Puffs

I’m sure most of you know the community of Lawrence is in the process of improving several important buildings. Sacred Heart Church and the Community Center, which includes the present American Legion building and old Locomotive office building which are in various stages of needing improvement.

I find it interesting to find out the history of important buildings, especially those of importance to me. For example, I just read a little note on the nation’s capital building in Washington, D.C. History has its cornerstone was laid in September of 1793 by George Washington. That was 230 years ago and I remember a number of times ‘repair or upkeep’ work had been done to keep the building functional and looking nice. We’ve spent a whole lot of money to do so, and that’s OK.

Construction on the Nebraska State Capitol was begun in 1922 and finished a number of years later because of many reasons. However, just a few years back we (Nebraska taxpayers) spent ten million dollars to make sure the building might be there for another 100 years.

Memorial stadium construction was started in 1923 in Lincoln and the first football game was there in 1923. Construction finished a year later.

Sacred Heart Church in Lawrence saw construction started in 1923 and finished in 1924. Since that time a number of smaller repairs were made along with interior painting done several times. However, in 1993, serious repairs were made to the windows. In 2009, the roof was taken down to the rafters, wood repaired, underlayment and tile re-installed. However, serious damage inside the walls still remained. The 100th anniversary of the church (1924) seemed a good time to bring the inside of the building back to its original beauty that honored God. The present work will not be an exact duplicate of the original design inside the church, but it will do its job well.

The Community Center project is still in the phase of raising the money to pay for the new complex with planning for the building being done.

The purpose of the above is twofold. First off, lest one forgets, the two projects in Lawrence are being paid for by the same people. There has been little “tax” money involved. The same people (both local people and thankfully Lawrence natives that no longer live in the area) are paying for both of these endeavors. It is a substantial duty to embrace both.

However, the work is not done yet. The second reason for this note is to solicit more donations for either project. The committees for each project have thanked those who have donated time and money. They also ask those who maybe have not donated to either of the causes to consider a donation.

Joe Theer, Carla Kohmetscher and any of a dozen others can be contacted to donate to the Community Building. For the church building, contact Barb Janda or any of the other dozen or so people on that committee.

A O

The Rev. Father Tom Schultes (past pastor for the Lawrence area) recently put something on the internet that many of you may have seen. However, I’m going to reprint it here and add a few more observations to the list of comments.

I read what Father Schultes noted and have no problem with it, however, I got to thinking about the differences between the Democratic and Republican political parties today and think some of the following explains the differences of the two political parties. He titled his comments with “5 Things Jesus did not say.”

No. 1: Follow your heart – Jesus said: “Follow Me.”

Following your heart can be tough as that heart will change what it wants often in life. It can be a little confusing as to what exactly it wants. Today’s national Democrat leaders seem to encourage us to follow our hearts when there is no ‘plan’ to go by. Jesus’s plan is well laid out and explained over the past two thousand years.

No. 2: Be True to Yourself – Jesus said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple, must deny himself.” It seems Democrats wants us to have whatever we want, be it grave sins like abortions, or serious mis-judgements like in allowing riots and crimes to occur in our cities without justice to those who commit the crimes or justice to those who suffer from the crimes.

No. 3: Believe in Yourself – Jesus said: “Believe in Me.”

No. 4: As long as you are Happy – Jesus said: “What will it profit a man if he gains the world and loses his soul.”

Democrats, for years, have been saying: “Do what we tell you and you will be yourself and be happy.” I don’t know, Democrats have been suggesting abortions is good for you and studies show that a majority of women regret their abortions. Democrats suggest you can change your gender any time you want and the sooner you start, the better off you are. However, suicide rates for people who have had the surgeries and drugs have been going up.

In general, Conservatives, take a different path.

No. 5: Live Your Truth – Jesus said: “I am the Truth.”

Again . . . in general Democrats seem to support the ‘Live Your Truth’ theme. However, just look at the crime rates in Democratic controlled cities; Democratic encouragement to ‘Live Your Truth’ leads to many, many different “Truths.” Not everyone believes the same. Why not follow a path already laid out that is well proven and it works.

A O