Puffs

Deer Hunting . . .

It’s that time of the year and I haven’t said anything about my experiences deer hunting for a few years. Just didn’t have much to talk about.

You may remember I used to keep track of the number of deer I harvested and the number of automobiles I had that were damaged by deer.

I haven’t had the skill the last few years, nor the luck to bag a deer. (I’m not sure how that phrase came into being, as I don’t know how to put a deer into a bag.)

In any case, this year I learned two different facts of life. (Maybe I should say I was reminded of two different facts of life.)

I thought about that definition of “crazy.” That being: “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

Ya, I spent most of my time hunting deer by going out into what I think any ‘self-respecting” deer would love to call home. Then, I find a good place to sit and wait for the deer to come into sight. It has worked in the past, but for a couple of years now, my success has not been great. Maybe I’m a little crazy to expect it to work, but at my age, that walking up and down hills and around trees and branches is getting to be a lot of work.

Secondly . . . and more important than deciding if I’m crazy, or not. The Reading at Mass Monday morning included the story about Jesus Christ healing a blind man. Jesus asked him what he wanted and the blind man answered with the response: “that I might see.”

The relationship to hunting ? ? ?

Hunting over the weekend, I was sitting for some time and my legs were getting uncomfortable so I slid off the bucket I was sitting on. Not wanting to expose myself to any deer that might be watching, I slid into a kneeling position on the ground. After being there for just a little, the thought came to mind: “since I’m kneeling, I might ask God for a favor.”

I asked God to bless my hunting partner with a chance to harvest a deer. And . . . since I was begging anyway, would He favor me with the opportunity.

Well . . . within five minutes I heard my hunting partner shoot and not long afterwards he walked back to where I was announcing he had a nice 3x3 buck back in the hills.

Half of my prayer was answered and I consider that great.

What I was reminded of via a deer hunting trip was that while praying, be sure to spell out exactly what you want. The blind man did it, I have done it a number of times as well, but do often forget to ask exactly what I want.

Deer hunting . . . it’s more than meets the eye, and . . . maybe I’m crazy as well. However, I did do something different this year.

A O

I want to comment on a song I heard on the radio while driving to Grand Island to get our COVID-19 ‘booster’ shots last Saturday. I don’t know if the two had anything to do with each other, but it reminded me of the state of America, now just 11 months after a new president has set up government.

The title of the song was: “If You’re Going Through Hell.” It was published in 2006, sung by Rodney Atkins.

The chorus in the song goes like this: “If you’re goin’ through hell keep on going. Don’t slow down; if you’re scared, don’t show it. You might get out before the devil even knows you’re there.”

The first verse in the song includes the phrase: “Things go from bad to worse you think they can’t get worse than that, and then they do.”

Most people admit things were not perfect under President Trump, and he was not a perfect man, but it did seem the country was recovering from the eight years of President Obama who was trying to “fundamentally remake America.”

Now, 11 months later, it seems like we are “goin’ through hell.”

More babies than ever are being killed via abortions . . . and it seems the average person can’t do anything about that. That’s a hell for sure.

We have to believe that God didn’t just make two species of humans, but there are now men calling themselves women and women calling themselves men and some educators thinking we can no longer use the pronouns “he” or “she” any more. That’s a hell for sure.

Sadly, we’ve had the killings of ‘black’ people by ‘white’ people followed quickly by “protests” that quickly turned into riots. The protests were often just and orderly, but the riots that often replaced the protests, could not be condemned because the original action was so wrong. That’s a hell for sure.

We now have an economy that is downward along with inflation heading the other way. Many are the reasons for this, but one may well wonder if this government’s paying citizens ‘not’ to work and the proposal to pump “trillions” of more dollars into the economy is part of the economic downfall and the inflationary growth. That’s a hell for sure.

Please, don’t get this world mixed up with the real hell. There is no comparison. However, a couple of line in the song, I found interesting:

1: “Ask directions from a genie in a bottle of Jim Beam, and she lies to you. That’s when you’ll learn the truth . . .”

In other words don’t fall for all the promises given by the Socialist in our government right now. They lie to you.

2: “But the good news is there’s angels everywhere out on the street. Holdin’ out a hand to pull you back up on your feet. You’re on your knees you might as well be prayin’. Guess what I’m sayin’.”

If you’re going through hell . . .

That ‘genie in a bottle of Jim Beam” relates to me to all the promises the radical government is making at this time. It is time that we (you and me) take control by refusing to put the radicals into public office at any level. From local school boards to the President, don’t give them the chance to put us all through hell.

I don’t think the song was written as a commentary on political or economic life in America in 2021, but it can easily be done. It is interesting in what connections could be made from the song.

A O