No. 110 – August 14, 2014 – His Momma Loved Her Children

by Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

No one has ever doubted Richard Daniel's courage. His life's journey made him an Inductee of the Masters Black Belt Hall of Fame, holds a Top Secret Clearance, and is a licensed Armed Bodyguard and Certified Police/Military Hand to Hand Combat Instructor.

But with the publication of his first book, titled “Momma Loved Us, This I Know,” Daniels opened up his life to public view, showing how the indomitable will of his handicapped mother bridged the gap between hope and despair for her children.

All three children, and their mother, were chronically abused, first by their father, then by their step-father.

Raised poverty for nearly all of his young life, Daniels tells the story of a mother who would not let him quit school. Her songs, composed for them, let them know how truly they were each loved.

Life was harsh in Oklahoma, which was then still impacted by the Dust Bowl drought of the 1930s, one of the worst environmental disasters of the Twentieth Century throughout in the world. Millions fled their homes, migrating west, many settling in California. Not the worst drought in the history of the state, but bad enough, a combination of drought and poor land use created environmental disaster.

Those who stayed faced often harsh conditions, impacting every part of their lives.

LaVeeta Mae, Daniels' mother, lost her foot in a motorcycle accident at age sixteen. Married to an abusive husband, she found herself forced to choose between despair and pouring her life and energies into her children. Daniels portrays a woman who remained available to her children, committed to their care and well being. 

 

It was his mother's courage which took Daniels into diverse fields, which include careers in the military and law enforcement, with a Medal of Distinction for Bravery, Commendation for Life Saving Award, the California Legislative Assembly Award, Outstanding Law Enforcement Administrator Award and Outstanding Leadership Award, Deputies and Staff.

August 8, 1969 Daniels was one of the officers called to the home of Sharon Tate when the murders of Tate and Sebring, Frykowski and Folger, and Parent. 

 

Daniels also holds A.S. in Administration of Justice, a B.S. in Psychology and a M.A.

The book is a memorial to Daniels' mother, also written, Daniels said for this interview, to provide children today with a story showing what is possible, even when faced with seemingly insurmountably odds.

No. 109 – August 8, 2014 – The Delights of the Rummage Sale

by Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

The bags and boxes started accumulating on the stage in the upper church dining room several months ago. People remembered It Was Coming.

Saint Peter has a rummage sale every year and the event attracts people who delight in poking though the books, household items, clothing, and enormous variety of items which begin to fill up the tables, crowding out the After Church Coffee people, who sigh and take the opportunity for an early preview of what is available.

This year the number of beautiful dolls, some of them collector's items were thick upon the ground, or the tables. But also in evidence as the tables filled up to the groaning point are ancient tools, new electronics, new shoes, still in the box, Christmas decorations, craft supplies, appliances, furniture, and toys, toys, toys.

But the Stuff to be sold is only part of the story for the Saint Peter Rummage Sale. Much of the fascination is people, the ones who sort, clean, arrange, hauling tables and shaking their heads over items no one knows how to categorize.

Carol Wardell has been 'doing' the Rummage Sale since the last Captain of Commerce, Neddy, turned the ship over to her years ago. Carol says it is like Christmas. Sort of. Opening the boxes and finding ever more smaller and smaller items is always brings the unexpected, something which is true of life in general, she says.

Captain Carol is joined by swabbies and crew who change depending on the needs of their families but the jolly discussions of 'what it is worth,' continue throughout it all.

Sometimes an early browser will gasp at the sight of something which brings back memories, painful or joyous. You see the object grasped, sometimes with reverence, turned and examined as the times past flow through the expression on the face. From such moments come discussions which touch the heart and take us all back to a multitude of 'thens.'

Other objects, for instance items which can serve projects Saint Peter People are undertaking, for instance shelving for the Food Pantry, about to start, and useful additions to the church kitchen are washed and shelved immediately.

Debbie Nelson and her crew have made the Pantry their ministry.

Rummage is the cast-offs of many; Items no longer useful to someone which become precious acquisitions for others. And always, the Rummage Sale brings people together, August 15 & 16^th.

No. 108 – July 31, 2014 – Let's Have Lunch – John Fund and the Tape

by Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

“John Fund?! He never sent us the autographed book we paid him for,” Monique said, with some heat. They reminded him several times but never received a response. I was not surprised, but suggested a short article about the incident might elicit a long awaited response and apology.

The book Monique bought from John was not his original, Stealing Elections, but the new version full of new disinformation titled, Who's Counting?: How Fraudsters and Bureaucrats Put Your Vote at Risk, by John Fund and Hans von Spakovsky at the Glen Beck - Free PAC Conference in Dallas from July 26 - 28 in 2012.

John really didn't want to write about elections but it was his consolation prize when he blew the opportunity to be a speech writer for Bush Jr. in 1999. The scandal over his relationship with Morgan, my much strange daughter, reminded them they had to stand up for family values.

