tables on his enemies and gets Mordecai a high position in the Kingdom. Their devotion to God, their courage, and their loyalty to each other and the rest of the Jewish people have been remembered for centuries. This relationship born out of loss gained them protection and wonderful blessings.

• 0 comments »

TERAH


“Why do you make sport of me”?




The way that I came about studying this story about Terah was interesting to me. I remembered reading it years ago when I read the Bible all the way through for the first time. Yesterday, when I went to the book of Genesis to look for it, I couldn’t find it. All it said regarding Terah involved genealogy. I thought I imagined reading it or that I was mixing it up with another story. When I looked it up online I found that it was in the Midrash. I guess that is an ancient Jewish form of a homily imbedded in the text. The Midrash regards Terah as wicked. (E.g., Numbers Rabbah 19:1; 19:33.) There is also a reference in the book of Joshua to Abraham’s father being an idol worshiper. I can’t remember if this story was included in the text of the bible that I read, but I think it was. I want to figure out this little mystery, so any input would be appreciated. Anyway, I hope that it is a valid story and even if it isn’t it will still serve the purpose for this study on fatherhood.


Terah once went away and left Abraham to mind the store. A woman came with a plateful of flour and asked Abraham to offer it to the idols. Abraham took a stick, broke the idols, and put the stick in the largest idol’s hand. When Terah returned, he demanded that Abraham explain what he had done. Abraham told Terah that the idols fought among themselves and the largest broke the others with the stick. “Why do you make sport of me?” Terah cried, “Do they have any knowledge?” Abraham replied, “Listen to what you are saying!” Terah then delivered Abraham to King Nimrod for punishment. (Genesis Rabbah 38:13.) The Zohar says that when God saved Abraham from the furnace, Terah repented. (Zohar, Bereshit 1:77b.) Rabbi Abba b. Kahana said that God assured Abraham that his father Terah had a portion in the World to Come. (Genesis Rabbah 30:4; 30:12.)


As fathers we are charged with instructing, training and teaching our children. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t ever learn from them. I like this story because of the way Abraham made fun of his father, and by his practical joke, taught him a very important lesson. I’m not sure if I buy the part of the story where Terah turns his son in to the King, and the King sentences Abraham to death for the offence. So, for the sake of this study, let’s omit that part. I have always loved my own father very much, and I have no complaints about the way he raised me. Although, I did have a sort of fearful respect for him that made it so that even though the two of us have a good sense of humor, I could never have done something like this to him. Now the relationship I have with my kids is a little different, especially with my youngest son, Levi.


Levi is a ball buster extraordinaire. A real practical joker since he was a kindergartener. He’s put things in my shoes, he’s put wet facecloths on my pillow before I go to bed, and one of my favorites; he tapes trigger of the sprayer to the sink on and leaves it aimed at me so when I go to make the coffee in the morning I get doused with cold water. I really enjoy being the brunt of his jokes and I let him know that. I’m glad that even though he respects me, probably more than my other kids do, he’s not afraid to “make sport of me”. He does have a little bit of a “dish it out but can’t take it problem” but I’m working on that. A real strong point with Levi is that he can go from a little joker to a pretty deep thinking serious guy and he knows when to turn it on and turn it off.


I think a sense of humor is very important. When used correctly it can really get a kid’s or anyone’s interest and attention so that important instruction can be conveyed. I’ve got a couple serious lectures based entirely on two different jokes. I open these lectures with the joke using it as a sort of parable, and then go on to explain some pretty serious issues to my kids, and recently, a couple of their friends. I hope it comes across like I mean it to. I could run them by you sometime, and you could let me know what you think. I would appreciate your perspective, I just hope you like my approach because it would be kind of embarrassing if it fell flat. I guess when you try to be funny even for the right reasons, sometimes you run the risk of looking like a fool!

