Asked by a woman where she could get pepper spray to protect herself in an undesirable environment, a police officer said, “Even better is wasp spray.  It shoots up to twenty feet away, temporarily blinds the assailant, and can be bought in any hardware store.”  You don’t have to wait, he observed, until an assailant is close, as with pepper spray, and you can carry the can in your purse.

In addition, it shoots in a stream which you can aim and direct at the face, so he’s immobilized from the start.  It sounds cruel, but in such cases there’s no time for pity.  The officer’s advice was reasonable and easy to follow.  The woman, who lived alone in an apartment, followed it and felt safe.

It is a shame that we live in times like this, but happy are those who find simple solutions.  Nobody likes to be victimized; however, the can is rather big for a purse.

We often sympathize with Israel, so alone in the Middle East among hostile powers.  Christians should be glad that Israel was able to defend itself during past aggressions from its neighbors.  One of Israel’s past allies was, surprisingly, a Democrat, Jimmy Carter.

During his presidency, one of our satellites detected a nuclear explosion in the Atlantic Ocean, off South Africa, toward Australia.  U.S. intelligence determined that the source of the blast was Israel, but the Carter administration was determined to keep it secret.  After all, there were several international treaties forbidding such activity.  Carter did not want to make Israel an object of recrimination.

Carter was a practicing Christian, although a Democrat (he was before AOC), and valued the Hebrew contribution to Christianity.  Let’s hope Iran takes note of this fact.

Haiti, now the poorest Caribbean nation, was once the richest.  The Haitian Revolution was taken over by slaves, while their educated leader, Toussaint, died in a prison at the behest of other, French Revolutionaries and Napoleon.  The slave revolution is said to have begun in a forest with a woman slave sacrificing a pig to a Haitian god, described as “so good…he orders revenge” (ominous beginning).  By the middle of September, 1791, the slaves had destroyed 1,500 coffee and sugar plantations and 80,000 slaves were in open rebellion. (Daut, Marlene, History Today)

Some of the American slaves were educated, or even Christianized, such as the leaders of the Underground Railway.  They did not destroy what they had worked to build, and were freed by President Lincoln, though some had already been freed by their masters.

Many of our own African-Americans took no part in the violent protests we have witnessed, and like the educated members of the Cabinet and military, have expressed their disapproval of the turn to violence.

Yes, you’re alive despite the first world-wide pandemic, and the June roses are in full bloom, jobs are opening again, and the Republicans are stabilizing a chaotic political situation.  No more pandemonium in the streets, no more defunding of the ones who uphold law and order, and no more second-class citizenships.  Immigrants from needy countries find a regulated border (although there’s a wall going up) and the human condition is getting worse as usual, people will say.

Children respond to good raising practices, which have been available for years, and tried and tested education is plentiful in the U.S.  These benefits are available to people of a Judeo-Christian heritage (Western Civilization), while Hindus, Muslims, and others are taking it out on their Christian minorities.

The narrow and one-sided see this composition of joy as bigoted, prejudiced and whatever does not fit their standards, but we will go on, happy in what the world has achieved so far, and looking to the future.

Always value the free gifts of the Lord, like talent, riches, and rhubarb.  Yes, rhubarb.  A friend of mine developed a liking for that succulent stem, which makes delicious pies alone or when combined with strawberries or other fruit , and so, when I sold my house, since the new owner had no appreciation for my raspberries, linden tree and rhubarb, I dug up the six rhubarb roots and gave them to my friend.  He grew them, but neglected to weed the plot.  One day, in a clean-up mood, he weeded the garden and threw the rhubarb roots out with the weeds.

He had gotten them free, and so, like the Lord’s gifts, he didn’t know their value.  Recently he recalled that rhubarb taste, and asked me where he could get fresh roots.  I had to tell him they now sell for $31.00 per root, so that’s roughly $200, with tax, for another six.

I wonder if I am as profligate with my gifts?