Broadcast Summary

Former Planned Parenthood clinic director Abby Johnson explains why she recently resigned from the organization after witnessing an abortion on ultrasound. (Part 1 of 2)

to left: Giotto's Saint Francis

One winter day St. Francis was coming to St. Mary of the Angels from Perugia with Brother Leo, and the bitter cold made them suffer keenly. St. Francis called to Brother Leo, who was walking a bit ahead of him, and he said: "Brother Leo, even if the Friars Minor in every country give a great example of holiness and integrity and good edification, nevertheless write down and note carefully that perfect joy is not in that."

 And when he had walked on a bit, St. Francis called him again, saying: "Brother Leo, even if a Friar Minor gives sight to the blind, heals the paralyzed, drives out devils, gives hearing back to the deaf, makes the lame walk, and restores speech to the dumb, and what is still more, brings back to life a man who has been dead four days, write that perfect joy is not in that."

And going on a bit, St. Francis cried out again in a strong voice: "Brother Leo, if a Friar Minor knew all languages and all sciences and Scripture, if he also knew bow to prophesy and to reveal not only the future but also the secrets of the consciences and minds of others, write down and note carefully that perfect joy is not in that."

And as they walked on, after a while St. Francis called again forcefully: 'Brother Leo, Little Lamb of God, even if a Friar minor could speak with the voice of an angel, and knew the courses of the stars and the powers of herbs, and knew all about the treasures in the earth, and if be knew the qualities of birds and fishes, animals, humans, roots, trees, rocks, and waters, write down and note carefully that true joy is not in that."

And going on a bit farther, St. Francis called again strongly: "Brother Leo, even if a Friar Minor could preach so well that be should convert all infidels to the faith of Christ, write that perfect joy is not there."

Now when he had been talking this way for a distance of two miles, Brother Leo in great amazement asked him: "Father, I beg you in God's name to tell me where perfect joy is."

And St. Francis replied; "When we come to St. Mary of the Angels, soaked by the rain and frozen by the cold, all soiled with mud and suffering from hunger, and we ring at the gate of the Place and the brother porter comes and says angrily: 'Who are you?' And we say: 'We are two of your brothers.' And he contradicts us, saying: 'You are not telling the truth. Rather you are two rascals who go around deceiving people and stealing what they give to the poor. Go away]' And he does not open for us, but makes us stand outside in the snow and rain, cold and hungry, until night falls-then if we endure all those insults and cruel rebuffs patiently, without being troubled and without complaining, and if we reflect humbly and charitably that that porter really knows us and that God makes him speak against us, oh, Brother Leo, write that perfect joy is there!

'And if we continue to knock, and the porter comes out in anger, and drives us away with curses and hard blows like bothersome scoundrels, saying; 'Get away from here, you dirty thieves-go to the hospital! Who do you think you are? You certainly won't eat or sleep here'--and if we bear it patiently and take the insults with joy and love in our hearts, Oh, Brother Leo, write that that is perfect joy!

And if later, suffering intensely from hunger and the painful cold, with night falling, we still knock and call, and crying loudly beg them to open for us and let us come in for the love of God, and he grows still more angry and says: 'Those fellows are bold and shameless ruffians. I'll give them what they deserve.'  And he comes out with a knotty club, and grasping us by the cowl throws us onto the ground, rolling us in the mud and snow, and beats us with that club so much that he covers our bodies with wounds--if we endure all those evils and insults and blows with joy and patience, reflecting that we must accept and bear the sufferings of the Blessed Christ patiently for love of Him, oh, Brother Leo, write: that is perfect joy!

'And now hear the conclusion, Brother Leo. Above all the graces and gifts of the Holy Spirit which Christ gives to His friends is that of conquering oneself and willingly enduring sufferings, insults, humiliations, and hardships for the love of Christ. For we cannot glory in all those other marvelous gifts of God, as they are not ours but God's, as the Apostle says: 'What have you that you have not received?' But we can glory in the cross of tribulations and afflictions, because that is ours, and so the Apostle says: 'I will not glory save in the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ.'"

To whom be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

from The Little Flowers of St Francis, The "Fioretti"

Good History Lesson on our Christian foundation (Essential Viewing)

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consiousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

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Yelena and I had a great time taking part in a workshop at the Opal Creek Ancient forest center. Opal Creek forest center is located in the Opal Creek wilderness, less than an hour from Salem. This workshop consisted of time spent with an expert guide harvesting wild mushrooms like Golden Chanterelles and Angel wings along with some of natures other delectables like Salal and huckleberries. We made medicinal tinctures from Oregon grape roots and Red Cedar needles and sipped on tea made from wild ginger. It was all hands on so we were quite involved in the whole process as well as learning to identify what to eat or more importantly what not to eat in the forest. It's amazing how many edible plants there are that can be harvested for medicinal purposes or for the sheer pleasure of eating.

I was astonished at the biodiversity that exists in a place like this. This Old growth forest consist of trees that are 250 to 1500 years old. It's awe inspiring to stand next to a 1000 year old tree, to ponder it's existence and the complex processes that took place for it to come into being.

