Mountain Views News          Saturday, April 30, 2011

17

More News and Such

 Mountain Views News Saturday, April 30, 2011 


I am not one given over to gambling unless 
you call life a gamble and then all bets are 
off. I do not even play the lottery because I 
would end up paying out $1,987.14 in order 
to win $10. I have a difficult time parting 
with my money because I am a Pennsylvania 
Dutchman; at least that is my excuse.

That being said, there is only one area of my 
life where I indulge in a certain amount of 
gambling. That area is Mother's Day cards. I 
am at a complete loss when it comes to this 
and knows not what I doeth.

Now part of my quandary is in the loose interpretation 
of Mother's Day. When we celebrate 
Mother's Day, who in the world are we 
celebrating?

I can remember when the Gracious Mistress 
of the Parsonage and Yours Truly were first 
married. It was so long ago that I do not have 
enough fingers or toes to count it. When we 
were first married, we bought two Mother's 
Day cards; one for her mother and one for 
my mother. Oh, how I long for those simple 
days.

A little over a year after we were married a 
little tyke came into our lowly domicile. Our 
first daughter was born in the month of August 
and I really did not understand the significance 
of it until the following Mother's 
Day. That year we had to buy three Mother's 
Day cards; one for my wife's mother, one for 
my mother and one for my daughter to give 
to her mother.

Now what I want to know is how in the world 
was I roped into buying a Mother's Day card 
for my wife? After all, she is not my mother. 
And I do not know how many times I have 
reminded her of that very fact.

I was conned into buying that Mother's Day 
card for my wife by thinking that I was buying 
it for my daughter to give to her mother. I 
am not sure I am buying that story. I bought 
the card, all right, and when I gave it to 
my daughter; she immediately put it in her 
mouth. She had no idea what in the world a 
Mother's Day card was. Several years later, 
we had a new addition to our family. Our 
son was born.

Now I have more Mother's Day cards to buy. 
One for my mother, one for my wife's mother, 
one for my daughter to give to her mother 
and one for my son to give to his mother. 
These Mother's Day cards are getting to be 
rather expensive.

You will not believe this, but a few years 
later, a third child became a member of our 
family. Our second daughter was born. And 
you guessed it; my Mother's Day card buying 
went up. Now I need to buy a Mother's 
Day card for my mother, one for my wife's 
mother, one for my first daughter to give to 
her mother, one 
for my son to give 
to his mother and 
one for my second 
daughter to give to 
her mother.

I once suggested that I buy one Mother's Day 
card for my three children to give to their 
mother. I was quickly and soundly outvoted 
on that issue. And so, I begin saving up 
my allowance right after Christmas for my 
Mother's Day card extravaganza.

If this was not bad enough, each Mother's 
Day card has to be specifically chosen in 
respect to the person who is giving it. That 
person, not being me. How many times and 
how many different ways can you say "Happy 
Mother's Day?"

I thought I had reached the height of my 
Mother's Day card purchasing, but then in 
a few years it took on a different perspective.

Not only was I to buy all of these Mother's 
Day cards, but I was to take the respective 
children along with me and allow them to 
personally pick out the card they wanted to 
give to their mother. And of course, their 
mother could not be along to supervise these 
purchases. Taking two toddlers and one 
semi-toddler into a store to select appropriate 
Mother's Day cards is as close as I have 
ever come to gambling away my fortune.

Between the three of them, they had each 
boiled down their choice to 97 cards. Of 
course the youngest just grabbed as many 
as she possibly could. The two oldest had to 
look at each card and discuss the contents, 
meaning of course, I had to read each card 
to them. Not once, but over and over again.

Looking back on that time I realize that my 
children had an ingenious strategy all worked 
out. After four hours of going through all of 
these cards I would say to them, "If you pick 
a card right now I'll take you all to get some 
ice cream."

Now, those children are all grown up and 
married which has added to my long list of 
Mother's Day card purchases.

Solomon had it right when he wrote, "Many 
daughters have done virtuously, but thou 
excellest them all. Favour is deceitful, and 
beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the 
LORD, she shall be praised" (Proverbs 31:29-
30 KJV).

Of all the thousands of Mother's Day cards I 
have purchased throughout the years, I must 
honestly confess they have all been worth it.

The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of 
God Fellowship, 1471 Pine Road, Ocala, FL 34472. 
He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs 
Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@
att.net. The church web site is www.
whatafellowship.com.

RICH Johnson

ARE YOU A GENIUS OR AN 
IDIOT? 

LAYING MY MOTHER’S DAY 
CARDS ON THE TABLE

Rev. James L. Snyder


Many of you have seen this test before. But for those of you who haven’t 
here it is. If you get at least 16 out of the 27 questions correct you are some 
kind of genius. If you get less than 5 out of the 27 it means you are not 
some kind of genius : )

Instructions: Each question contains the intials of the key words that 
make the answer correct. You simply furnish the missing words.

