tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67409200607856895852024-02-02T00:52:33.249-08:00The Chalet Eagle Blog SpotOne More Way the Philadelphia Wingers Communicate With Family, Friends, and CyberspaceAllan L. Wingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10847075326641092605noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6740920060785689585.post-16639194425542560152011-08-01T07:00:00.000-07:002011-08-01T15:50:29.561-07:00Our Princess Is Getting MarriedLANGHORNE, PENNSYLVANIA, USA. This Saturday our daughter is getting married. That is a BIG deal for us as I can imagine it is for any family when one of your children is getting married.<br />
<br />
She and her John have just about everything already set up and ready to go. So the normal thing of the family of the bride doing it all is not happening for us, as much as it normally would that is. Tradition is that if any speeches need to be made they are given by the Best Man and the Maid of Honor. So Dad does not even have to prepare a speech. There are other things that Dad needs to do though.<br />
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Aside from most of the details going just fine, things do still happen, the unexpected that is. They always do no matter how well you plan and take care of it all ahead of time. So I have taken the week off from work. Part of that is the annual vacation time. I do need to get away from the job. But primarily this week it is all about just being there for our Princess to take care of whatever happens to pop up.<br />
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Each morning this week will begin with writing something. That is me. I write all the time even though you may not see that here in the world of blogs. So I thought that this week I would focus a bit more on the blogs and share that writing about this week with you all. I know I will do the same thing for our son AJ when he gets married. But this week is her week, for our Princess and the love of her love John.<br />
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There will be something in each of the three blogs that I write. So, expect something a little different in each one because each blog has a separate personality so to speak. But the words will be focused on one thing, a wonderful wedding that is going to happen this Saturday, August 6th 2011 at 3 PM in a seventeenth century church northwest of Philadelphia, that kind of old church that has doors on the pews if you have ever seen one.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj41i9tWeZ4o5vUBMgzu81CeIyj8_S-3rizVfcy053D04DUdM99-OWtKsOEHFT3gdgwc_eP_Z_Ds3IJHeRCEq3j8Jv5UEBnONhcv1GqoUFligZdtOdzy5oxNx1ZSi9LVNHuz01OwuUp2OX/s1600/blog-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj41i9tWeZ4o5vUBMgzu81CeIyj8_S-3rizVfcy053D04DUdM99-OWtKsOEHFT3gdgwc_eP_Z_Ds3IJHeRCEq3j8Jv5UEBnONhcv1GqoUFligZdtOdzy5oxNx1ZSi9LVNHuz01OwuUp2OX/s320/blog-01.jpg" t$="true" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Old School Baptist Meeting House, Southampton, PA</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://oldschoolmeetinghouse.yolasite.com/">Click here to see more photos including the inside</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(The above photo taken by ALW)</div><br />
Pray for us please and give thanks. We have been praying for this event for a long time and finally it is here and it is a wonderful, wonderful blessing from our Lord.<br />
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ALWAllan L. Wingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10847075326641092605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6740920060785689585.post-40855668845977029342010-06-20T06:00:00.000-07:002010-07-05T14:24:17.219-07:00Father's Day Week - Day OneBENSALEM, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Today is the official calendar day in the United States for Father's Day. Some of us may make it into a Father's Day Week. This is because some of us are great prograstinators and we wait until the very last day, the Saturday just past, to get a card and get it in the mail. Of course the card will never get there on time. So we change it all into a week of celebration so that we still have enough time to mail off the appropriate Hallmark card.<br />
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That is one of the wrong reasons for making it into a week. Maybe a better reason is so that for each day, for seven days, we can think about what the name <em>Father</em> means to us and then share that with others. Here is an example of what could be appropriate for the first day.<br />
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Our Father Who art in Heaven,<br />
Hallowed be Thy name.<br />
Thy Kingdom come,<br />
Thy will be done,<br />
On earth as it is in Heaven.<br />
Give us this day our daily bread,<br />
And forgive us our debts,<br />
As we forgive our debtors.<br />
And lead us not into tempation.<br />
But deliver us from evil.<br />
For Thine is the Kingdom,<br />
And the power,<br />
And the glory,<br />
Forever, Amen.<br />
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I think about those words. Many of us have said them before for one reason or another, in one setting or another. We learned them in church, or from our parents, or maybe our grandparents, or someone else who has been very influential in our lives. They thought the Lord's Prayer was an important thing for us to learn, maybe because it had been taught to them by someone important in their lives. It is something that could be called a <em>Generational Truth,</em> something that is just right and true and needs to be passed from generation to generation. <br />
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But...what about our Father in Heaven? Do we say thank you to Him on Father's Day as well? <br />
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I do not see my Father in Heaven as my Dad...like a grandfather perhaps, but not a Dad. There is just a line of <em>higher than normal</em> respect that has been drawn and you do not cross that line. Does that explain it well enough to where the respect we may have for our Dads is not diminished at all as well?<br />
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Of course there may be some who do not have any respect for their Dad and circumstances may cause them to believe that that is okay. But our Father in Heaven...um...I do not think so. So, for this first day of Father's Days Week, let's think about Him...Who really did create us you know, right? :-)<br />
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Oh yes...I thought the following YouTube link might help us to think about Him today. It is Andrea Bocelli, singing the Lord's Prayer with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in Salt Lake City.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEplqV0scyo">The Lord's Prayer - Andrea Bocelli</a><br />
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Happy Father's Day :-)<br />
<br />
ALWAllan L. Wingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10847075326641092605noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6740920060785689585.post-30242432457170940862010-05-24T04:30:00.000-07:002010-05-25T16:39:22.905-07:00Leigh Irwin Listens to Guy NoirBENSALEM, Pennsylvania, USA. "A dark night in a city that knows how to keep its secrets. But on the 12th floor of the Acme building, one man is still trying to find the answers to life's persistent questions: Guy Noir, Private Eye." (MUSIC FADE) [<a href="http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/programs/2004/11/27/scripts/noir.shtml">27 Nov 2004 script</a>] <br />
