Another Day To Live In Infamy

On this day in 1886 Dr. John Styth Pemberton invented a carbonated beverage that would later be named Coca-Cola.  On this infamous day, Dr. Pemberton carried a jug of his 'stuff' down the street to Jacobs' Pharmacy and asked the folks there to sample it.  They pronounced it 'excellent'.  The pharmacy started selling it for five cents a glass as a soda fountain drink.  Customers declared the drink to be both "Delicious and Refreshing."
The good doctor's creativity went beyond liquid concoctions into advertising.  He decided that two Cs would look good together and started calling the drink Coca-Cola.

The first newspaper ad for Coca-Cola soon appeared in The Atlanta Journal, inviting thirsty citizens to try "the new and popular soda fountain drink." During the first year, sales averaged a nine drinks per day.  (Just an fyi-in 2010 worldwide 1.7 billion servings of Coca-Cola were sold each day.)
The good doctor never made much money from his creation because he gradually sold off all of his rights until he had none.
And so it is that today we might choose to hoist one in honor of Dr John Styth Pemberton, the little known pharmacist who gave us a dietary staple.
Before we hoist too many, though, we might consider that Dr. Pemberton was born in 1831 and died a mere 57 years later in 1888.  While he survived the Civil War serving in the Confederate Army he might not have done so well enjoying his own drink.

Thank you, Delaware

Delaware has made same sex marriage legal.  Little, tiny Delaware -- a David to the hate mongering Goliath.  And still we wonder what is happening to California.  It's too late to lead the pack but at least this once follow me state might at least decide to join it.

And Then The Rains Came

First the fires came.  Friday afternoon a fast moving brush fire broke out near our home.  Even Saturday the mountain now blackened by fire continued to smolder and fire fighters worked their hoses with water pumped from a major street.  This morning we woke up to rain.  It had rained all night and continued to rain throughout today.  Nature has at the very least a sense of humor and possibly even a sense of irony.  Had the rains come Friday morning the fire would never have started.  Always mud slides come after the rains which come after the fires.  Had it rained Friday morning not only would we not have had a fire, we wouldn't have to worry about mud slides.
Yo!  Nature!  It's okay to change the order or things. Just because You've always done things this way doesn't mean you have to keep doing them the same way.  Just a suggestion.  Do what you wish.

May Day Magic

So here it is the first day of the month of May and life begins again.  The fruit tree bears sweet fruit, the blossoms fill the air with fragrance and hope looks out of its dark hole to take a tentative look around.

Waiting Is The Hardest Part

Which is why we do pointless things - to give us a false sense of progress.  We can't tolerate not knowing what will happen next so we do 'stuff' to keep uncertainty at bay.  But, I'm finding out that its okay to wait.  Sometimes in the silence of inactivity amazing things happen.

How To Be Holy

The narrative of the children of Israel in the wilderness, portrayed in the books of Exodus and Numbers, are interrupted by the book of Leviticus, which gives us the details of the rituals of the Tabernacle – the types of sacrifices and how they are to be offered, the garb of the priests, and, as we saw last week, how the people were to purify themselves after childbirth or illness.  This week’s Torah portion is another double one, Acharei Mot (Lev. 16:1-18:30) and Kedoshim, (Lev. 19:1 – 20:27).  Kedoshim lies in the exact middle of the book of Leviticus.  It also lies in the exact center of a Torah scroll – when Kedoshim is read in synagogue, it is easy to see that.  I do not think this is coincidence.  The wisdom contained in parashah Kedoshim is, I believe, the central precepts of the Torah.

“You shall be holy,” God says to the Israelites, “for I, the Lord your God am holy.”  Then follows a list of ways in which we can be holy and emulate God: Honor your parents.  Keep the Sabbath.  Do not worship idols. Don’t pick your fields bare; leave some for the poor and hungry.  Judge fairly.  Pay your workers on time. Don’t take vengeance or bear a grudge.  Don’t be a gossipmonger.  And every few verses, the admonition is repeated, “I am the Lord your God”.

In short, the way that we may find holiness in our human lives, the way that we are best able to be God-like, is in very ordinary ways.  Our holiness is measured by the fairness, honesty and kindness with which we treat one another.

He Asks A Fair Question