Hey, Carla was elated!  We had sunshine and just a bit of wind in our neck of the woods and she got to play in the dirt most of the day before going to work. 

I have been trying to concentrate on condensing my thoughts on the Rajneesh era to about 20 minutes.  It is hard.

Not only because I tend to talk too much, but because there are so many important points of discussion that I would like to cover; nay, need to cover in order to help people understand.

I have been trying to get back into my frame of mind when I was a member of Toastmasters and had to give my speeches in a three and a half to seven-minute time frame – but those speeches were about only one, maybe two subjects.

Steven and I were discussing my struggles.  He reminded me that I should prioritize and hit the key points first, then filling them in with more detail as time permitted.

I will have a test run tomorrow at Rotary and be giving the same information over the next few months to other organizations.

If you are interested I would be more than happy to talk to your group also – and given enough time I can schedule to go out of town within reason of course, across country will probably not work.  (-:

As I give those talks it will be interesting to see how many have watched the Netflix series “Wild, Wild West.” 

I wasn’t going to watch it, I don’t have Netflix and from what others had been telling me I didn’t think it would be all that pertinent – however, saw Ed Goodman – retired Captain/Asst. Chief of The Dalles PD, - in the store and he encouraged me to watch it. He said it had some good information but left out some really key parts.

As those of you know that have been following me, I did watch it and have made comments on it. 

However, for those that have seen it I can shorten a lot of my basic general comments and get down to more detail – the problem is going to be, I am sure, that not everyone has watched it, but we can work with that.

I will be giving a talk with an organization in Levingston, Washington later this summer.  I was requested to come and talk by a former The Dalles(ian).  She was here for part of it, but her knowledge, at this time, was mostly hear-say and you know how that can be.

Four years is a lot of time to condense to 20 minutes, but we will do it.  While most people will have to go back to work or wherever they need to go, I will remain at these meeting sites answering as many questions as they want to ask.  I have plenty of time!

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“Among the enemies to devotion none is so harmful as distractions. Whatever excites the curiosity, scatters the thoughts, disquiets the heart, absorbs the interests or shifts our life focus from the kingdom of God within us to the world around us—that is a distraction; and the world is full of them. Our science-based civilization has given us many benefits but it has multiplied our distractions and so taken away far more than it has given....”  Tozer

Mathew 6:6  KJV  “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”

Our busy world takes up so much of our space and time it is difficult to spend meaningful time with God.

I find that often when I strive to go to that quiet place and am successful I still have difficulty.

I will be praying for certain things, first my wife, children and their children and spouses, then family and friends and special needs and the next thing I know I am thinking about how we did something together, which then takes me to an even farther place that has nothing to do with my prayers.

Or, I am praising and thanking God to find myself thinking about something else entirely.

I don’t know if you have that problem, but it is very real and frustrating to me. 

Concentration, in prayer, trying to avoid any distraction is hard, HARD work for me!  Satan seems to get my thoughts moving in a different direction and before I know it I am not praising God; my mind is somewhere else and I don’t remember when it veered off.

One of the things that seems to help me refocus is remembering the many names of God.  Reminding myself and thanking Him for the blessings from Him concerning the reasons for that name.

While I can do it for a few minutes I start to struggle when it gets to 15 or 20.

I recently went to a site with all the names of God.  One of the most significant, to me, is:

Exodus 3:15  KJV   “And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you.”

I AM!

And that name is applied to Jesus, by Jesus Himself:

John 8:58  KJV  “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”

I AM!

And the Jewish leaders knew exactly what He meant and were upset because He called Himself God.

John 8:59  KJV  “Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.” 

Calling Him by some of His other names, thanking Him for His blessings that stem from that name or event, seems to help me regain my focus on Him – asking for the Holy Spirit’s help in doing so I am sure doesn’t hurt.

He has done so much for me and those I love that I don’t want to have Him think I am too weak or ungrateful to remember who He is – but, it really is hard work. 

But like anything else, when we continue to work at something, perfecting a skill, we become more proficient and do a much better job.  I can only hope that some day I will have that skill of total concentration on Him, shutting out all the distractions, all of them. 

Meanwhile, I will continue asking Him for His help and continue to work at it, I mean it has only been 53 years this month.

Later, Art (-: