Exodus 20
20: 1		And God spake all these words, saying,
20: 2		I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
20: 3		Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
20: 4		Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
20: 5		Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
20: 6		And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
20: 7		Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
20: 8		Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
20: 9		Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
20:10		But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
20:11		For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
20:12		Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
20:13		Thou shalt not kill.
20:14		Thou shalt not commit adultery.
20:15		Thou shalt not steal.
20:16		Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
20:17		Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
20:18		And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
20:19		And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
20:20		And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
20:21		And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
20:22		And the Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
20:23		Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.
20:24		An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.
20:25		And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.
20:26		Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.
Holy Bible King James Version

Daisies grow wild most everywhere I have lived thus far. The only place at which I resided and never saw them was in Los Angeles — but they certainly weren't lacking for exotic plants either.


I have been known to take a good close look at them from time to time ...

The radial symmetry, the petal shape, the anther tubes and stigma of the central disk.

It's all a function of my interest in nature and I have pursued this all my life.

That commonality of the daisy is important to me because we both have been all over the place.

I have heard of some who call the daisy a "weed".

They simply do not have my appreciation for the diversity of plants and all they bring to the environment.

A daisy a day.
 

Oh how I used to fantasize about winning the lottery. I just knew that my sincere desire for the top prize was going to cause it to rain down on me like pennies from heaven.

As it turned out, I've been playing since 2002 with no significant wins as of yet. Now I'm on a fixed income because I have not gone out and gotten a nice retirement job. This makes the frivolous lottery plays I once indulged a thing of the past ...

I suppose I would have been MUCH better off taking that cash and placing it into savings somewhere than spend it on these lottery companies who were much more aware of the odds than I was.

As today finds me much older (and hopefully wiser) I am much more attuned to that futility in the lottery as a regular part of my life.

Toward that end I have curtailed spending on it immensely. Once I would spend every available dollar on a ticket for the next drawing. Now I do one card, dividend reinvest that pittance called winnings ONLY then call it a day. This has GREATLY diminished the wasted fundage I once pursued with wild abandon.

I see others play hundreds weekly on scratchers. I never fell into that particular gambling pit. This is not that I wouldn't mind some of those prizes, either.

I try to have a chance and never get my hopes up anymore — as I did initially.

A man's got to know his limitations. Winning the lottery appears to be one of mine.

Good luck to you if you play the games.
 

 

Mathew 14
14:1	At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus,
14:2	And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.
14:3	For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife.
14:4	For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.
14:5	And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.
14:6	But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.
14:7	Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask.
14:8	And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger.
14:9	And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath's sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her.
14:10	And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.
14:11	And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother.
14:12	And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus.
14:13	When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.
14:14	And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.
14:15	And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.
14:16	But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.
14:17	And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.
14:18	He said, Bring them hither to me.
14:19	And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude
14:20	And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full
14:21	And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.
14:22	And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
14:23	And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
14:24	But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
14:25	And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
14:26	And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
14:27	But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
14:28	And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
14:29	And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
14:30	But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
14:31	And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
14:32	And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
14:33	Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
14:34	And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret.
14:35	And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased;
14:36	And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.
Holy Bible King James Version