Friday, November 13, 2009

Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall!


The world recently passed the anniversary of the tearing down of the Berlin wall. This one act provided freedom to a generation that could only dream in their hearts how freedom would feel. This one act provided another generation the ability to accept this new found freedom and do what ever it takes to keep it, nourish it and prosper within its vast opportunities. Sadly as the world observed this event, the world’s press chose to ignore the true architect of the destruction of the Berlin Wall, Ronald Wilson Reagan. Instead they chose to trot out Mikhail Gorbachev as the ‘hero’. To that end I present a tribute, in his own words, to the true hero, the true champion of Freedom, President Ronald Reagan: A Voice for Every Generation.

“America needs God more than God needs America. If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”

“Here's my strategy on the Cold War: We win, they lose.”

“The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.”

“The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so.”

“Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong.”

“I have wondered at times about what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress.”

“The taxpayer: That's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination.”

“Government is like a baby: An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.”

“The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program.”

“It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.”

“Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”

“Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed, there are many rewards; if you disgrace yourself, you can always write a book.”

“No arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is as formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.”

“If we ever forget that we're one nation under GOD, then we will be a nation gone under.”

“We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions,”

“Today we did what we had to do. They counted on America to be passive. They counted wrong.”

“We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we may always be free.”

“Liberalism has nothing more to say, nothing to add to the debate. It has spent its intellectual capital, such as it was-and it has done its deeds.”

“Thomas Jefferson once said, ‘We should never judge a president by his age, only his works.’ And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying.”

“Let us resolve that young Americans will always find there is a city of hope in a country that is free…and let us resolve they will say of our day and our generation, we did keep the faith with our God, that we did act worthy of ourselves, that we did protect and pass on lovingly that shining city an a hill.”

“America is too great for small dreams.”

“Freedom is not something to be secured in any one moment of time. We must struggle to preserve it everyday. And freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.”

“How do you tell a communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.”

“Those doing all the criticizing had their chance. In the four years before we got to Washington they had it all. They had the whole enchilada…they virtually had a free hand and all they could think to do with that free hand was stick it in your pocket.”

“Whatever else history may say about me when I’m gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears, to your confidence rather than your doubts. My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with liberty’s lamp guiding your steps and opportunity’s arm steadying your way.”

Monday, November 9, 2009

The Drivers Permit or How I Got Pied Like Bill Gates at Penn DoT

The first time was in 1993. Time number two was just two years later in 1995. Nineteen ninety-seven marked the third occurance. Then I had a break. It didn't happen again until the next century. Still I had no problems. Another four year break brought me to 2005 A.D. Sometime between November 2005 and September 2009 I have lost touch with reality. What was routine has now become stressful. What was blase has now become challenging. The mind that used to be a steel trap has obtained more than a little rust and is in dire need of a shot or two of WD-40.

This all hit me in the face like one of those cream pies with which Bill Gates was targeted. I am the father of seven children of which six have obtained the age of sixteen. That in and of itself is not special. More special or rather more amazing is that I am still here to even come to the cream pie moment I had this weekend.

Because I have this many teens I have been priveleged to have the same amount of teen drivers. It is reasonable to think that I should have the routine down as to what is needed in order to have a newly turned sixteen teen aquire a learning permit. Sure, through the years Penn DoT has wrinkled the playing field by trying to make me responsible for counting a number of hours driven by my teen before a representative of the state certifies that the flesh of my flesh and the bone of my bone is permitted to drive on the potholed Pennsylvania hiways and byways. What Penn DoT doesn't realize is that no child of mine is getting behind the wheel of ANY vehicle that has my name printed on the owners card by their computer regardless of how many hours they may or may not have driven while my fanny is in the seat beside them. There is no magic number just a magic feeling. A feeling that only I can experience. I must say that the feeling does and will waver from time to time. One of these times is the first time they drive down the street in my car while I am left behind on my knees dialing up the person-to-God direct-call phone line. Penn DoT has also made it possible for the medical world to harvest teenage body parts from these young drivers as long as the teen says it's OK and I sign a form and swear that I am of sound mind. Chew on that one awhile. They are asking the parent who is about to turn over their $30,000 vehicle, the future of their insurance premiums and their very solvencey to a cell phone carrying, texting, music loving child if they are of sound mind. Lord have mercy! Now back to my story.

