Happy Birthday Gideons

During twenty-five years of my life, I traveled extensively in various jobs. All of this involved highway transportation of one sort or another and is remembered with much affection. Being gone from home an average of 150 nights a year is part of that experience and it’s not for everyone. Of those 3750 nights, I generally found refuge in a hotel or motel. It was a rare experience to not find a Gideon Bible in the nightstand by the bedside.

These devoted people are celebrating the 100th anniversary of their founding today. Here is the AP story as it appeared on the knoxnews website; so click and enjoy. You will learn some things about the Gideons which you may not have known. For example: I always thought of them as supplying these sacred books exclusively to hotels and was unaware of their presence in schools, prisons, and the military.

Among the comments on the article, I found a testimony which roughly paralleled my own regarding the welcome presence of that wonderful book. Unlike the commenter, I didn’t kick it under the bed, but I did experience an inner peace which I found very welcome at the time. Opening the book at random before going to sleep was much like a visit with an old friend and uplifting regardless of what chance page appeared.

Congratulations to the Gideons on their first hundred years. I shall pray for their continued success and the strength to continue their efforts.


In His abiding love,


Cecil Moon

Reflections on 2008

Is it over? Can I come out from under the bed now? Am I the only one who sees 2008 as one of the most bizarre of a lifetime?

There are two distinctly different ways to view the final turning of the calendar page at the end of the year. One is deep regret to see the circumstances and events relegated to memory; the other is the posture of good riddance of bad rubbish. Depending on your personal situation, you will probably assign one or the other and enjoy this New Year’s Eve with feelings of loss or heightened anticipation of the future.

As a family, we have much to be thankful for this year. In a land of capricious weather, we were not subject to anything which we could not deal with. Few terrifying storms interrupted the sanctity of our little paradise in the Ozarks. Early on we had considerable rain which turned the property into a veritable Eden. The Spring golf season at Honey Creek was disturbed by several holes closed on the back nine for nearly two months. The upside was my return, on a part time basis, to work in the club house.

There are several features which shall probably fix 2008 firmly in our minds as reference points of memory. The first is it shall forever be remembered as “the year of the perpetual election.” The downside was the presence of constant strife. The upside was the heightened awareness by the electorate of the machinations of government. Who can possibly claim that he knows less about those who would lead than he did in January? Whether this exercise in citizenship bears any useful fruit remains to be seen.

The second was the revelation of how fragile our economy was, is, and may in the future prove to be. If the powers that be manage to understand the year’s events and then take corrective action, we shall prosper and come out stronger. If they continue with their selfish agenda driven hocus-pocus, we shall all suffer. Simple solutions to complex problems are not always readily available and I do believe that “trail and error” is an inappropriate path to success. The most important question raised in the entire mess is one which has plagued me for decades: what is it about October which brings the fulmination of financial crisis? The tipping point for fiscal disaster of nearly every magnitude seems to occur about that time of year in each circumstance.

The third, which affected every one of Zion Beckons readers, is the radical fluctuation in the price of some commodities. The most obvious was the seemingly unchecked rise in the cost of fuel followed by the free fall to low levels of historic proportions. Although I believe I do understand the factors involved in both the rise and the fall of these prices; observations of the free market can still leave you scratching your head. A lesser cited rise in prices without an accompanying fall was that of food stuffs; particularly beef. One sees no relief on that front until the subsidies for alternative fuel combinations is abandoned.

The fourth feature of 2008 which is worthy of note is that it shall be come known as the year that the corruption of politicians reached a new low. You have your own concept of which was the most audacious example of public figures betraying the trust placed in them. I have already noted most of them with emphasis on my favorite examples. Fittingly, one of them, Rod Blagojevich, chose this week to appoint Burris to fill the seat in the senate vacated by “The One” over the objections of nearly everybody but his pizza delivery guy. Thus the year 2008 ends on a consistent note.