<br />
For those that have not had the privilege yet, these are the words that you hear on the radio when you listen to a particular segment of a program called <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Prairie_Home_Companion">A Prairie Home Companion,</a></em> old radio at its best created by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrison_Keillor">Garrison Keillor</a> and his great crew. I listen to it on the weekend when I am out and about in our car. The program is on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NPR">National Public Radio (NPR)</a> and the station I listen to is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHYY-FM">WHYY out of Philadelphia.</a> You should really listen to it if you don't already. It has stirred my imagination for years.<br />
<br />
Of course I am old enough to remember when radio seemed like it was the only thing there was, along with going to the movies of course. The age of television was just beginning but vintage radio still kept our attention. My brother Warren and I would listen to shows like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragnet_(series)">Dragnet,</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_Busters">Gang Busters</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunsmoke">Gunsmoke.</a> You did not have a television screen in front of you. The screen was in your mind. You had to use your imagination. And oh what <em>that </em>screen could reveal! Garrison Keillor and his excellent crew are still very good at <em>turning it on</em> for me.<br />
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There was talk of him retiring this year. He is 67 now. They had some fun on the show doing segments where his "replacement" had come to take over. But the latest read on the website for the show from GK goes like this:<br />
<br />
"We're discussing another Prairie Home cruise for 2011. I am working on a new Good Poems collection, and a memoir of 1966, a Guy Noir mystery, and have gotten a second wind on a Lake Wobegon screenplay. So life goes hurtling on." [<a href="http://www.publicradio.org/columns/prairiehome/posthost/2010/05/15/a_note_from_gk_about_retiremen.php">A Note From GK About Retirement</a>] He got some great comments back from fans about clearing up this question. You ought to read them. It will give you an idea of how much this show means to average people like you and me. [<a href="http://www.publicradio.org/columns/prairiehome/posthost/2010/05/15/a_note_from_gk_about_retiremen.php#comments">Comments 34</a>]<br />
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So why all this about a radio show and who is Leigh Irwin anyways?<br />
<br />
Back in the day when the family lived in or around <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamestown,_New_York">Jamestown, New York</a> my dad was on radio. It was the local station, WJOC <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WKSN">[now WKSN]</a> and he was an announcer of sorts. If I remember correctly he did short shows that had to do with local news and weather. Well, he chose as his radio name <em>Leigh Irwin.</em> Where did it come from? My middle name is <em>Leigh</em> and my brother Warren's middle name is <em>Irwin.</em> Dad loved his boys. He is 92 right now, by the way, and he's still kicking, down Tennessee way.<br />
<br />
But there is something else here though, beside the fact that you shouldn't start a paragraph with the word "but." I have always wanted to write and the pen name that I've always wanted to use was Leigh Irwin. It fits. There is a little bit of me, a little bit of my brother, the love of our Dad for us, and surely a whole lot of Mom, God rest her soul. She's in Heaven now. She went Home in 2001.<br />
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So, in the future, be on the look out. Because you just might hear (or read) the following words:<br />
<br />
"A dark night in a world that thinks it knows how to keep its secrets. But on the 1st floor of a small home, just north of Philadelphia, one man is still looking for the answers to many of life's persistent questions: Leigh Irwin, Investigative Reporter." (MUSIC FADE)<br />
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Hey, why not try an episode of Guy Noir on YouTube.com <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0Xvfmmci9U">right here.</a> Enjoy :-)<br />
<br />
READERS PLEASE NOTE<br />
Beginning on May 25th, 2010 we have gone forward with the above idea by starting a new blog site called <em>Leigh Irwin - Investigative Reporter: Where Fiction Meets Reality.</em> The above article, with a few small changes, is the first article in that blog. Please join us at <a href="http://leighirwin-ir.blogspot.com/">this location</a> if you like. We would surely like to see you there. :-)<br />
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God bless ya'll,<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Allan <em>Leigh</em> Winger</div>Allan L. Wingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10847075326641092605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6740920060785689585.post-3283452469274908312009-12-05T17:59:00.000-08:002009-12-05T17:59:22.130-08:00Remember Your Leaders...Mr. Robie and High School English<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Langhorne, Pennsylvania.</b> Mr. Robie, one of my high school English teachers, died December 3rd. He was 75. As I read the news, a drawer in my memory opened and the words inside begged me to say them out loud once more.</span><br />
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<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"She should have died hereafter;<br />
There would have been a time for such a word :<br />
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,<br />
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,<br />
To the last syllable of recorded time :<br />
And all our yesterdays, have lighted fools<br />
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle,<br />
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,<br />
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,<br />
And then is heard no more. It is a tale<br />
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury<br />
Signifying nothing."<br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> (Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5, William Shakespeare)<br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We had been given an assignment in high school English. We were to memorize something, basically anything (within reason of course), and then recite it in class in front of everyone. The above words were what I chose. I've never been able to forget them. Oh, I may forget a word here and there, but most of the time they just flow off the top of my head at will. I guess I chose them way back then because even in my limited experience of living in this world, they were very profound to me. They still have not lost that profoundness.<br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It is only right that as I begin writing again on this blog that the first words should honor someone who taught me about words. Thank you Mr. Robie. You made a difference in my life and I'm remembering you today.<br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Thank you Fitz for lettin' us know:<br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://classof66.blogspot.com/">SWCS English teacher Harry Robie Dies at 75</a><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://michaelfitzgerald-backpackjournalist.blogspot.com/2009/12/year-of-robie-chapter-from-class-of-66.html">The Year of the Robie</a><br />
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</div>Allan L. Wingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10847075326641092605noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6740920060785689585.post-52310026239578211402007-06-10T18:27:00.000-07:002008-11-28T18:26:53.208-08:00Listening to History on Flag Day 2007<p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal">06/10/2007 LANGHORNE, Penn. This morning as I listened to the pastor teach us about the meaning of prayer and what it means to pray in the will of God something very strong came to my heart and mind.<span style=""> </span>It was the question, “What is God’s will for our country as it concerns the war in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>?”<span style=""> </span>Then I remembered a phrase I often use, borrowed from someone many years ago, “History repeats itself.<span style=""> </span>It has to. Nobody listens.”<span style=""> </span>What history is repeating itself in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region> that maybe God wants us to listen to that maybe we do not want to hear?<span style=""> </span>Is it the history of the Vietnam War or is it a history much further back in time?</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal">Go out and buy yourself a map of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>. They sell them in the bookstores. There is always at least one in stock.<span style=""> </span>Then start looking at the towns and cities and especially the historical sites.<span style=""> </span>Not too far from the Persian Gulf , about a third of the way up the road from Basrah to <st1:city st="on">Baghdad</st1:city> is the city of <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">An Nasiriyah</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style=""> </span>You have heard of this place in the news.<span style=""> </span>If you have a map that shows historical sites, look just southwest of the city.<span style=""> </span>You will find <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Ur</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style=""> </span>This is the same <st1:city st="on">Ur</st1:city> of the Chaldees where Abraham from the Bible was called by God to go to the promised land that we know as <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region>.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal">Now go further up the road, closer to <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Baghdad</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style=""> </span>You will find three towns.<span style=""> </span><st1:place st="on">An Najaf</st1:place> is the southern most one of the three. Then there is <st1:city st="on">Al Hillah</st1:city>, and west of that town is <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Karbala</st1:city></st1:place>.<span style=""> </span>Among coalition forces, the area between them has acquired the name, “Triangle of Death.” There have been many Iraqi deaths in this area, especially in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Al Hillah</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style=""> </span>But also this area is where two American soldiers were kidnapped in May of 2006 and were later found dead and mutilated.<span style=""> </span>Also, on May 12<sup>th</sup> of this year, a month ago, three American soldiers were taken captive. One was found dead and the other two are still missing.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal">Look at your map. Just north of <st1:city st="on">Al Hillah</st1:city> is where the city of <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Babylon</st1:place></st1:city> once stood.<span style=""> </span>If you remember your Sunday school lessons, this is where Daniel was in the lions den.<span style=""> </span>It is also where Shadrach, Mishack, and Abednego were put into the fiery furnace and came out without even the smell of smoke on their clothes.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal">Now go way up the road from <st1:city st="on">Baghdad</st1:city> to the northern city of <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Mosul</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style=""> </span>This is one of the main cities for the Kurdish part of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style=""> </span>Remember, there are three major people groups in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style=""> </span>The Kurds are in the north.<span style=""> </span>The Shia are in the southeast.<span style=""> </span>The Sunni are in the southwest.<span style=""> </span>Now look just north of <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Mosul</st1:place></st1:city> on your map.<span style=""> </span>You will find what is left of Ninevah.<span style=""> </span>In the Bible, Jonah was told by God to go to Ninevah and tell the people to repent.<span style=""> </span>Jonah went the opposite direction and ended up in the belly of a whale.<span style=""> </span>Then when Jonah repented and God saved him from the whale, he went to Ninevah and did what God told him to do. The people repented.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal">In the context of these stories from the Bible, how important do you think the country of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region> is to God?<span style=""> </span>What does God want us to learn from this history and the history that is unfolding even now with our military in harms way?<span style=""> </span>Are we to run like Jonah did, only to come back later and do what we were supposed to do in the first place?<span style=""> </span>Also, what will be our <span style="font-style: italic;">whale</span> if we go in the opposite direction.<span style=""> </span>Who should we fear more, the God of Abraham Who sent us His Son Jesus Christ to die for us, or the terrorists who would like to see us all dead?<span style=""> </span>Do we fear more the lions of our age or the God Who created them as well as the sheep of His pasture?<span style=""> </span>Do we fear more the fiery furnace, the burning caldron of war, or do we listen to the God who promised never to leave us nor forsake us?</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal">Does speaking about the war in this way mean that this writer is a war monger?<span style=""> </span>General Douglas MacArthur once said of those who wear the uniform, “This does not mean that you are war mongers. On the contrary, the soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer the deepest wounds and scars of war. But always in our minds ring the ominous words of Plato: ‘Only the dead have seen the end of war.’”</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal">There are more difficult days ahead for our country, and especially those who wear the uniform which includes their families as well.<span style=""> </span>But what are we to do? When peace came in World War II there were those in uniform who stayed in Europe and in the <st1:place st="on">Far East</st1:place> to maintain that peace.<span style=""> </span>After the armistice was signed in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Korea</st1:place></st1:country-region> there were those in uniform who stayed to maintain that peace. The military unit that my Uncle Lou served with in that war is still doing duty in South Korea and part of that unit is also serving in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style=""> </span>It seems therefore that once the peace has been established leaving Americans there maintains that peace.<span style=""> </span>But when we leave, as we did in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Vietnam</st1:place></st1:country-region>, disaster strikes for the people groups that are left to take care of themselves.<span style=""> </span>Thus we had the Killing Fields of Cambodia where two million people were killed by those in power after the war.<span style=""> </span>There were also many who were killed by Saddam Hussein after the first Iraq War. We tend to forget that.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal">Let me close by going back to the beginning of these few words written today.<span style=""> </span>The words came because the pastor today was teaches us the importance of praying in the will of God.<span style=""> </span>We need to pray about this war on a daily basis. We need to honestly seek the will of God. Even those who do not practice some kind of religion pray in certain circumstances.<span style=""> </span>Should not we who do <i style="">practice religion</i> pray even more, especially about this situation?<span style=""> </span>Please keep this in mind as you celebrate Flag Day this June 14<sup>th</sup>.</p>God Bless Ya'll real good,<br />AllanAllan L. Wingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10847075326641092605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6740920060785689585.post-85622350633807484102007-05-06T18:25:00.001-07:002008-11-28T19:50:57.872-08:00When Heroes Speak...Who Will Listen?<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">05/06/2007 LANGHORNE, Penn. May 4th was my fifty-ninth birthday this year. It was also the twenty-seventh anniversary of when the picture to the right was captured for all time as the symbol of the anti-Vietnam War movement. The tragedy of the Kent State Massacre in 1970 lives on in our collective memory of how things can really go wrong, and even more wrong after that.</span></span><br /></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> <span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span> </span><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> <span style="font-size:100%;">History records that the demonstration that May 4th was specifically against the invasion of Cambodia that President Nixon had launched on April 25th. If that is the case then I know exactly where I was personally on the day of that invasion.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></span></div><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> <span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span> </span><div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> <span style="font-size:100%;">It was a Saturday, and for some reason I had the day off from my work as a machinist in a maintenance company stationed at Ankhe in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam. I awoke that morning to the sound of moving vehicles, <span style="font-style: italic;">lots</span> of moving vehicles. Our company was near the front gate of the base camp that had a twenty-two mile perimeter with Hong Kong Mountain in the middle. When I saw that the line of vehicles was not stopping, I got my camera and sat with a friend on the roof of the barracks.</span><br /><br /> <span style="font-size:100%;">It was the whole Fourth Infantry Division moving out to somewhere. Later I would find out that it had been Cambodia. There were gun trucks, armored personnel carriers (APCs), artillery pieces towed behind other vehicles, everything you can imagine when an Army division gets ordered into battle. Our company, thank God, was not part of the Fourth ID. So I stayed where I was that day. I didn't have to go. Later, they would come back, but Camp Radcliffe was pretty much like a ghost town without them.<br /> </span> </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> <span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span> </span><div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> <span style="font-size:100%;">It was September of that year that I finished my eighteen months, went back to the States, and got out of the military, not knowing that three years later, almost to the day, I would be in the military again, this time as a Military Policeman who stayed in as a career. It was sometime after that that I read about Kent State. The hairs on the back of my head raised up and a tingling sensation went down my back when I read that it had happened on my birthday while I was in Vietnam. Woodstock also happened while I was gone. That I knew about because I had accumulated quite a large record collection over there.<br /><br /></span> </span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">But this May 4th, in the year 2007, was different for me. When I went for my birthday breakfast at the local diner, the headlines of the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Bucks County Courier Times</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> read, "Bucks Marine's Casket Arrives At Willow Grove." There was the family picture, similar to the one on the right, with his brother-in-law, his sister, the mother, and the father in the full dress uniform of a Marine Reserve colonel. Willow Grove is the local Naval Air Station where he was brought in by military helicopter with full honors. Saturday he was laid to rest with more than 600 in attendance at the funeral.</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span> </span> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> <span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span> </span><div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> <span style="font-size:100%;">First Lieutenant Travis Manion graduated from the La Salle College High School in 1999. He lettered in wrestling, football, and lacrosse. He had a 3.7 GPA and a commission to the Naval Academy. The Lieutenant graduated from Annapolis in 2004 and was a preseason national top 20 wrestler that year.</span><br /><br /> <span style="font-size:100%;">Lieutenant Manion, 26, was serving his second tour in Iraq. He was embedded with an Iraqi Army unit that he was leading and training. During a patrol mission on Sunday, April 29th in Anbar province, his unit came under sniper fire and the young Manion was shot and killed. Here are two things in particular that he wrote while over there, one to family and friends, and the second to a local newspaper.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >"As far as the job is going, the area is not good right now - but it's getting better, and to be honest, I'm amazed at the ability and dedication of some of these Iraq Army soldiers. ...The AI's in this battalion are very eager to fight and to take control of this city. ...It was at times frustrating the first time I was here and it will and has been this time, but as in anything in life, true success does not come from battles won easily.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /> <span style="font-style: italic;">"There are many different views on our mission here. However, all I can say with certainty is that there are thousands of Americans over here working hard towards a positive outcome in Iraq. ...I am not sure the average American sees the positives these servicemen and women accomplish or even understand the sacrifices of their efforts. However, whatever course of action our leadership decides upon, there are those in waiting, ready to carry out the mission in support of our country and in defense of its people and their freedoms."