• 0 comments »

ZECHARIAH


“He will be a joy and a delight to you”




Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist was a priest of the division of Abijah. This was the eighth of twenty four divisions. He and his wife Elizabeth were Levites, descendents of Aaron, and Elizabeth was a relative of our Blessed Mother. They were senior citizens, and had no children. This was a huge stigma for a Jewish couple in these times. Because the commandment “honor thy mother and thy father” meant that children were charged to take care of their parents in their old age, a childless couple or widow were left to the mercy of society if they were poor. If they were well off, they wanted to pass on their estate to their heirs. And lastly, what was considered a blessing to Abraham- “your descendents will be like the sands of the sea” is a blessing to all the Jewish people. The opposite, being barren, was looked upon as an affliction, disgrace or a curse. As if God was saying to them “you are unfit to reproduce”.


In God’s sight, Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were righteous. The last of God’s children to be under the law, they observed all His commands and decrees blamelessly. Zechariah was in Jerusalem on his duty rotation when he was chosen by lot to burn incense in the temple. When he went in the angel Gabriel appeared to him. Upon seeing the angel the terrified priest might have needed to light a match, not just to burn the incense! After the angel Gabriel calmed Zechariah’s fears, he said “Your prayer has been heard!” Zechariah had prayed for a child, and Gabriel had come all the way from heaven to tell this humble priest that his prayer was going to be answered beyond his wildest dreams!


Gabriel would go on to tell Zechariah that he was going to be a father; he was to have a son, an heir to carry on the priestly name, a caretaker in his old age. A father that was righteous in the sight of the Lord was going to have a son who would be great in the sight of the Lord. Middle Eastern fathers in this age wanted what all good fathers should desire for their children -that their children learn and build up from them and then surpass them in accomplishment. Sadly, the sin of jealousy can sometimes extend from parents even to their own children. Imagine a parent wanting to limit their own child’s potential and power just so not to be out done? I think this is the terrible wrong that the angel was speaking of when he prophesied that John would go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah and turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous -to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.






I’ve learned an important lesson in this beautiful story, from Zechariah’s initial response to this awesome message. He doubted the truth of it! He went as far as to ask the angel how he could be sure of this news when after all, he and his wife were old -but I bet not as old as his own ancestors Abraham and Sarah were when they got word that they would finally conceive. He made the same mistake as Sarah did with his reaction of doubt. I think it was appropriate for the angel to strike him mute for nine months for this error. I like how Gabriel told him how he could be sure, [paraphrasing]; “OK, here I am in Heaven, standing in the very presence of God himself, I trudge my way across the entire universe to stand in your presence, and at the very sight of me you just about soiled your undie-grundies, and yeah, I’m just bowin’ sunshine”! “Of course these things will come to be”! Sometimes something that we are sure is in God’s will for us, we can desire so much, for so long, that even as we continue to pray for it we begin to doubt that it will ever happen. The lesson: pray believing! God’s will, in His time, always manifests!


There are even more reasons that Gabriel had not even told him yet why this conception and birth was to be such an amazing blessing. Zechariah was to be one of the last priests of the old covenant. His own son would be dedicated to God as a Nazarite, and be the first priest of the new covenant, a prophet of the Most High who would usher in the King of Heaven and Earth. While the high priest Annas, and his relatives including Chiapas, were soaking in all the glory associated with their elevated positions in their culture, sitting in judgment, condemning harshly, as Sadducees were known to do, their own people that they deemed transgressors of the law, Zechariah’ son John would be baptizing and giving his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of sins. Preaching this beautiful truth from God would bring this family the love, admiration and respect that they deserved for honoring God in a real way. What a blessing to be given a son and by him be brought from disgrace to accolades.


Before prophesying about the heavenly heights of accomplishment this child would achieve to make his father proud, it was the first thing that Gabriel had to say to Zechariah that as a father really touches my heart. This prophecy should apply to every newly conceived child’s daddy. It’s a prophecy that shouldn’t have to be revealed in person by an angel to be known by any father as soon as the pee on the pregnancy test reveals a positive result: “Your wife will bear a child and that child will be a joy and a delight to you, and many will rejoice because of this birth” The powerful truth in Gabriel’s statement hit me in full force the moment my children took their first breath and let out that indescribably beautiful newborn cry. Many, from the nurse in the delivery room to the beaming grandparents and aunts and uncles rejoice. The heavy responsibility and the inevitable frustrations are by far outweighed by the pure joy and delight that the blessing of fatherhood brings.

• 0 comments »