Monique was delighted to meet John - at the time.

Monique and I get together when our schedules allow, at Casa Capelli on Main Avenue. Over lunch we chatted on about our families, the economic prognosis, and politics. It was the conversation on family which caused Monique's mouth to drop open, over a story about John Fund.

Since Sex, Lies, and the Tape, the article by John Connolly from Vanity Fair is still up on line at American Political Journal it was easy for her to hear for herself. That tape got John bounced from the 700 Club.

Looking back, it is now easy to see John and Morgan had a lot in common. No conscience. Desperate need for drama. Less decency than the real people portrayed in the book, Fifty Shades of Gray, now shocking readers and headed for the big screen.

John got the boot from the Wall Street Journal finally not over the scandal but because no one told Murdoch, when he purchased the WSJ, John is not paid for his writing but because he is a useful political operative. John's first such job was in 1978, working for the Kochs on taking over the Libertarian Party.

And today John is at National Review, a real step down. And he still needs to make Monique happy. But he doesn't need to send the book, just a refund. And if he has lost her address he can just contact me and I'll provide it.

No. 107 – July 24, 2014 – Revival on Azusa Street - The San Francisco Earthquake

by Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

At 5:12am on April 18, 1906, less than two years after the Welsh Revival began, credited to Evan Roberts, the whole of California felt the impact of the San Francisco Earthquake, which killed 700, leveling much of the city of San Francisco. 

 

Shock waves from the quake lasted from between 45 to 60 seconds, followed by a fire caused by ruptured gas lines which engulfed buildings with hellish heat. 

 

Felt from southern Oregon to south of Los Angeles and inland as far as 70 kilometers into central Nevada, the earthquake brought destruction of monumental proportions, leaving survivors shaken and consigned to subsisting on food supplied through common soup kitchens and living in tiny, temporary structures built in rows for months.

It was the most destructive earthquake in North American history. 

 

Along with the tectonic shock waves came fear the event was a judgment and a warning from the God, which bore fruit to the south, on Azusa Street, which runs through Los Angeles.

A massive spiritual revival, which had been simmering, found entry into the lives of people, in the wake of tragedy. 

 

Christians had been praying for revival of their faith since 1901. On Azusa Street, the call of the Holy Spirit began in the weeks after the Quake, giving birth to the Pentecostal Church. To those experiencing it God's heavenly portals had swung open, sending great power into their lives and the world. 

 

The movement, including speaking in tongues, spread widely. 

 

In parallel with the seeking of Evan Roberts, credited with the beginning of the Welsh Revival in 1904, the hunger moved through the city, profoundly changing lives. 

 

Roberts had asked God to bend him to His will. God had answered. 

 

Frank Bartleman, a holiness preacher living in Los Angeles, wrote Roberts in 1905, asking for special prayer. Roberts responded. Bartleman later wrote he received the gift of faith for the revival to come through Robert's letters. 

 

Bartleman published a statement in a small newsletter called the Way of Faith on November 16, 1905 which many later believed was prophetic. “Los Angeles seems to be the place and this the time, in the mind of God, for the restoration of the Church.”

 

When it came, the Azusa Street Revival washed away the color line along with other differences which divided people from each other, refocusing faith, deepening discernment, and renewing the love of God, and each other.

No. 106 – July 17, 2014 – Gardens and Ideas in Three Rivers, California

by Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

Springtime is beautiful in the foothills of the Sierras, where Three Rivers, California, rests on the threshold of Sequoia National Park. The town of 3,000, was founded in 1879. Today it is home to multiple gardening organizations, including the Red Bud Garden Club.

The Red Bud Club established decorative beds of native plants, including the beautiful Red Bud, at the Three Rivers Veterans Memorial Building and in front of the tiny Post Office, at the two fire stations, and the town Library, lowering the need for water.

One of the Club's twelve members is the chief horticulturist for Sequoia National Park.

Three Rivers has always been a place where ideas were tested in real life experiments for over a century.

Utopian Socialists gathering there in 1886 began attracting nation wide attention. The Kaweah Co-Operative Commonwealth, generally referred to as the Kaweah Colony, is still studied by historians, writers, and students of economics, history, and political science to this day. Other groups followed, including Synanon. Today, Three Rivers is referred to as the Berkeley of the Central Valley.

Where ever folks are politically, gardening brings them together to face opportunities and challenges.

Folks walking though the beds in the Red Bud gardens can read the posted information on native plants. They also plant their own native gardens.

Here, gardening means growing local food, a practice which comes with challenges in the foothills, where critters view gardens as their personal buffet. Strategies to keep these forces at bay are a major interest of the local Edible Garden Club, the most recently established of the several gardening organizations in the town. Serious discussions on related issues take place online and in person.

Every other year the TRUS Foundation hosts a Garden Tour, features visits to hidden gardens at the homes of such residents as actress Angelica Huston's Flying Heart Ranch. Proceeds benefit Three River's school.