For example:

Question: 60 = M in an H

Answer: 60 = Minutes in an Hour

Here goes:

1. 26 = L of the A______________________________________________

2. 7 = W of the W______________________________________________

3. 1001 = A N________________________________________________
_

4. 12 = S of the Z______________________________________________

5. 52 = C in a D_______________________________________________

6. 9 = P in the SS______________________________________________

7. 88 = P K___________________________________________________

8. 13 = S of the A F____________________________________________

9. 18 = H on a G C_____________________________________________

10. 32 = D F at which W F________________________________________

11. 8 = S on a S S_______________________________________________

12. 200 = D for P G in M_________________________________________

13. 3 = B M (S H T R) __________________________________________

14. 90 = D in a R A_____________________________________________

15. 4 = Q in a G________________________________________________

16. 24 = H in a D_______________________________________________

17. 1 = W on a U_______________________________________________

18. 5 = D in a Z C______________________________________________

19. 57 = H V__________________________________________________

20. 11 = P F on a F T____________________________________________

21. 1000 = W that a P is W________________________________________

22. 29 = D in F in a L Y__________________________________________

23. 64 = S on a C_______________________________________________

24. 40 = D and N of the G F_______________________________________

25. 80 = D to G A the W_________________________________________

26. 2 = # it T to T______________________________________________

27. 101 = D___________________________________________________

 Next week I will print the answers. Have a good week.

DALAI LAMA 
TO SPEAK IN LA 
AREA

The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, 
is both the head of state and the spiritual 
leader of Tibet. He was born 
on 6 July 1935, to a farming family, 
in a small hamlet located in Taktser, 
Amdo, northeastern Tibet. At the 
age of two the child, who was named 
Lhamo Dhondup at that time was 
recognized as the reincarnation of 
the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso. 
The Dalai Lamas are believed to 
be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara 
or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of 
Compassion and patron saint of 
Tibet. Bodhisattvas are enlightened beings who 
have postponed their own nirvana and chosen to 
take rebirth in order to serve humanity.

 

 His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama is both the temporal 
and the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. 
He frequently states that his life is guided by 
three major commitments: the promotion of basic 
human values or secular ethics in the interest of 
human happiness, the fostering of inter-religious 
harmony and the welfare of the Tibetan people, 
focusing on the survival of their identity, culture 
and religion.

He will be speaking in the LA area the week of 
May 1st. His schedule is below: (Please note that 
for many of these events, tickets are required in 
order to gain entrance. Contact the organizers directly 
or visit the websites given below for further 
information on tickets. In general, most of the 
events in India are free. For your information, as a 
long-standing policy His Holiness the Dalai Lama 
does not accept any fees for his talks. Where tickets 
need to be purchased, organizers are requested 
by our office to charge the minimum entrance fee 
in order to cover their costs only. 

 

LOS ANGELES SCHEDULE:

 

Teaching in Los Angeles on May 1: His Holiness 
will confer the Solitary Yamantaka Initiation (jigje 
wang) in the morning organized by Gaden Shartse 
Thubten Dhargye Ling at the Terrace Theater. 
Contact Website: www.tdling.org/hhdl2011

 

Public Talk in Los Angeles on May 1: His Holiness 
will give a public talk on Secular Ethics and 
Meditation in the afternoon organized by Gaden 
Shartse Thubten Dhargye Ling at the Terrace Theater. 
Contact Website: www.tdling.org/hhdl2011/
gstdl-weekend

 

Public Talk in Los Angeles on May 2: His Holiness 
will give a public talk on What is True Wisdom? 
in the morning organized by the UCLA Center for 
Buddhist Studies at UCLA Royce Hall. Contact 
Website: www.dalailama.ucla.edu

 

Public Symposium in Los Angeles on May 2: His 
Holiness will participate in a public symposium 
on Buddhism and Neuroscience: A Discussion on 
Attention, Mental Flexibility and Compassion in 
the afternoon organized by the UCLA Center for 
Buddhist Studies and the UCLA Semel Institute 
for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA 
Royce Hall. Contact Website: www.dalailama.ucla.
edu

 

Public Talk in Los Angeles on May 3: His Holiness 
will give a public talk on Secular Ethics, Human 
Values and Society in the morning organized by 
the University of Southern California’s Student Interfaith 
Council at USC's Galen Center. Contact 
Website: http://dalailama.usc.edu

 

Public Discussion in Los Angeles on May 3: His 
Holiness will participate in a panel discussion 
titled Secular Ethics: Origins, Elements and Their 
Function in Society in the afternoon organized by 
the University of Southern California’s Student 
Interfaith Council at USC's Bovard Auditorium. 
Contact Website: www.dalailama.usc.edu

 

Talk in Long Beach on May 4: His Holiness will be 
presented with "Shine A Light" Award from Amnesty 
International in the morning, and will give 
a keynote address on Human Rights at the Carpenter 
Performing Art Center. Contact Website: 
http://www.amnestyusa.org/dalailama

 

Public Talk in Irvine on May 4: His Holiness will 
participate in a dialogue with youth leaders on 
Compassion and Global Leadership in the afternoon 
organized by the University of California 
Irvine at the UCI Bren Events Center. Contact 
Website: www.livingpeace.uci.edu