It is reasonable to think that I should have the routine down as to what is needed in order to have a newly turned sixteen teen aquire a learning permit. Micah turned sixteen on September 5th. Shortly there after he and I make the Mecca-like oblgitory journey to Penn DoT so that he can get his permit. We get there park enter the building, go to the application testing room and it is then and only then that I realize that Micah needs a doctor signiture on his application. Just like all the other times. I believe this signiture is needed only because the state may want to harvest body parts at some point in the future and with these signatures they are guaranteed a predetermined standard of quality. Well we got the checkbook (that was an automatic, dealing with the state, need a checkbook) but we ain't got no doctor approval. So home we go. Fast forward two months.

Why two months? 1) A physical 2) Band 3) Dauphin County Library System 4) Band 5) Apathy 6)Band. We finally get our act together, find a weak spot in the band schedule, i.e. the end of the season, and begin our trip all over again. I even reviewed the steps to take by a prospective applicant on page one of the PA Drivers Manual. I checked off each step we were going to follow once we left Penbrook. We were a little late, say 9:30ish but it was Saturday and we had the time. We got to the Penn DoT building. Being the good parent and the law abiding driver that I am, in route I only had to scream at two other drivers and critique their driving to my sixteen year old driver wannabee. Once in the parking lot at Penn DoT I was forced to make a decision as to whether I wanted to stick around and teach my son to drive or spend 7-12 with Bubba and the boys at the State Penn. It is amazing what one woman behind the wheel of a car trying to find the perfect parking space can do to a sane man trying to get a drivers permit for his son.

We triumphantly enter the building with no outstanding warrants for us. Being the savy, experienced parent I quickly slash through the rooms occupants and press the magic green button the spews out a number by which we will be identified for the next few minutes. I get number 75. I'm sure there is no reason for us to be seated. This should go quickly. I stepped around the partition and was transported to Ellis Island. Then and only then reality pied me again. "Ding! Now serving number 54." Fifty-four! My computer-like mind quickly deduced that there were twenty-one people in front of us. If each one took 10-15 minutes to process, Micah and I were in danger of missing Thanksgiving. Much to our benefit the A-Team was working this Saturday morning. We only had to wait about an hour. I cannot even begin to tell you aout the people with which we waited. One was a self-appointed ambassador of good will. She was constantly jumping up to explain the process to anyone that walked in and looked puzzeled. All I know about another was that when he took his wife/girl friend/daughter to the counter and gave the attendant his license as proof of identy, the attendant said in a voice loud enough to silence the room, "What are you doing here? This license is suspended!" Pied, buddy.

Number 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, we ready ourselves, "Ding! Now serving number 75." We dash to counter #6. We grandly present all of our paper work to the clerk with the ralization that we are only moments away from getting a permit. The clerk reviews our form. She tells me that I can fill out the parental permission form and I do not need to have a notary seal placed on it. She has Micah take the eye test. Then and only then does she look at us and say, "I need your birth certificate and Social Security Card." Ready, aim, fire! The splatter of the pie was every where. I feel that the same silence that covered the room like a blanket just minutes before, returned. I could feel the people saying, "What kinda idiots are they?" "Such a nice boy with a stooge for a father." "It must be their first time." Had I not been married I probably would have proposed to the clerk as she lovingly said, "Go get the things you need and come back. When you do, don't get another number, just come directly to my counter and I will put Micah on a machine right away." Don't you just love a woman who can take charge of a situation and make it right.

We dashed home. Ann had the necessary forms ready and handed them to us as were drove down the street just like the Pony Express. I don't think there was any lasting or long term brain damage done to Ann by the side mirrors on my truck. We returned to Penn DoT and went directly to the processing room. I could feel the daggers from those holding numbers 89 to 105 as we went directly to counter #6. Good to her word, my favorite Penn DoT clerk set Micah up on a machine. Seven minutes and thirty-seven seconds later Micah returned to counter #6 where I heard my favorite clerk state, "You can only take the test once a day. You may return again on Tuesday." Micah got pied. He failed. We get to do this all over again.
- Dan

Friday, November 6, 2009

My Favorite Christmas Album


This week I was able to purchase a copy of my favorite christmas album of all time. Your Heart is Where Christmas is Found. I first heard this album in the early 1990's when I attended a Truth concert at Christian Life Assembly of God in Camp Hill. In those days everything was cassette tape so that's what I bought. Over the next couple years I got other copies of the tape and gave them as gifts. Then CDs came along and as tapes were replaced I had fewer and fewer places to listen to my Truth Christmas album. Since about 2003, the only place I could go to listen to it any more was in our van. Last Christmas we replaced the van and with it went my last tape player of any significance. I had been looking for this on CD but since it is OOP, that's out of print for those of you who have never scoured the internet for something you really have to have, very good and very scarce. I could find people that would sell it to me for $150 but occasionally love does have limits. I perservered and found it last week for a bargain price which was still probably twice what it cost new.


