The Government is Your Friend

I heard an interesting thing at the ecumenical men's prayer breakfast this morning. The pastor who gave the message, which was good, said at one point that we die when we've reached the right level of spiritual achievement, or maturity. "I don't want to have to live to be 100 to get there!" he said jokingly.

He was implying that God takes us to Himself when the time is right, and I questioned him about this. "What about the 18 year old Confederate soldier who dies at Gettysburg. Did God kill him, or did Satan, in the form of a Yankee?" Or more seriously, "When a baby is killed in the womb, is its life ended because it's reached the level of spiritual development that God intends for that child?"

But let's not be too quick to judge. Death is a catastrophe and against God's will, but it's overseen by Providence and, ultimately, redeemed by the sacrificial death of Christ. With that in mind, I can think of several, perhaps many, who seem to have died at the right time.

Does that sound somehow gloomy and morbid? Well, consider this popular opinion, Viz. The Government is your friend.

No. It's not.

LSP

Opening Day of Dove Season, Morning

The team headed off under the cover of darkness with one objective, shoot dove! Which we did, after setting up in a treeline of a friend's farm. It was beautiful to see the sun come up, listen to the pounding of the guns in nearby fields and even better to see the doves fly in.

They were attracted to a Mojo dove decoy with spinning wings; word to the wise, those things seem to work, and before long GWB shot several. I was slower out of the gate but made up for it later in the morning with a couple of snap shots that brought down the avian acrobats.

Great fun and a good change from last year's Opening Day action, which didn't see many birds at all. This year it was cooler, thank God, and wetter, so more dove.

I'll be out again this evening.

Good luck with your hunts,

LSP