From the East Wing with Joel Osteen, Ember Days, Night King, Bagels & Lox, Gefilte Fish, Chicken & Dumplings

Greetings to all, and welcome new friends to the East Wing.

We, me and the she, had a night on the town a while back. Along with my son, John, we went to Indianapolis and attended a Joel Osteen program at the home of the Indiana Pacers, right there in Conseco Fieldhouse. Downtown Indianapolis, ‘bout as downtown as ya can get in Indianapolis, that Conseco Fieldhouse.

Now Regina’s a big fan of Joel Osteen and she loved the program. John and I equally enjoyed the program. It was an inspiring evening for sure.

Crowds in excess of 18,000 came right there, to Conseco Fieldhouse, to hear a fellow who simply said, believe in yourself, think only good thoughts about yourself as well as others. Make it a purpose in your life to do good deeds. Help your neighbor, help your friend, help a stranger, help yourself to a better life.

A simple message, packaged much the same as a rock concert. Laser lights, high volume music, but that’s where the comparison stopped. No wild unruly audience, no cigarette lighter flicking in the darkness, no drugs, no smoke, no puking on the floor, just people taking in the message. And the message was simple, do good things in your life, and you’ll be rewarded.

By now most of ya kinda know my views on TV Preachers. Lord knows I’ve ripped into ‘em from time to time. And I’ve yet to take back a single word I’ve ever said ‘bout TV Preachers. Joel Osteen doesn’t fit the TV Preacher mold. He doesn’t spend 26 of his 30 minutes TV time begging for money. He doesn’t line up 25 people with illnesses, all of which have to do with hearing, and then proceed to heal each and everyone, to demonstrate his direct communication with God.

No, Joel Osteen doesn’t heal sickness and afflictions on TV. He talks ‘bout life and how one can change their life by the way they think, do, and pray. A simple message, a single message from Joel Osteen.

I’d read and heard of Joel Osteen for some time, never really thought too much one way or the other, the she is a big fan and watches him every Sunday evening. After attending the Indianapolis program and listening to his message, I’m taken back by some of the comments I’ve received ‘bout Joel Osteen.

Last Sunday I had an occasion to be in the company of some people I’d not seen or talked to for some time. We were just in the process of visiting, enjoying each other’s company, when he says “what ya been up to lately Bob” I tell him that me and the she went to Indianapolis to see Joel Osteen. That as far as I got when my friend interrupted said “Oh, he’s anti-catholic” I said “oh, really” and he said “yes and anti-Jewish too”

Now I’d just listened to this fellow talk for two hours, two days ago, have read two of his many books and had not seen or heard a single word ‘bout either Catholic or Jewish. So I just changed the subject and my friend and I continued to enjoy each other’s company. But it perked my curiosity, why did this friend say such things ‘bout somebody he admitted he never seen or listened to on TV or read any of his writings. Yet make such damning statements against a person he didn’t know. I decided to find out why.

The quest for answers started with my Mama. I said “Mama ya ever hear a fellow named Joel Osteen?”. Mama says “oh, sure”. I say “whata ya think?” Mama says “I’m glad ya asked, ‘cause Joel Osteen’s biggest problem is he never tells the bad stuff”. I say “what bad stuff Mama?” She says “all that part ‘bout doing right and doing good is fine and dandy, but ya need to also know what’s gona happen to ya if ya don’t do all that good stuff”. I said “Mama ya sound like ya want the man to preach Hellfire and Brimstone”. Mama says “A little Hellfire and Brimstone never hurt anybody, it taught you right from wrong”. And so it had. My Mama, right again.

Not content that everybody shared my Mama’s views I chose to explore further into Joel Osteen matter. The occasion presented itself just two days later, in my office walks a Minister of the Gospel. I ask him pretty much the same questions as my Mama. His answer surprised me. “All he does is beg for money and his preaching’s not based on the bible”. Wow, I once again changed the subject from Joel Osteen.

Outside my Mama’s assessment of Joel Osteen, I can’t help but wonder is there may be some professional jealousy involved here. Seems ya either love or hate this guy, and if ya don’t love him then ya have to find some reason to hate him. He’s anti-catholic, he’s anti-Jew, all he does is beg for money, his words are not bible based.

If ya want to hate a person, it’s surprisingly easy it is to find all the bad reasons in the world to support that hate. If ya want to love ‘em it’s just as easy to find the reasons why ya do love ‘em. Joe Osteen, an inspiring evening to remember. A simple message, packaged in a Christian Rock Concert that played to a different crowd. Ya would have loved it. The music was loud, the message was clear. Now the fellow’s not Charlton Heston, but then again neither was Moses.

Do ya know ‘bout Ember Days? Supposed to be able to tell the weather for the next three months by the weather on each of the three Ember Days. This year those days are Sep. 15th 17th 18th The first tells the weather for October, the second day tells the weather for November and the third for December. With that being said, we now know that Sep 15th was a beautiful weather day, so that mean October will be absolutely perfect fall weather, I can hardly wait. The 17th was most sunny with some clouds and that means that November will also have overall nice weather. Saturday was a warm day and sunny so December is gona be a lot warmer than normal, but a big snow’s in there somewhere come Christmas Time. Remember the heavy rain last Saturday. We’ll see.