All in all, I don’t believe that we can claim to have suffered excessively over this last year. So far, I see little evidence we are affected too much by anything that has happened over the preceding twelve months. I will admit that keeping 3 Explorers (one never leaves the property) fed, licensed, insured and maintained seemed an excess but, they are a joy in foul weather. The creation of the new deck has proven a joy as well. Our critters have kept us comforted and the dogs, especially, have made exponential progress in bringing joy to our lives. The cats continue to be cats.

This seems an appropriate time to acknowledge our faithful readers and thank you for your continued interest: without you—nothing. I shall close with a quote from the last Monday Morning Rant of 2007 which I believe is as appropriate for this day as it was then:

“While I don’t pretend to be an able prognosticator, there are a few things which I believe you can count on in the coming year. If we hold fast to the scriptures, we will have our plans for doing His will in our grasp. If we can offer our opinions in a spirit of love for the hearer, we will become more persuasive. If we can love our God with all our might and mind and will, all will be well.”

Happy New Year!

In His abiding love,

Cecil Moon

Monday Morning Rant 71

Let us start the Rant today with what I consider some the very best news I have seen come out of the Middle East in years. According to an ABC news report, the new Iraqi government has legitimized Christmas by declaring it a legal holiday. The decision affects only about 1% of the country’s 26 million citizens but stands out as an accommodation within the nation of a faith other than Islam. Many Christians had been reduced to living in isolated ghettos well away from large population centers and public worship services had been spotty at best.

I am excited because it demonstrates yet one more step in the maturation of the new powers that be in Iraq. The cornerstone of every working democracy needs be tolerance of people of all faiths to worship as they please without government intervention. As an ever increasing accumulation of rights is granted to the people they then have opportunity for growth within the legitimate framework of nations. I applaud ABC for bringing it to our attention and recognize it for the groundbreaking event that it is.

Christmas Aftermath

Christmas 2008 has now been relegated to history and we are now left with only the memories. Depending on what largesse you were expecting to receive, you may now either be disappointed or elated. If you are either, you didn’t understand the holiday. I am reminded of that venerable football ritual just as the game begins. The captains and the referees gather at mid-field, toss a coin, and determine who shall kick off and who shall receive. Substitute “give” for “kick off” and the analogy becomes clear The designated receivers are overjoyed to have the first possession and often, the advantage.

Unlike the football game, life is not necessarily a “zero sum” game. Often we find the longer lasting joy of the gift interchange to be on the side of the giver. Long after the gift is broken and cast aside, he still has the memory of the elation the receiver showed upon receipt. He remembers the kiss on the cheek, the pat on the back, or the tear in the eye of the one who found his/her heart’s desire in the package. He has the joy of sharing.

When I returned from Germany in 1955, my duffle bag was packed with items I had picked up for relatives and friends at home. Among them was a 3” replica of a Mercedes-Benz sedan in chrome, with wire wheels, full steering and a wind-up key. It was a gift for my brother who was thirteen at the time. Throughout the years, this handsome toy car occupied a place of prominence in his home and finally on his desk.. Fifty-three years later, upon his death last January, his widow graciously sent it home with me. I keep it on a prominent place on my desk as the same constant reminder of our mutual respect and love.

I cite this only as a reminder of how long lasting a caring gift may be. I have no memory of having made a great sacrifice obtaining the gift but I take consolation in having provided a gift which reflected thought on his heart’s desire; all of this from a toy car.

Plan B?

Like it or not, the congress of the United States seems bent on throwing your money down the rat hole which the US auto industry has become. Oh yes, they are planning on revisiting the on-going problem on the 31st of March and re-evaluating this issue. I’d certainly bet they will do little other than determine that the auto makers require yet more money with little restructuring of their business model.

About the only bright side of this matter is a priceless quote which was printed on the opinion page of the New York Times. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader (ed.--of the senate), warned on Thursday that “a government big enough to give us everything we want is a government big enough to take everything we have.”

Obama baby boom?

Given the exuberance of the victors in the recent election it was posited that a possible “baby boom” might ensue. It was reasoned that the Obama enthusiasts might carry their political joys into their bedrooms and carry on their celebration there. Mark Hemmingway, who was questioned on the matter at National Review, had these remarks in response:

"Well, once again we have a reporter who flunked statistics:

Because variances in birth rate are an ordinary phenomenon, spikes in the number of births will occasionally coincide with a newsworthy event that took place three-quarters of a year earlier. Those who cling to the belief in blackout babies fail to accept that the same communities they point to as proof of the theory saw even greater leaps in number of births in years that weren't preceded by memorable events. Blackouts, snowstorms, and the like are more usually followed by perfectly ordinary birth rates nine months afterwards, but because human nature is what it is, we tend to remember only the events that fit the pattern we're determined to see and unconsciously discard all the rest, Thus, we'll recall that the Great Storm of 1983 was followed by a deluge of babies in the Fall of 1984, but we'll completely forget that the Great Storm of 1987 was followed by a perfectly ordinary turnout at the maternity hospitals in the Fall of 1988, or that the Great Baby Boom at the end of 1999 wasn't presaged by anything unusual that occurred in the Spring of 1999.

Such a query does; however, seem to confirm that no one was more turned on by Obama's victory than the media.”

And finally

We seem to have seen some resolutions to problems which have plagued our little paradise here in the Ozarks. I’m feeling better, the internet connection is feeling better, my bride is feeling better and the dogs are unaware that anything was wrong in the first place. The cats are manning the most favorable positions at my desk, looking out the windows at the bird feeders and salivating. The temperature has increased to the point that golf is a strong possibility today. Life is good and more importantly; God is good. He has set a high standard but I really do believe it is worth pursuing.

In His abiding love,

Cecil Moon

Radio Flyer

If you are just plain fed up and sick of reading my take on the current “depression” and whining that folks don’t really know what a depression is all about; don’t read further. Actually, thanks to the efforts of my parents and a lack of comparative knowledge and the eternal optimism of youth, I have little memory of personal depravation. About the only area in which I have an active memory of lacking the basic necessities of life was the absence of a Radio Flyer coaster wagon under the Christmas tree.



That venerable and essential tool of childhood never did make an appearance. It was especially biting on my seventh Christmas in 1939 when my cousin (ugh!) –a year younger—managed to score one under the tree. Never mind that I was covered up with Tinker Toys, Erector sets, wood burning kits, hats, gloves, socks and wonderful stimulating little books; I didn’t manage the “big” one. That stinging memory still burns in my breast and detracts from an otherwise wonderful childhood. My parents, although personally incompatible, treated me as a person favored by God. A condition I continue to enjoy which has, thankfully, not abated in the intervening years.

My lack of personal ownership of this cherished icon did not bar me from enjoying the use of ones which my close friends possessed. There were so many that our favorite occupations were parades, cavalcades, convoys and any other formations our fertile minds could originate. We loaded them as buses, dog carriers, covered wagons heading west, and on hills of appropriate height, racers. After December 7th, ’41, they—with the addition of a piece of stove pipe—became artillery pieces, tanks, personnel carriers, and generally, the precursor of the ubiquitous “jeep.” Its utile simplicity encouraged the imagination to furnish a transition to whatever was demanded by the occasion.

Once WWII was underway, they became the vehicle of choice for the collection of waste metal, old newspapers, and whatever else was required for doing our part to help out in the war effort. The government realized the foolishness of sending scrap metal to Japan to be recast as weapons of war and we all enlisted, with wagons, in the effort to obtain critical discarded materiel for our own factories. Every grocery outlet had a place to park the wagons for the pull home laden with groceries—driving to the store was a waste of gas. They were also a useful, if unstable, platform to enable their height-challenged owners to gain a better view at various rallies, war bond drives and other public gatherings.

When the hostilities ceased and the surviving owners aged, they found peace and comfort in using their dependable childhood toy as garden carts and tool caddies in their new lives as veterans in the emerging “homes of their own.” They were then passed on to their progeny in the baby boom and found new life firing the imaginations of the young.

Progress—or provable evolution—has now provided us with what is considered by the manufacturer to be the “final” step in their newest offering of this old stand-by. In a world now consumed with the use of poly carbonates, we find the absolute latest edition of my childhood favorite.

Seat belts?!? Cup holders?!? Have I become such a cantankerous old dyspeptic that I cannot see this as the marvel which it is? The tires are pneumatic and mounted on axles which actually have bearings and grease zirks. They have provided every possible safety feature thus depriving the user of the opportunity of the injuries so common on the learning curve of my generation. I am certain that no statistics were ever kept on the broken arms, contusions from roll-overs, and other mishaps so common with the original. I am not the “market” for this item so the manufacturer is not in the least concerned with my response to this travesty.

I do have faith in the youth of America, and for that matter, the world, that they will find a way to supercede the safety and turn this wonder into a wagon. Kids today have variant interests from my generation but they are still kids. They have imaginations to turn this thing into a space ship or whatever they choose. Some things are inescapable. Thank God!


In His abiding love,


Cecil Moon

Luke 2:1-11

1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all his empire should be taxed.

2 This same taxing was when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.

3 And all went to be taxed, every one in his own city.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David.)

5 To be taxed, with Mary his espoused wife, she being great with child.

6 And so it was, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

7 And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was none to give room for them in the inns.

8 And there were in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night.

9 And lo, an angel of the Lord appeared unto them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them and they were sore afraid.

10 But the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.



In His abiding love

Monday Morning Rant 70

(OK, so it’s Wednesday; just continue reading…..)

Monday was a beautiful day. I was completely filled with a good spirit and ready to resume my normal activity. A busy weekend, interrupted by a trip to Independence to be with old, faithful friends of the orthodox Saints variety, had left me in a marvelous mood. The gathering was instigated by an east coast friend and further punctuated by telephone calls from those who could not conveniently travel long distances on short notice. To hear their cheery voices and have some brief contact was wonderful. I returned through the 7º night with a heart full of hope and excitement.

On the trip up and back (350 miles) I had plenty of alone time and an opportunity to review the Sunday sermon taken from (where else?) Luke. My mind was filled with thoughts of the young mother who had conceived under circumstances which had probably left her confused. Although selected by God she could not be faulted for having unanswered questions about her circumstance. As usual, His choice was more than up to the job. I also contemplated the thoughts of her alleged perfection. She was obviously a great mother, a wonderful person, a guide and a superb director of the life she was charged with but, being human, was also subject to sin. She was human. Were she not, the entire exercise would lose its validity. This is not a criticism but rather an acknowledgement that as humans, we share the capacity for sin. It’s something to keep in mind as we pursue our daily lives.

Once I arrived home, I went to the computer and tidied up the “Rant” a bit for posting on Monday morning. I then retired for the sleep of the just. One little problem arose; I found my concept of “just” was not shared by my computer. On awakening, I found all my systems in near complete disarray. With one slight errant click, I managed to delete the “Rant” into the black hole of memory loss. In an attempt at recovery, I discovered my internet service had gone to live elsewhere. At the same time, the entire system came up fuzzy and I was invited to use “SAFE MODE” to reinstate it. This is not my idea of a good time. After two days (!) the system is not yet operating at the speed I desire but it is operating. This has to be a result of divine intervention because I certainly don’t possess the skills to make the change. Now I shall attempt to remember what was so important that I regretted the loss.

More on Chris Dodd

The senator from Connecticut has been dilly dallying now for about five months in gathering a response on the particulars of the mortgage he received from Country Wide. You may recall that as a “friend of Angelo,” he is accused of accepting an exceptional favorable rate on his indebtedness on his personal residence. His denials have been met with a request to see the application for the mortgage. Perhaps he has misplaced the papers.