I can appreciate those who had enough foresight to preserve a place like this for generations to come and the efforts of Opal Creek forest center to educate the public about this magnificent forest.

Through their many workshops OCFC share there knowledge and love for the forest which has opened up a whole new world that is hidden to most. It is amazing to discover a circle of life that has stood the test of time, continuing on for thousands of years; a living system dependent on each stage of its life cycle to develop and survive,from to the microscopic organizims that breaks down the rotten logs on the forest floor to the spotted owl which stands at the top of the food chain.

God in his infinite wisdom has designed everything to work together for the benefit of all. If you take one organism out you risk altering what God has designed to work together.

" There is no creature so little and contemptible as not to manifest the goodness of God."Thomas A Kempis

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At 10,358 feet South Sister towers above every peak in the surrounding area. The third largest peak in Oregon commands your attention and just about every once of energy to climb it.

We decided to backpack into the green lakes area on Friday Aug 28 and make that our base camp for an ascent a fresh Saturday morning . This is not the traditional route up south sister that most people take.

We began our hike around 9:30am, a late start in my opinion, due to confusion of what trail to take. You want to make sure you get an early start, so you're not hiking down in the dark. Little did we know how long and strenuous an uphill climb it is - some places requiring both hands and feet to get up.

We made the mistake of ascending the trail to the right of the glacier stream and that put us in a precarious postion of having to scrambling up a steep slope, which caused multiple mini land slides. What we didn't know and the climbing guides didn't mention is that you want to cross over the left hand side of the glacier stream as soon as possible to ascend the trail on the left side of the glacier. This route avoids the steepness that you encounter on the right side trail.

We managed to follow the trail with marked rock cairns to the top of the ridge, where we were in sight of the cinder scree of south sister. There we could see multiple people climbing to the top. Cinder scree appeared to be right before us took us another hour to get to.

We finally managed to get to cinder scree where we began our laborious climb to the top. This section is all scree, a mixture of mixed gravel and lose dirt which made your every step slip a little bit. Due to the thin air and many hours of climbing I was having to take 10 steps and rest all the way up.

Once at the top we were on the rim of an ancient volcano where we could see for literally hundreds of miles. The center of the crater was visible and filled with snow. At one time this spewed molting lava covering the surrounding valley.

After 10 hours of climbing we safely made it down just before dark. We were exhausted but thankful we were able to experience climbing one of the tallest peaks in Oregon. It takes a lot of perseverance and stamina to get to the top but well worth the effort. As you can see from the photo's the view's are spectacular.

If you're planning on hiking up South Sister have a look at my South Sister Climbing guide here for some advice.

Green Lakes Trail Guide

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Me and the boys had a memorable trip hiking into Benson Lake in the Mount Washington Wilderness. This is a beautiful pristine lake that holds a good population of Brook and Rainbow trout.

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Oregon has an amazing Salmon fishery just waiting for those who are brave enough to handle the 6 foot Pacific Ocean swells. Thanks to Larry Roth and his experties behind the helm of the boat, we had a blast fishing for Coho's out of Depoe bay.

We seemed to effortlessly catch around 10 Salmon before the sun set. The fish run between 8 and 12lbs and put up a battle right until the end.

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We had another fun filled Summer Conference at Macleay Christian retreat. The children had a great time enjoying the activities the church planned for them throughout the conference. Highlights were swimming at the pool, going to the gym, bike decorating, sand castle competition, cookie making etc...

What I came away with most about this conference was a deep thankfulness for the Church and the many people that put there time and effort into making it special for the children and young people.

"In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" Acts 20:35

I'm very thankful I had the opportunity to be at summer conference this year with my family. I don't think there is any place better to be.

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It was a special day not only for Olga and Josh but for all of us who got to attend their wedding.

It was a blessing to witness a couple that has kept themselves pure for one another until this joyful day when they joined hands and hearts before God in holy matrimony.

They have laid a good foundation that they can build upon, with love, sacrifice , perseverance and relying on every word of God as their guide.

A good example for all of us follow.

The family and I had a relaxing weekend by the sea. There is just something about the Ocean that awakens in one a sense of awe. This immense body of water deeper than the highest mountain and as wide as the whole earth. It makes me want to praise God for his greatness and majesty. What am I but a speck of dust and yet He cares for me so much he has numbered each hair on my head. Matthew 10:30

I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
I will ponder all your work,
and meditate on your mighty deeds.
Your way, O God, is holy.
What god is great like our God?
You are the God who works wonders;
you have made known your might among the peoples.
You with your arm redeemed your people,
the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

When the waters saw you, O God,
when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
indeed, the deep trembled.
The clouds poured out water;
the skies(AB) gave forth thunder;
your arrows flashed on every side.
The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
your lightnings lighted up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.
Your way was through the sea,
your path through the great waters;
yet your footprints were unseen.
You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.Psalm 77

Sometimes we just have to transcend our earthly realm for a heavenly one. Pure joy to listen to!