Reflections
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A Week In
Today the world is a leaf-world. The wind has had its way with things, and the trees are being stripped by the hour, and the shower of color would be, even if unaccompanied by its whispery chorus, an oratorio of the glory of Him Who spoke it all into existence. The little tree under which I park at work is almost completely bare. There is one branch that hangs over the driver’s side door, and the most prominent leaf is the one I touch each morning and each evening when exiting and entering my vehicle. Yesterday I stood in the blue light and contemplated the leaf, and I decided that…
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Layers of Sadness
I just walked past the calendar and realized that a very important milestone came and went today, unnoticed by me, who was thinking of the wretched Marine Corps and of our new dog and of some issues that have arisen lately. Two years ago this morning, our beloved Bonnie died. We always said she was the best dog in the world, and we still believe this. Her passing hit us hard; that day was one of the saddest and most difficult in our married life together. I visit her grave in the woods behind the house regularly, and I still talk to her, and I still believe I will see…
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Rotten To The Corps
Regarding my post this morning about the Marine Corps Birthday…well, I just read this article from Fox News. Seems the Corps is offering $144,000 (hmm…something eerie about that number) for a “diversity, equity, and inclusion adviser.” Because, you know, Let’s Go, Brandon! Ouch. That stabbing pain I felt in my back is what it feels like when the USMC cultural paradigm shifts. Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be jarheads. ~ S.K. Orr
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Dissipated Milestone
Today marks the 246th birthday of the United States Marine Corps. It’s an anniversary that once meant so much to me, as the Corps itself once did. And now she is tattered, stained, dishonored, decrepit, and dissipated beyond repair. Exactly like the former nation she once defended. I do not celebrate today’s Marine Corps, but I do remember fondly the comrades I once had. I’ve never had friends like the ones I had in the Corps, and my life was never as focused, and I never felt as alive. So I celebrate the Corps, as I do so many other things, in the halls of my memories. Back when I…
- Bluebelle, Daily Life, I Never Thought I'd Be In This Situation, Jinx, New Dog, Photographs, Prayers, Reflections, Saints
Special Providence
Shakespeare’s Hamlet tells us that there is special providence in the fall of a sparrow, mirroring our Lord’s words about God’s care for His children. Since this past Saturday, every passing hour shows me that there is also special providence in finding photographs of abandoned dogs in a county animal shelter. Mrs. Orr took Bluebelle to the vet today to get a full checkup, shots, deworming, and whatever else she needed. While she was there, the doc told my wife that he had an opening and would actually be able to spay our little dog today. She jumped at the chance, since the next opening wouldn’t be for almost a…
- Bluebelle, Daily Life, I Never Thought I'd Be In This Situation, Jinx, Photographs, Prayers, Reflections
A Riot of Heelers
We spent most of yesterday sawing back and forth, emotions and logic battling it out, leaving us weary and unsure. Should we go look at the dog I believe to be Jinx’s sister? Should we leave well enough alone? Should we introduce chaos into a two-dog house that have finally reached a certain balance? What if she doesn’t fit in? What if our dogs’ personalities change and they become tense and unhappy? I watched the clock swing towards 100 pm, the hour the animal shelter opens on Saturdays. The dogs were asleep; Mrs. Orr and I were silent, brooding our own thoughts to ourselves. I walked up to Bonnie’s grave…
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All Things Necessary
Universal Prayer for All Things Necessary for Salvation O my God, I believe in Thee; do Thou strengthen my faith. All my hopes are in Thee; do Thou secure them. I love Thee with my whole heart; teach me to love Thee more and more. I am sorry that I have offended Thee; do Thou increase my sorrow. I adore Thee as my first beginning; I aspire after Thee as my last end. I give Thee thanks as my constant benefactor; I call upon Thee as my sovereign protector. Vouchsafe, O my God, to conduct me by Thy wisdom, to restrain me by Thy justice, to comfort me by Thy…
- Church Life, Daily Life, I Never Thought I'd Be In This Situation, Lectio Divina, Prayers, Quotations, Reflections
Critical Mass
A natural part of aging together as a married couple is the increase in conversations about how things will be when one of us dies. We’ve explored what Mrs. Orr might likely do if I go first, and what I might do. It’s obvious and natural that my beloved wife would want to be near the boys and the grandchildren, and this would be a good thing — good for her to have loved ones near her, and good for the young ones to enjoy the benign influence of so saintly a grandmother. I am a horse of a different color. I love my family very much, but the older…
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Gratitudinal
We’ve all experienced those days when we’re keenly aware of the blessings bestowed upon us. The old admonition, “Count Your Blessings” is a very wise one, because when we start numbering the ways in which God had shown His favor to us, we find ourselves freefalling into example after example after example, and we realize how churlish and petulant and ungrateful we can be, and these are good days, because we are brought up short and we turn to Him and the unfeigned gratitude pours out of us like tears or belly-laughs or dream-sighs. I sat in the backseat today at noon as is my custom, and I opened the…
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Let’s Go, Jinxie!
All of my coworkers are women, and without exception, they are observably addicted to Facebook, Twitter, and other social media. They post and like and Tweet and share and upvote and forward until they lose track of who they are, where they are, and of what they’re taking notice. Just watching them makes my arthritic thumbs ache. And yet. Out of the entire gossipy solipsistic backstabbing shallow juvenile selfie-taking gaggle of them, not one — not ONE, mind you — knew what “Let’s Go, Brandon!” means, nor anything about the phrase’s origin, nor why it’s considered funny. Not one. I have a firm grasp of the concept of duty, and…