Personally, I have a small mortgage on my property here in the wilds of the Ozarks. If I were to stand up and turn left, take one step and open the overhead cabinet, I would see a large manila envelope which contains copies of all the mortgage papers. Actually, there are three such envelopes of about the same size for each of my preceding loans which I had on property in Las Vegas and before that, Wisconsin. I am not the Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee but if I were, I would be profoundly embarrassed to not be able to come up with confirmation of the loan particulars. Perhaps some folks are more easily embarrassed than others.

Reminder from the time machine

Does this sound familiar? “I did not have conversational relations with that Governor, Rod Blagojevich”

Observations on the auto bailout

The following is from Mark Steyn by way of Instapundit:

“Can you still see the USA in your Chevrolet? Through a windscreen darkly..

General Motors now has a market valuation about a third of Bed, Bath And Beyond, and no one says your Swash 700 Elongated Biscuit Toilet Seat Bidet is too big to fail. GM has a market capitalization of just over two billion dollars. For purposes of comparison, Toyota’s market cap is one hundred billion and change (the change being bigger than the whole of GM). General Motors, like the other two geezers of the Old Three, is a vast retirement home with a small loss-making auto subsidiary.. The UAW is the AARP in an Edsel: It has three times as many retirees and widows as “workers” (I use the term loosely). GM has 96,000 employees but provides health benefits to a million people. . . .

So many areas of endeavor that once embodied the youth and energy of this great land are now old and sclerotic. I include, naturally, my own industry. I loved the American newsrooms you saw in movies like The Front Page, full of hardboiled, hard-livin’ newspapermen. By the time I got there myself, there were no hardboiled newspapermen, just bland anemic newspaperpersons turning out politically correct snooze sheets of torpid portentousness. The owners of The Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune recently filed for bankruptcy protection. . . .

See the USA from your Chevrolet: An hereditary legislature, a media fawning its way into bankruptcy, its iconic coastal states driving out innovators and entrepreneurs, the arrival of the new Messiah heralded only by the leaden dirge of “We Three Kings Of Ol’ Detroit Are/Seeking checks we traverse afar”, and Route 66 looking ever more like a one-way dead-end street to Bailoutistan. Boy, I sure could use a poem by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis right now, even one of the lesser-loved ones.”

Reynolds comments; “Ouch. Well, things got worse because people — politicians, and their enablers — made ‘em worse. They’ll get better when people make ‘em better.”

And finally

The bird feeders (actually, 2-liter bottles) are all full for the voracious feathery creatures who occupy the view over the new deck and cause me so much delight. I often wonder about the charge that “he/she eats like a bird.” The intention is to describe an individual who scarcely eats. Obviously, a person who says this has never actively attempted to feed birds and keep the feeders full. The feeders are designed for birds the size of the finches but that doesn’t discourage the full grown cardinals from trying to hang on to that precarious perch. It’s hard to miss their colorful presence.

Again, my apologies for the computer mess. It is our prayer that each of you may enjoy the fullness of the season with emphasis on the celebration of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He is, without doubt, the greatest gift of all.

Merry Christmas

In His abiding love,

Cecil Moon

A Capitol Idea

Lost in the publicity over Illinois politics, bailouts for banking and industry, and the preparations for the upcoming inauguration are a couple of items which I think are worthy of some considerations. The first to come to mind is the new visitor center in our nation’s capital, or more specifically, at our nation’s new Capitol Visitor Center.

In the early nineties, it was proposed that we create a welcome area adjacent to or underneath the existing building to receive the tens of thousands of visitors to the venerable building which in itself is ill prepared to host them. The original building was not intended as a museum but rather a work place for our elected representatives. After all, the building only had five restrooms. The suggested cost was a measly $71 million. The Republicans fought the proposal as wasteful and it was left to another day.