What could be so special about this that would make someone write a blog about it. To me this album captures everything that Christmas is. There is only one other album that does that and that is John Michael Talbot's, The Birth of Jesus - A Christmas Celebration.


The first track is Celebration of Joy. This starts out with heralding trumpets announcing Joy to the World. The angelic voices of the female members of Truth transport the listener into the stable as they sing The First Noel and Angels We Have Heard on High. They bookend the piece by concluding with the trumpeting of Hark the Herald Angels Sing.


Caroler's Song tells the Christmas story from the manger to our homes. It craftly weaves familiar Christmas lyrics into the songs refrain that keeps you singing it long after the CD stops spinning.


Track three is a combination of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. This is done as only
Johnny Mann or Percy Faith could do.


The title track Your Heart is Where Christmas is Found is huge. It's part, O'Henry's 'Gift of the Magi', part Peter, Paul and Mary 'Christmas Dinner' and part seasonal magic. The song tells of those less fortunate ones in life and how the community of God takes care of them at Christmas. There are so many object lessons in this song that you'll need to listen to it over and over to be truly touched by it. God will minister to you through this each time you listen to it.


Track five is a very tradition rendition of O Come All Ye Faithful. Truth conclude this traditional carol with a new verse of praise.


The Nashvill String Machine is the orchestra used throughout the album. Track six features their talents as they provide upbeat renditions of Silver Bells, a song first featured in the Bob Hope movie 'The Lemon Drop Kid', and Carol of the Bells.


The cost of the album is reclaimed when the track seven is heard. This is the most thought provoking Christmas song ever written, sung or heard. The Way He Came touches your mind, stirs your heart and refreshes your soul with the magnificance, the true wonderment, the true amazement of how God chose to reveal Himself to us. It leaves you with a sense of awe and in a state of worship.


A quick paced version of Sleigh Ride rivals that of The Boston Pops.


Truth performs an accapella medley of all-time classics O Little Town of Bethleham, Away in a Manger and Silent Night. They prove once again that the most beautiful instrument man has at his disposal is the human voice.


The album is brought to a fitting conclusion with O Come, O Come Emmanuel and Michael W. Smith's Emmanuel. The mystery of the Middle
East is captured with the use of castinets. The intro provides the feeling of riding upon the back of a camel crossing the desert. As the whole of Truth joins in on Emmanuel, breaking in singing "Rejoice" with the same enthusiasm that the angels used when they appeared to the shepherds. This track weaves a tapestry of music and lyric that leaves your heart and spirit panting for more.


And that's why Your Heart is Where Christmas is Found is my favorite Christmas album. - Dan




Watch -------- Prepare -------- Rejoice -------- Behold!

Monday, November 2, 2009

Delp Family Traditions - Advent



I know it’s a tradition because we do it every Advent season at the Delp house. As often is the case, I do not know when the tradition even began. I know where it started but I do not know when it started. I do know it did start though because we did it last year, we are planning on doing it this year and I know we will do it again next year.


What is this tradition? Advent is the season that precedes Christmas, that heralds the coming of our Savior. During this time we individually prepare ourselves, our community and our church family for the celebration of the coming of the promised Messiah, the Christ Child. What happens at our house is something special. Each evening during Advent, after the last dish is dried and the last pajama is snapped, we take a few moments to sit quietly to read scripture, God’s word, and other inspirational, thought provoking holiday readings. Reading these things help us to slow down and enjoy not just the fleeting twenty-four hours of Christmas day but the four weeks leading up to the 25th of December. However, it’s even more special than that. We do this all by candlelight. We light our Advent Wreath and then everyone holds their own candle by which to read. Our home is transformed from one in the middle of the mad dash to Christmas Eve to a warm glowing tabernacle of tranquility.


It gives us a sense of belonging and a sense of security to each year explain the meaning of the Advent wreath. To explain to young ears that as the days grow shorter and darker, the Advent Wreath grows brighter until finally at the very time of the year when days are the darkest, the Advent Wreath is at it’s brightest and the Christ Candle is lit to celebrate the Promised One.


I guess this is truly what a tradition is. We do not know when it started or why. What we do know is that if it ever ceased to be we would miss it and be all the poorer for it. May God bless our traditions and keep them close to our hearts.
- Dan



Watch -------- Prepare -------- Rejoice -------- Behold!