Seen that big bright star in the night sky? it’s Jupiter, sometimes called the “Night King” ‘cause when it’s in our night sky, it’s the brightest star of the lot, and there’re a lot. It’s kinda interesting this time by, ‘cause Jupiter is the closest it’s been to earth since 1963. It takes twelve Earth years for Jupiter to go ‘round the sun, and from where we stand looking into the night sky, Jupiter spends one month every year visiting a different zodiacal constellation.

Just as a rule of thumb, look toward the southern sky and pick out the brightest start, it’s probably Jupiter. This year Jupiter is gona hang ‘round for a while, in fact, Jupiter will be in our night sky the rest of this year. I like to look at Jupiter in the telescope, it’s an easy and fun planet to look at in the late summer, early fall night sky.

Jupiter has some interesting facts, like 63 moons, and if ya could stand somewhere way, way out in space and look at Jupiter as it passed by, well, you’d see something like a trail from a jet flying overhead. Jupiter is 11 times larger than Earth, and has over 300 times more mass, (just pain stuff) and the mass of Jupiter is only one quarter the density of Earth. So I guess if ya walked on Jupiter it’s kinda like walking knee deep in jello.

I almost forgot, if ya weight 100 lbs on Earth, well it’s 240 lbs on Jupiter. Now if ya weigh more than a 100 lb, just do the math, your weight times 2.4 oh my! ‘Course that don’t count the weight of your coat, ‘cause if you’re there it’s cold. Real cold, it’s a negative 234°. That the kind with the little - in front of the numbers like -234°. So it don’t matter how cold you’ve been, you’ve not been that cold.

I got an old thermometer at the East Wing, one of those round things with a spring that moves by the temperature of the air, in turn it moves the little dial we look at. Well that old thermometer only goes to -60°. I’ve never seen it colder than -32° only one time in my life since I’ve lived at the East Wing.

Now my real weather station is all digital and as such I don’t know how low it will go…. I sure hope I don’t find out this coming winter. But if I do, you’ll hear ‘bout it.

Sure had an interesting and most enjoyable series of email conversations this past week with some Jewish friends of the East Wing. Even got invited to go to New York City and east Jewish Food. I declined. We hillbilly boys don’t stray too far from pinto beans and cornbread. The offering were of the most traditional of Jewish foods.

Bagels and Lox. Is there anybody who doesn't know what a bagel is? A bagel is a donut-shaped piece of bread that is boiled before it is baked. They are often topped with poppy seeds or sesame seeds, or flavored with other ingredients. The bagel has been a part of Jewish cuisine for at least 400 years.

There are references to bagels as far back in Poland as 1610. For the Jews here in America, bagels are served with cream cheese and lox (smoked salmon) or other fish spreads like herring, whitefish. The paragraph below is a direct quote from parts of my conversation on Jewish foods with some folks out east.

“Those chewy hockey pucks that you find in your grocer's freezer bear little resemblance to a real bagel. A real bagel is soft, warm and spongy inside, lightly crispy outside. A fresh bagel does not need to be toasted, and should not be. Toasting is a sorry attempt to compensate for a sub-standard bagel.”

One of the things I fully believe in is to try and learn something new every day of your life, and that day it was how ya compensate for a sub-standard bagel. Now granted, it wasn’t the most stunning revelation I’ve ever encountered, but it was something, never the less. The sun did not set that day without me learning something.

After reading ‘bout gefilte fish, I concluded its kinda like Jewish Scrapple. If ya wanta eat it, do, but don’t get too personal about its heritage. I’ve eaten the Scrapple of Pennsylvania, but this gefilte fish thing, well, I’m gona let that ole gefilte fish just swim on by.

Another favorite of my Jewish friends is matzah ball soup. Without getting too technical into Jewish cooking, matzah ball are made similar to a more recognized American dish, dumplings, as in chicken and… Using eggs and Matzah flour and a special secret ingredient of Jewish Grandma special love for family, Matzah ball are produced. Hand shaped and cooked in a very thin chicken broth, eaten either ping-pong size or a single large Matzah ball in your soup.

And guess what, they even have both floaters and sinkers. Yah, floaters and sinkers in Matzah balls. The more I’m thinking ‘bout this whole deal, Why these Jewish people have stolen the secret hillbilly formula of Chicken and Dumplings and smuggled it out of the country. Right under our noses they’ve stolen the Chicken and Dumplings Recipe and renamed it. And they thought we’d never find out. Yah, Right!

A recipe we’ve had for a long, long time, that Chicken and Dumplings . And they say the Matzah Ball Soup is served at the Passover, and that’s only been here since the National Football League started.

Chicken and Dumplings and Matzah Ball Soup, floaters and sinkers with common ground, is that a pair to draw to or what? The food fit for Gods. I’ve tried ‘em both and liked ‘em both. Does that make me a little Jewish or the Jews a little hillbilly? Don’t know, but I did know a Jewish kid when I lived in Kentucky. He ate Chicken and Dumplings. I think the reason was it’ so hard to get good Matzah at Tiptop, maybe a big city like Salyersville, but not at Tiptop.

Stay safe in Afghanistan

From the East Wing with Joel Osteen, Ember Days, Night King, Bagels & Lox, Gefilte Fish, Chicken & Dumplings

I wish you well,
BobbyRay