In 1998, you may recall a crazed gunman entered the building and killed two Capitol Police officers and the center was again suggested as a result of concern for increased security. This time it was approved for about $100 million. In the wake of cost overrides and unexpected additional features the cost rose to $265 million over the next two years. With anthrax attacks and other issues subsequent to 9/11, security concerns increased and the cost rose to $373.5 million.

The center opened finally on December 2 and the final bill—hold on to your hat--$621 million. That is nearly nine times as much as the original estimate in the nineties. The next time any politician mentions a number as the proposed costs of a vital program you might want to keep these relationships of estimates in mind. Personally, I labor long to pre-estimate the cost of a building project and they seldom come in within the budget. They are not subject to a 9X differential however. The 20% I add to cost projections for contingencies would be laughably unrealistic on Capitol Hill.

Were the cost overruns not enough, the displays and exhibits are rife with error and the usual attempts at political correctness. The chairman of the Congressional Prayer Caucus, J. Randy Forbes (R-VA) said, “There’s a terrible movement to rewrite our history and obscure our faith.” He was, no doubt, in part reacting to false identification of the national motto as e pluribus unum instead of “In God We Trust” which was established by Congress in 1956. The tendency within the displayed materials to downplay the faith of the founders and be actively hostile to any expression of religion is prevalent.

The removal of expressions of faith is not limited to the CVC but also is an ongoing assault on monuments throughout the city. In typical fashion the new memorial to FDR omits any mention of God. On the even newer WWII memorial, a quote by Eisenhower is abbreviated just before his invocation of “the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.” (From his remarks on the eve of D-Day.)

I suppose we shouldn’t carp about the cost of this boondoggle since it ensures that Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) will not have to endure the smell of the great unwashed who come to visit “their” building. Yes Senator, the building is not yours; it belongs to us, poor hygiene and all.

When Jim DeMint (R-SC) toured the hall, he complained; “There was an obvious absence of any accurate historical reference to our religious heritage.” He added, on the floor of the Senate: “In touring the CVC, I found the exhibits to be politically correct, left-leaning, and secular in nature.” On September 27th, he was quoted as saying; “There seems to be a trend to whitewashing God out of our history.

As one might expect, the halls are full of exhibits and tributes to a full range of diversified “American Heroes.” There are celebrations of race, gender, and the full mix of the American experience. Apparently it was felt that an exhibit about the longest serving woman in Congress was more important than God. Edith Norse Rogers' accomplishment was of course, important, but hardly as important as the Almighty. There is a display concerning the impeachment of Andrew Johnson but curiously, no similar display on the impeachment of Wm. Jefferson Clinton. Naturally, Earth Day, an ACTUP protest on AIDS funding and miscreants at the Pentagon during the Viet Nam War are there in huge color photos. Throwing a bone to the participants in the War in Viet Nam, they have shown a photo of a woman standing at a gravesite, captioned; “a nation continued to mourn its fallen soldiers of the Vietnam conflict. The war claimed over 58,000 casualties.” Closer inspection of the photo reveals that the veteran actually died in 1982, seven years after the end of hostilities. He had been a veteran of three wars. The 58,000 were not casualties; that figure numbered the dead in that struggle. The numbers of casualties were exponentially higher.

In a hall where the overall sense is denial of the Almighty, inaccuracy in simple reporting, and celebration of questionable heroes is the rule, might we evaluate the quality of the legislative bodies that call it home by those standards? Perhaps we got off easy. The apportioned cost when we pro-rate it to each citizen comes to a little over $2 apiece. Next time you are in DC, drop by and enjoy the air conditioned comfort, the 530 seat restaurant, the 26 restrooms and the two orientation theaters. Try not to concentrate too much on what you might have done with $621,000,000.00 to improve the lives of every day Americans.

In an article by John J. Miller, we find this wry comment; “Congress’s memorial to itself isn’t even good enough for government work.” John, I seriously doubt that anyone inside the beltway finds that phrase in common usage but you are absolutely right.

In His abiding love,

Cecil Moon