Digital Cowboy

PK and Gregg stirred up something.

I agree with Pink Kitty that tributes are best done when inspired and they done did it.

It’s not just because I lost my Dad before I was old enough to rebel that I consider him the greatest man I’ve ever known. You’ve heard the old saying that “he’d give you the shirt off his back.” That was my Dad. Not only that but he was talented and humble too. If you don’t believe me, ask his brothers. He had 6 (plus a sister) and, though they’re all feuding and refusing to speak with each other now over some inheritance stupidity since their parents died, they all agree on one thing: that my Dad was one of the greatest men they ever knew, too. They could’ve learned some things from him.

One quick story to make my point and then I’ll return you to your regular programming.

I grew up in Ohio. In January of ’77 we had a horrible blizzard there. We were without power for days. There were snow drifts across the roads that were taller than the hood of Dad’s truck. The government sissies called a state of emergency and said they would arrest anyone driving on the roads. (They were too pussy to be out patrolling, so who cares?) We had no electricity, so my Dad calmly went out, put the snow chains on his truck (a 2 wheel drive pickup), threw some snow in the back for weight and took us to my grandmother’s house about 10 miles away.

On the way, he would say, “Hold on,” put his arm across me on the seat next to him (remember when you didn’t have seat belts?), get a running start and plow through snow drifts taller than the front of the truck that were trying to block the road, driving with one hand.

It seemed to me like it should be scary but he was calm so I was too. My Dad could do anything and there was nothing to fear as long as Dad was there. When we got to Grandma’s house, I thought it was over. As soon as we were safely there, my Dad went back out into that because our neighbors needed his help – in dangerous winds and sub-zero temperatures, before the wind-chill. He was gone until after I was in bed that night rescuing the elderly people in our neighborhood that were also without power and would’ve surely died.

That’s not just a man. That’s a courageous and generous man. He literally saved people’s lives that day.

Shortly after that, he was diagnosed with cancer. When the chemotherapy and radiation the ignorant doctors were using to kill him made it completely impossible for him to continue to punch the time clock, he pulled himself up, went into the garage and built a Franklin stove with his own hands. We used it as the sole heat source for our whole house (through Ohio winters) for almost two decades after he was dead.

I miss him more now than I ever have. It gets harder as I get older, not easier.

If I ever manage to be half the man he was, I’ll boldly call myself a success.

I was a bit hasty in responding to Elena regarding generational curses. I’ve only begun this study, but I clearly said to her that this goes beyond ” the sins of the fathers” and that sexual sin is in a different category. Now I’m not so sure that I should’ve made such a complete delineation.

I still believe that sexual sin is more easily and commonly passed down, but there are clearly generational curses that are not sexual in nature and fit the scripture she referenced. I think we’re both right and I was jumping to conclusions a bit.

God is showing me things but I’m still “looking through a glass darkly” at this point. It’s coming together and I will most definitely share it with you as soon as I fully understand it. I will soon. I have an unction and I know all things – I John 2:20
(That doesn’t mean I know all things immediately. But I can. If that rubs you wrong, re-read God is only mysterious if you’re lazy taking special note of John 14:26.)

Acidman’s mother finally passed on yesterday. I read his blog occasionally but I don’t know him or his mother. I intentionally didn’t link to his short announcement because it’s just the facts and I respect you more than to subject you to the stupidity in the comments there. Bane addressed it with sense, as is typical of Bane. But he linked to it and, being the retard that I am, I clicked the link and read the comments.

If there’s any one thing that religion has screwed people up on more than anything else, it’s death.

Out of all of the many comments at Rob’s blog about his mother’s death, there were only about three that didn’t make me want to gouge my eyes out for reading it or smack somebody.

I’m not lacking compassion for Rob. My Dad is dead. I get it. I posted nothing because there is nothing for me to say.

Heaven doesn’t “have a new angel tonight.” There are no new stars in the sky. You narcissistic, self-involved idiots posting there are doing it for yourselves, not for Rob. You don’t know what you’re talking about and you feel you have to say something… FOR YOU, not him. You probably smiled and felt very satisfied with what a caring person you are after you waddled back to the couch for another reality show, didn’t you?

I’ve never seen such selfishness as I saw there tonight and when anyone else dies. Crack your Bible open, get a relationship with God and some understanding and stop saying ridiculously stupid things when someone dies just because you’re ignorant and uncomfortable. Is your life so pathetic and empty that you need to create drama?

When my Dad died I was only 12 and I hated that inane crap even then. There are actually people over there at Rob’s site posting crap like, “Just hang in there and remember all the support and love you need is right out here in the blogosphere for you if you need it.” “I’ll miss her because I’ve gotten to know her through your blog…”

WHAT?!?! HUH?!?! Are you completely stupid or completely delusional, or both?

God help us.

I understand and respect marriage more than most and I cannot understand why it seems that marriage in this modern world is so emasculating. I’m not talking about domineering women and spineless men. I’m not talking about nagging and hen-pecking. I’m talking about alpha males that suddenly and completely lose their own identity when they get married and then become their wives.

It’s sick and it’s sad.

I was married for a number of years and it had no effect on my friendships. Nothing changed about me but my priorities. I know how to place my wife above everything else and do it without abandoning my friends. Am I the only man that does? It sure seems like it.

I’ve now had two of my friends marry and then turn into completely different people. I don’t get it and it sucks because I want my friends back.

Can anyone explain this to me? Is it because they weren’t really the alpha males they pretended to be? Is it just bad women?

I know it’s not normal or healthy. It’s not how marriage is supposed to work and, unfortunately, those marriages probably won’t work because they were broken from the start.

I haven’t thought it through, but my first instinct is that even though these women couldn’t be classified as feminists, it’s the fallout from the mess feminism made. It’s corruption of the order that God ordained. Women are in charge now and the world suffers for it.

Proverbs 17:17:

A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

Proverbs 18:24:

A man [that hath] friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend [that] sticketh closer than a brother.

My father was a wise man with many, many friends. He once told me, “Son, treat everyone as a friend, but be careful who you call your friend.”

I took his advice to heart and I’ve never thrown around the word “friend.” I have had many good acquaintances in my life, but very, very few friends. And still, every single one has betrayed me.

Perhaps that means I’ve never really had a friend. I’m not sure. I know that I’ve had three friends in my life that I loved like brothers – friends I would give my life for. In the darkest hour of my life, when I needed them most, they weren’t there. When they finally did come around, they pretty much just patted me on the back, said, “Hang in there” and disappeared.

I don’t know what the meaning in all of this is, aside from reinforcing the knowledge that there’s nothing I can count on but Jesus, Mama and my sister. They’ve all been there for me every single time.

I would still give my life for those friends. I believe in forgiveness and they’re doing the best they can just like I am.