The Environmental Weekend show cases environmental-friendly homes which include photovoltaic arrays, straw bail, and rammed earth construction. Seminars are offered for fire safety, an issue very much in the minds of Californians today when the supply of water is already dropping precipitously due to extreme drought conditions.

What ever happens, Three Rivers folks are there for each other.

Gardening is a big deal in Three Rivers and fertilizer comes in many varieties, including Llama and new ideas, applied to make life better for everyone.

No. 105 - July 10, 2014 – The Welsh Revival of Faith

by Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

Revival is the engine of belief and faith. It breaks out without planning and in unexpected places, carrying people to a more intense relationship with God, one which strips away previous assumptions and defenses.

Over the past two thousand years spontaneous outpourings of emotion, grief, shame, and joy, have accompanied a renewal of faith and love which strengthened communities and changed the lives of the individuals.

If a psychologist described it they might see it as an emotional purging, clearing the lines of communication from within the individual to God.

Such an event took place in Wales from 1904 – 1905, known still as the Welsh Revival. The power of revival, the gift of God, was breaking out in unexpected places across the small nation.

To the staid and conventional congregants who walked into Bryn Seion Church which gathered for church in Mount Seion that Sunday morning the world was about to take fire.

As they entered the church they were confronted by two young women, described by David Matthews, the historian for the Welsh Revival, as “youthful maidens.”

Instead of following the long accepted practices of the church and announcing the hymn to be sung they were asked in beseeching tones that those entering surrender to, “the leading of the Holy Spirit.”

Then, one of the women burst into a spiritual song which expressed her own experience of faith. As she sang tears streamed down her face. The congregation gasped. Before she had finished, her companion joined her.

All present wondered at the meaning of this unexpected event. A young minister appeared in the pulpit, obviously moved with emotion. He stood there, silent, his body shaking as he also cried.

A stillness came upon them, described like the quiet which precedes an electric storm.

The silence was broken when one of the proudest, “members of that assembly fell on her knees in agonizing prayer and confessed her sins.” Those around her, first confused, soon followed.

The service continued all day, without a single break.

Soon, word was carried throughout the neighborhood and others also came.

Revivals throughout the 20^th Century have left people who were once unsure of themselves and on the path to destruction renewed and living different lives. During revivals all boundaries and broken and new relationships forged in common love and fellowship so intense as become a light forever after to those touched.

A Prayer for Revival

Dear Lord, who knows me completely in every part of my being.  Send to me, to my church family and to my community the healing renewal of faith which is the gift of the Holy Spirit and Your Son, Jesus Christ.  

 

Show us the power of your love and forgiveness.  Grant us the will to more fully embrace You in pureness of heart and singleness of purpose.  

 

And this we pray, humbly and wholly, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. 

Please pray with us for revival as you prepare yourself for rest every Sunday Night.  We will also be praying for Revival at our Wednesday Potluck in the Dining Hall at St. Peter Church. 

No. 104 – July 3, 2014 – Declaring Revolution July 2, 1776

by Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

As the memory of fireworks fade the day after the 4^th of July, remember the date for declaring Independence from England was actually July 2^nd.. A final version of the Declaration took two more days. It was the 2^nd which John Adams believed would become, “the most memorable epocha in the history of America.” He was wrong.

July 4^th was the date Congress approved the finalized text of the Declaration produced by the five man committee assigned to give final form and substance to the ideas and causes which had compelled the Continental Congress to action. But not all agreed. One of the committee members, Robert Livingston, believed was a far too drastic step at that time and refused to sign.

Thomas Jefferson, who we remember as the Father of the Declaration, watched his final draft undergo 86 changes, shortening the overall length by more than a fourth. Many of these changes, including his inclusion of anti-slavery language, were made over his strong objections.

Jefferson had drawn on two primary sources for his own draft. The first a preamble to the Virginia Constitution and George Mason’s draft of Virginia’s Declaration of Rights. Jefferson's document is a restatement of John Locke’s contract theory of government, stating that governments derived “their just Powers from the consent of the people.”

On July 5^th around 200 copies of the Declaration were typeset and printed in John Dunlap’s Philadelphia print shop. Copies were dispatched to various committees, assemblies, military commanders and foreign nations.

On July 6^th the Pennsylvania Evening Post became the first newspaper to reprint the whole Declaration.

The first public reading of the Declaration occurred on July 8, 1776 in Philadelphia.

Getting the news out to the world, especially to King George and the rest of the colonies, proceeded as rapidly as possible. News of the Declaration reached London the second week of August via the Mercury packet ship.

The London Gazette, the official Crown organ, broke the news in its Saturday, August 10 edition.

The official ceremony of signing took place a month later, on August 2. But the text of the Declaration had already been published and republished in newspapers in a minimum of twenty-nine American newspapers and one magazine.

Jefferson later said he did not intend to say things that "had never been said before." But this is exactly what had transpired and because of these events the world changed.