<br /><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">When heroes speak...who will listen? Who will act upon what they have heard and will rally to their cause in some form or fashion? There is much more involved in supporting our troops than putting on the uniform and joining them. For me, at my age for instance, first and foremost is prayer. Second is to make it a topic of discussion among family, friends and co-workers. Third, but certainly not last, is the ballot box. We all hate war, especially the soldiers and their families. We wish that we could come home and put war behind us. The problem is that our enemies will not allow us to do that. On top of that they have brought the war to American soil.<br /> </span> </span> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> <span style="font-size:100%;"><br /> So I pray. I talk about the mission and the men and women in uniform that believe in that mission. They are the heroes. Then I write to you, my family, friends, and co-workers. And when it is time for the ballot box, I will be there too, an old soldier who still believes in the mission of freedom, no matter whether it is in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, or right here in my own backyard.<br /><br /> Rest in peace Lieutenant Manion. Semper Fi Sir! We who salute you have heard you loud and clear. We know the mission and we will not let you down.<br /><br /> Allan L. Winger<br /> Staff Sergeant<br /> U. S. Army Retired<br /><br /> (Links to the source stories for this blog as well as credit for the photographs utilized are in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Blog Spot Resource Center</span> listed in the sidebar to the right.)<br /> </span></span></div><br /></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span>Allan L. Wingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10847075326641092605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6740920060785689585.post-56059296013550371572007-04-04T20:16:00.000-07:002014-12-29T10:23:53.769-08:00Honor - What Are You Doing This Easter?<span style="font-family:Arial;"> 04/04/2007 LANGHORNE, Penn. <span style="font-weight: normal;">Today was another one of those days where I woke up early and couldn’t get back to sleep.<span> </span>After I got up and started thinking about the day, I remembered some words that are very important to me and I began to repeat them several times:<br /> <br /> <o:p> </o:p> </span> </span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">“Honor your father and your mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.”<span> </span>(Ephesians 6:2-3 quoting Exodus 20:12 and Deuteronomy 5:16)<o:p> </o:p> </span></span></p> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Another is something that my mother taught my family when she lived with us for a short time. In her younger years she had been a nanny for a Jewish family in <st1:city st="on"> <st1:place st="on"> Baltimore</st1:place> </st1:city> and she was to make sure that the children recited the following every night before they climbed into bed:<o:p> </o:p> </span></span></p> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">“Sha-ma Is-ray-el. A-do-nie El-a-hay-nu, A-do-nie a-hud” which translated means, “Hear O Israel. The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”<span> </span>(Deuteronomy 6:4)<span> </span>In Jewish tradition this is called “The Great Sha-ma.”<o:p> </o:p> </span></span></p> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">A couple of blogs ago the word “Honor” was used in a context where you might think that it was only related to one’s service to their country.<span> </span>But that word has a meaning that includes much more than that. I had the privilege of serving in <st1:country-region st="on"> <st1:place st="on"> Vietnam</st1:place> </st1:country-region> . I am also married to a wonderful lady who was born in <st1:country-region st="on"> <st1:place st="on"> South Korea</st1:place> </st1:country-region> . Our last duty station overseas was as a family for two years in that same country. My brother Warren worked for two years in <st1:country-region st="on"> <st1:place st="on"> Japan</st1:place> </st1:country-region> for a large company.<span> </span>So we Wingers know a little bit about the oriental culture.<br /> </span></span></p> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">We here in the West to a large part think in terms of “Right” and “Wrong.”<span> </span>If you’ve ever wondered why you couldn’t understand maybe the Eastern culture, it’s because they don’t necessarily think and live in the framework of those Western words.<span> </span>Their culture is all about “Shame” and “Honor.”<span> </span>Think about that for a minute. There’s a whole lot more involved in those words than in ours, isn’t there, especially when you think about family and the whole social structure thing.<o:p> </o:p> </span></span></p> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">But getting back to those words above, who are those that you honor in your life?<span> </span>Who in your life are those that you hope each day you will never bring to shame?<span> </span>Is it your father and mother?<span> </span>Is it other relatives or friends?<span> </span>Think about the ones with which you spend Thanksgiving. For many that holiday is spent with the most important people in our lives – family or some version of it.<o:p> </o:p> </span></span></p> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Yesterday was the Jewish Passover. The day after tomorrow is Good Friday.<span> </span>Sunday is Easter. It’s Holy Week. It’s a time where most of the nation honors God in some way – God our <i>Heavenly</i> Father.<span> </span>Back in the day when my brother and I were kids, we were in church on Good Friday and on Easter morning. Even if we didn’t want to go, we were there. Mom and Dad said so – end of story.<span> </span>Solomon wrote to all of his children who would someday be parents:<o:p> </o:p> </span></span></p> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 6:22<o:p> </o:p> </span></span></p> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Maybe you needed to have confirmed today that being in church is still the right thing for you and your family on Easter morning.<span> </span>Maybe you only go to church once a year and Easter is it.<span> </span>It still is the right day to go.<span> </span>Maybe you haven’t been to church in a long time and because it’s been so long you just don’t think you should do it. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. It’s never too late to try church on Easter.<span> </span>Maybe you’re older and your kids are all grown up and out of the house now and you many not know what they’re doing this week. Call them up. Remind them that being in church is still the right thing to do this Sunday.<o:p> </o:p> </span></span></p> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Shame and Honor – Right and Wrong – there is a whole bunch of meaning inside those words. But maybe your definitions have gotten blurred of late.<span> </span>Maybe you are only seeing them through a glass darkly. Go to church on Easter. You might just find the definitions for which you’ve been looking or of which you need to be reminded.<span> </span>Oh yeah - and after the service, drop someone a line who may have taught you that being in church on Easter morning was a good thing to do. Tell them how it went. Be a blessing. Honor them, and through that experience, honor the God they serve, the same God Who loves you and has a plan for your life.<o:p> </o:p> </span></span></p> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Happy Easter :-)</span></span></p> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family:Arial;">Allan</span>Allan L. Wingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10847075326641092605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6740920060785689585.post-58335605193387594682007-03-27T04:56:00.000-07:002008-11-28T19:28:28.817-08:00Toward a Philosophy of...(Reader Please Fill In)<span style="font-family:Arial;"> 03/27/2007 – LANGHORNE, Penn. There is only so much time in our lives. My mother lived until she was almost ninety-three years old. My father just had his eighty-ninth birthday. Other relatives on my side of the family, who took care of their health, have lived or are living into their eighties and nineties. I haven’t always taken good care of my health, so logic tells me that my life will be shorter.<br /> <br /> I don’t think there is any debate that if you have used tobacco most of your life that your years will generally be less than those who have not. There may be some discussion as to what alcohol does to your health over the long haul. But when doctors review my medical history with me, there seems to be one answer they like when they ask me whether I use tobacco, alcohol, or recreational drugs. They like the answer “No.”<br /> <br /> I made a promise to my wife back in 1986 that I would stop the tobacco and alcohol. The alcohol was easy. The cigarettes were not. I was stationed in Honduras at the time as a Military Police Desk Sergeant and Patrol Supervisor. I told my Lieutenant and my Platoon Sergeant that I was quitting smoking and that I would be very cranky for the next few days until the nicotine was out of my system. They put me on walking patrol by myself in downtown Comayagua for the next five days straight. I must have walked more than fifty miles and I had the opportunity to practice my Latin American Spanish with the locals a whole lot. It’s been twenty-one years now and I can honestly say that I have no desire for tobacco anymore. I was almost up to three packs a day before I quit. If the health issue is not important enough, think of what you can do with the money you save.<br /> <br /> On the same token, because of my own experience, I don’t criticize others if they smoke, drink or chew, and it doesn’t bother me one iota to hang around with those that do. It’s more important for me to treat others with dignity and respect than it is to criticize the way they have chosen to live their lives. Bottom line – it’s their health, and they have chosen the inevitable benefits and/or consequences of how they have taken care of it just as I have. But then again, we all don’t live in a vacuum do we?. Our personal health will always be a family matter as well.<br /> <br /> All this to ask the question, “If today is the first day of the rest of your life, what are you going to do with it, and what will be the philosophy, the framework that will govern how you live it?" Seems like a really deep question doesn’t it? Well it is, and I’m asking because I’m concerned. I’m concerned about you. And if you are one of those who have read this far in this blog, you are one of the ones I’m concerned about. I might not even know your name. But it doesn’t make any difference. Why? I am concerned because I know something about you that you may not even know about yourself. What’s that? You were created in the image of God, and that’s true even if you don’t believe there is a God. It is just a fact of life. You have value. You are important. Even if you think you are alone, you are not. God loves you and has a plan for your life.<br /> <br /> In my last blog I shared with you an old composition of sorts. It was written two days before I married my wonderful wife. It was also used that year and others since then to celebrate not only our wedding anniversary but also the anniversary of the United States Army Military Police Corps. Both anniversaries are on September 26th. I retired from active duty December 31st, 1991. But the marriage goes on. Last Summer my wife and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary by renewing our vows. When my two children - and hopefully my grandchildren when they finally come – when they read that composition of mine, they will always know that the words written there is what Dad (and Grandpa) held as his personal core philosophy. Those words will always be what Allan Leigh Winger is (and was) all about.<br /> <br /> Those words have stood the test of time for me and others as well. Why have they stood the test of time? Many have shared with me over the years what those words have meant to them. But as for me personally, back then and now, it has been through those words that my Father in Heaven has shown me, really shown me, that I am created in His image. I have value. I am important. I am not alone. He loves me and really does have a plan for my life. Wow!! Talk about self-esteem builders :-))<br /> <br /> There is a maxim of sorts that I learned years ago – “History repeats itself. It has to. Nobody listens.” My Dad once said that if a book was ever written about him it should be titled, “You Can’t Get There From Here.” I need to ask him what the title is now because I know it has probably changed. But, right now, if say maybe a genealogy entry was made in the family history book about me, or maybe if someone needed to put an epitaph on my grave stone, the following two words would be enough – “He Listened.”<br /> <br /> What about you? What philosophy is governing your life. I certainly don’t have a corner on the market when it comes to an answer to that question. Please share, if not with me, then with someone you care about. I’m sure they would love to listen. God Bless :-) Allan</span>Allan L. Wingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10847075326641092605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6740920060785689585.post-8036961226198481522007-02-17T10:33:00.000-08:002008-11-28T19:27:08.481-08:00Breaking the Silence<div align="justify"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> 02/17/2007 – LANGHORNE, Penn. It has been a while since the last blog. Events, both world and of a personal nature, have necessarily occupied the time and caused much reflection. In light of all this, but in also looking toward the future, it is time to <em>break the silence</em> with a few words that have served this writer well for many years. It is hoped that they will serve you well too. </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div align="justify"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div align="justify"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> <br /> </span><div align="center"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> Caretakers of the Colors<br /> by SSG Allan L. Winger<br /> </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div align="center"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div align="center"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div align="center"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> <br /> </span><div align="justify"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div style="text-indent: 30px;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> Each morning the caretakers and I go to our appointed place of duty. As the sun slowly rises, I hear the faint sound of a bugle. Then I hear the loud reverberating shot of a cannon. </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div style="text-indent: 30px;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> Why does the bugle sound? </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div style="text-indent: 30px;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> Why does the cannon fire? </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div style="text-indent: 30px;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> My caretakers raise me up so that I may see. </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div style="text-indent: 30px;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> All around me are soldiers. Some wear the rank of officer. Some wear the rank of enlisted. Some are civilian. Some are mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers. Some are children. But all are soldiers in their own way. </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div style="text-indent: 30px;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> Then I see them salute me. Some by raising their hand to their brow. Others by resting their hand over their hearts. I try to hear what they say, but I can only make out four words, </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div style="text-indent: 30px;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> "...One nation, under God..." </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div style="text-indent: 30px;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> "What does that phrase mean?" I ask myself. </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div style="text-indent: 30px;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> Then a strong voice comes from the wind that blows through me, </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div style="text-indent: 30px;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> "'One nation' means a people united for one purpose. 'Under God' not only means in service to Me, but also that by My authority their nation was born and by My authority it is able to live on." </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div style="text-indent: 30px;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> There is a moment of silence and then the voice continues,<br /> </span><div style="text-indent: 30px;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> "You belong to them and they belong to Me. The faces you see are not only the ones of the present, but also of the past and of the future." </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div style="text-indent: 30px;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> The voice stops and I turn again to listen to the words of those below me, only to hear six other curious words, </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div style="text-indent: 30px;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> "...Duty, Honor, Country...Faith, Hope and Love..." </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div style="text-indent: 30px;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> "What do they mean?" I ask. </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div style="text-indent: 30px;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> "They are your passwords," is the quick reply. </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div style="text-indent: 30px;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> "By them they live and die. By them you were woven together one thread at a time. By them, your colors of red, white, and blue will always flow side by side. By them, the first stars were drawn together, and by them their number multiplied. And by those words, you and them through Me will never be brought to shame." </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div style="text-indent: 30px;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> Then the voice grows silent for the day. The sun begins to fall behind the trees. I hear the sound of footsteps below me and the bugle sounds once more. As I look out over the faces, the cannon sounds, the soldiers salute, the second song is played and the caretakers lower me down. Gently but firmly, I am folded and tucked away for yet another night of peaceful rest. And as we make our way back home, I hear the voice of a young boy say, </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div style="text-indent: 30px;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> "Dad, who are they and what are they carrying?"<br /> </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div style="text-indent: 30px;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> "They are members of the Military Police Corps,"he replies. </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div style="text-indent: 30px;"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> "They live by the motto, 'Of the troops, and for the troops' and what they carry are the Colors of the United States of America,...One Nation, Under God..." </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div style="text-indent: 30px;" align="justify"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div style="text-indent: 30px;" align="center"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> (Composed 24 September, 1981 at Fort Devens, Massachusetts) </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div style="text-indent: 30px;" align="center"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div align="justify"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div align="justify"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> <br /> There is still much to do and much to say as Americans and as a human race. After all, God is not done with us yet and that should give us both pause and concern as well as laughter and joy. </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div align="justify"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> <br /> If you would like to read more about the above composition and how it was developed, go to the new <em>Blog Spot Resource Center</em> which has a link in the sidebar to the right and click on the<em> Blog Library.</em> </span></div> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><div align="justify"> <span style="font-family:Arial;"> <em><br /> </em>Happy belated New Year and may God richly bless ya'll :-) </span></div>Allan L. Wingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10847075326641092605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6740920060785689585.post-46294212609363526662006-12-23T11:59:00.000-08:002014-11-25T10:43:28.044-08:00The God of Miracles<span style="font-family: Arial;">12/23/2006 – LANGHORNE, Penn. We believe in the God of miracles. On Monday we will celebrate the birth of the Greatest of those miracles. When we arise on Christmas morning there will be excitement and expectation in the air. The angels in the heavens will be wondering what the sheep of His pasture will actually do this 25th day of December, 2006.<br /> <br /> The children know what to do. They open their presents and feel and touch and play with whatever is inside. They also give thanks and hugs to the person from whom each gift came. They are also reminded in some way of the real meaning of Christmas and how wonderful Jesus really is.<br /> <br /> The grownups know what to do also. They may not be as excited as the children but the joy and the fun of it all is still there. Sometimes there is also sorrow that creeps in amidst all the fun and laughter. Memories from our past sometimes haunt us. Circumstances in our present lives that just don’t seem right cloud over part of the sunshine that envelops this special day. These memories and circumstances may be personal or they may include a wider group of people like our nation or even the world. Thinking of the future can become an exercise full of doubt and anxiety.<br /> <br /> But we believe in the God of miracles. So on this very special day the angels see the sheep of His pasture doing something else as well. They see us not only giving thanks for the miracles of the past and of the present, but they also see us giving thanks for the miracles yet to come. Amidst those future miracles the memories that haunt us will be no more. The circumstances in our present lives that just don’t seem right will change. These miracles may happen this year or the next but we know this truth. They will happen according to God’s will, according to God’s plan, and no one knows the how and the when and the who better than our Father in heaven. Like the title of an old TV show, Father Knows Best. Also, and most importantly, Father loves us very, very much.<br /> <br /> We believe in the God of miracles. On Monday we will celebrate the birth of the Greatest of those miracles, the greatest fact of God’s love for His children. And so with great expectation and hope we will still sing as do the angels:<br /> <br /> For unto us a child is given, unto us a son is born, and the government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)<br /> <br /> So every day of this year and the next, and the next, keep praying for miracles, for God always answers prayer.<br /> <br /> Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year :-)<br /> Allan, Young, Ruth, and AJ Winger - Chalet Eagle</span>Allan L. Wingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10847075326641092605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6740920060785689585.post-23649162850831809142006-11-23T15:10:00.000-08:002008-11-28T19:24:00.223-08:00Home Is Where The Heart Is<span style="font-family:Arial;"> 11/23/2006 – LANGHORNE, Penn. This morning was one of those mornings where I could sleep in but I was still up by 7:00 AM. My wife was still in the bed. My son was up because he couldn’t sleep and was busy with the football video game. My daughter had left the night before for Grove City, Penn. to help her boyfriend cook Thanksgiving dinner for his family.<br /> <br /> My thinking is clearest in the morning. Most days, after eating the $2 breakfast special at the local diner, which usually includes coffee, pancakes, and a local newspaper to read, I head up to the office for some quiet time before the work day begins. Of late I have gone back to memorizing Scripture again, the singing of a hymn, and prayer. That may sound a little different to some but it gets my heart and mind pointed in the right direction, especially for writing. Considering what day this is, the word that kept popping into my mind was “Home” and of course that well known phrase, “Home is where the heart is.”<br /> <br /> Where is home for you? For me home used to be where Mom was. But Mom is home with the Lord now. Dad is in Tennessee. The rest of what was my immediate family, before I got married, is spread out across the United States, from Texas to Florida to Missouri to more in Tennessee. Now that I am married with children to a great extent home is where they are.<br /> <br /> This morning however, I took my wife and son to another home by way of video. We traveled from Pennsylvania to Missouri and then to Switzerland. My wife and son learned more about two very special people and a special place. I mentioned Francis and Edith Schaeffer and their ministry called L’Abri in my first blog. These two wonderful people are what I call my <em>spiritual</em> father and mother and L’Abri is my <em>spiritual</em> home. At age thirty my life was completely changed around for the better at that place and it has never been the same since.<br /> <br /> They taught me about “True Truth” which is just a way of differentiated between what may be called “truth” out in the marketplaces of life and the “Truth” you find in the pages of God’s Word. They taught me that through Jesus Christ I could be a completely different person than the one I was tired of looking at in the mirror, the one who really didn’t have any real confidence in himself and whose self esteem wasn’t doing too good either. For when you grow in Christ it is not just growth in the spiritual realm. It’s also growth in the intellectual, the physical, and the social, <em><strong>all</strong></em> areas of life (see Luke 2:52). If you happen to be interested, there is more to this <a href="http://www.chaleteagle.org/E101/library/story/salad01.htm">personal story</a> including <a href="http://www.chaleteagle.org/E101/library/swiss/page1.htm">pictures of Swiss L'Abri.</a> The link to the official L'Abri web site is listed in the sidebar to the right of course.<br /> <br /> If it appears as if I’ve preached today, my apologies. I just wanted to share what I am thankful for the most on this day, and the home where my heart is. Happy Thanksgiving and God bless :-)</span>Allan L. Wingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10847075326641092605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6740920060785689585.post-6076726135792955132006-11-04T09:50:00.000-08:002008-11-28T19:20:20.438-08:00The Beginnings of a Blog<span style="font-family:Arial;"> 11/04/2006 - LANGHORNE, Penn. - In May of 2005 I thought I'd do a Google search for my high school and see what was new. I found the blog that a classmate had started in preparation for the 40th reunion. That began a year of preparation for that celebration that finally happened in July of 2006. Many hands made it a great time with many good memories and pictures, pictures, and more pictures :-) You can see the reunion photos and more at the Class of '66 Blog Spot which has a link listed in the sidebar to your right. If you are a member of that class you may also subscribe to the Class email discussion list also listed in the sidebar. I look forward with much anticipation to future reunions, especially the one for 2007. It is going to be joint reunion that includes SWCS classes form 1960 to 1970.<br /> <br /> Recent developments have prompted a second look at the blog genre for yet another way of communicating with family, friends, and the world of the internet. If you're wondering where the name <em>Chalet Eagle</em> comes from, that's the name of our family web site which has a link listed in the sidebar. There is quite a variety of information there that might be of interest. It needs some serious updating which is in progress again. It had not been touched for quite a while. But it is time once again to rethink our involvement in cyberspace and to make the appropriate adjustments to the current culture.<br /> <br /> Personally I am a long way off from being a professional writer, but that does not mean that I should not try to communicate with others through the written word. God's grace has allowed me to be a Christian, a member of His family. His grace has also allowed me to sit under the teachings of the late Dr. Francis Schaeffer, his wonderful wife Edith, and the ministry they founded called L'Abri. God's Holy Spirit is still teaching me what began through them which is the Lordship of Christ in all areas of life, not just what we call "religion." But I don't have to be preacher to do that and I'll do my best not to preach here. What I pray will come through this "blog ministry" will fall under the general heading of "True Truth" and I also pray that it will be a help to family, friends, and others in living their daily lives. This is whether you are a Christian or whether your worldview is yet another one of the myriad of belief systems that are out there . Helping others is all that I have ever wanted to do, to be a blessing, like so many that have gone before me and been my example. (Lifetime Verse(s): Hebrews 13:7-8).<br /> <br /> Thanks Fitz for being an example and starting that blog of yours. It was your blog that inspired me to start this one :-)</span>Allan L. Wingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10847075326641092605noreply@blogger.com0