frans friday forum: PERCEPTION IS KING...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 12/29/17 06:48 AM
YEARS AGO, between jobs, I spent a year or so selling ADVERTISING SPECIALTIES...
THE INDUSTRY...THEN, was IRREVERENTLY referred to as ‘TRINKETS & TRASH’...HOWEVER...
Within the industry there were PROFESSIONALS who SOLD THEMSELVES as experts in recommending PRODUCTS and METHODS that a customer could use to PROMOTE their businesses successfully using items WHICH CARRIED WITH THEM A HIGH PERCEPTION OF VALUE...SO...
A ‘PEN’ imprinted with a customer’s info and logo became a ‘WRITING INSTRUMENT’...OR...an ordinary ‘KEY CHAIN’ became a ‘KEY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM’...YOU KNOW...Much like ‘GARBAGE COLLECTORS’ being referred to as ‘SANITATION ENGINEERS’...GET THE GIST...???
IT WAS ALL ABOUT PERCEPTION...PERCEPTION WAS KING...BEAUTY WAS IN THE EYE OF … (6 comments)
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frans friday forum: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LINUS...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 12/22/17 06:43 AM
Many of you, if you’re anything like me, thoroughly enjoy the CHRISTMAS SEASON...!!!
I say ‘SEASON’ because CHRISTMAS is just too important to be celebrated in JUST ONE DAY...SO...
For all of you who have favorite CHRISTMAS MOVIES to enjoy with family...or favorite ethnic food preparations to share with family members...or holiday decorating traditions...or traditional shopping excursions to finalize...or any other of the myriad CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS to perpetuate.......LET US NEVER FORGET WHAT IT’S TRULY ALL ABOUT AS BEST EXPLAINED BY LINUS of THE PEANUTS CHARLIE BROWN CLAN:
NOTE: Just 'X' out of popups...DO NOT click on them...!!!
MAY THE JOY OF CHRISTMAS BE WITH ALL … (6 comments)
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frans friday forum: THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 12/15/17 12:22 PM
TWAS the week before Christmas...AND...
I’m so into the SEASON OF CHRISTMAS that I can’t clearly compose an interesting post...NO KIDDING...
BUT...in keeping with the SPIRIT OF FRAN’S FRIDAY FORUM...I’ll give it the old COLLEGE TRY...!!!
BUSY AT WORK...BUSY AT HOME...BUSY EVERYWHERE...BUT getting very little accomplished...BUT HEY...
Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be...aren’t we supposed to wind down from the humdrum and routine of everyday life..and gently slip into the SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS...Isn’t that what ADVENT IS FOR...???
CONTEMPLATING THE REASON we exist...The reason we are alive...the REASON FOR THE SEASON...
FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD...HE...
CREATED US TO KNOW HIM, TO LOVE HIM, AND … (5 comments)
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frans friday forum: THE ART OF THE SHOESHINE BOY...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 12/08/17 07:06 AM
One of my greatest enjoyments is recalling many of the rites of passage that I was able to enjoy in my youth...
AS MORE THAN A CASUAL OBSERVER OF ‘THE SHOESHINE BOY’...I can remember how many of those neighborhood ‘oneman’ operations IMPRESSED ME...!!! It may have been the first examples of a learned craft that I was fortunate enough to witness...IN FACT...
UNTIL I REALIZED that SHOESHINING BOYS were merely an easy way to ‘make ends meet’ and raise some easy pocket change, and NOT a career path that most aspired to...
NEVERTHELESS, watching the boys exercising their craft and working wonders on badly … (8 comments)
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frans friday forum: WE NEED MORE SAFETY PATROLS...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 12/01/17 06:54 AM
When you try to figure out when and where things in America began to go awry...WHERE DO YOU START...???
I recall, back in 7th grade (over 60 years ago), being part of our school’s SAFETY PATROL...Of course, back in those days nearly everyone walked to school...
I THINK NOW...WOW...Our school must have had a lot of confidence and trust in us to endow us with the RESPONSIBILITY that safety patrol duty entails...!!!
NEVERTHELESS, it seems since that time more and more RESPONSIBILITIES have been assumed or taken back by adult authorities, school administrators, and various government branches thus denying many YOUNG ADULTS from developing … (4 comments)
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frans friday forum: FAMILIES MATTER...YOU BET...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 11/24/17 08:08 AM
In this day of placard carrying protesters spouting such cliches as ‘black lives matter’, ‘white lives matter’, ‘blue lives matter’, and ‘all lives matter’, each according to their own worldview or ideology...
I AM HERE TO PROCLAIM...FAMILIES MATTER...!!!
Believing in the innate dignity of each human being, not because they achieve notoriety, and regardless of whether or not they amount to something, but...BECAUSE THEY WERE CREATED BY THE ALL LOVING GOD OF CREATION...WHO...
Has empowered US to SHARE IN THE ACT OF CREATION by the gift of PROCREATION...AND...most especially FAMILY CREATION...AND...
WHAT BETTER HOLIDAY to celebrate this fact than THANKSGIVING...!!!
OUR FAMILY had the opportunity to … (0 comments)
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frans friday forum: TIS THE SEASON...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 11/17/17 07:05 AM
Strictly speaking ‘JOURNEY’ indicates ‘a day’s travel’, but there are journeys that last 3 days, a week, a month, a year, and indeed A LIFETIME...
This post relates to ‘SHORTER JOURNEYS’...in fact...I like to refer to these as ‘SEASONS’...most people call them ‘HOLIDAYS’...BUT...
TO ME...If a Holiday is worth celebrating at all, it should last longer than ONE DAY...!!!
SEASONS ARE ONE OF GOD’S GIFTS...
WE are NOW in the season of THANKSGIVING...NEXT THURSDAY...
However, to truly enjoy and do the Holiday justice, it should entail and espouse ALL THE PREPARATIONS, THE ETHNIC TRADITIONS, THE CULTURAL FORMALITIES, THE GATHERING, THE FOODS, THE PRAYERS, THE FELLOWSHIP, THE … (14 comments)
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frans friday forum: NOUNS BECOMING VERBS...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 11/10/17 04:47 AM
SO...I should have paid more attention in GRAMMAR class...BUT...
A NOUN: A word that refers to a PERSON, PLACE, or THING...!!!
A VERB: A WORD that typically expresses ACTION; The keyword in most sentences...!!!
WHEN WE WERE CREATED WE BECAME NOUNS...PROPER ones, in fact...as evidenced by our given names...
THE REASON WE WERE CREATED WAS TO BECOME VERBS...PROPER KEYWORDS on the journey...
HOW MUCH MUST GOD HAVE LOVED US to have created us so we could share with Him in the work of creation...to act, if we choose, on His behalf...to speak, if we choose, in His stead, and to be used by Him, if we … (6 comments)
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frans friday forum: Fran’s Friday Forum...LOSING TRACTION...???
- 11/03/17 08:06 AM
Have you ever experienced being stuck in the snow...hearing your wheels spinning fruitlessly while your car becomes a real slave to the elements...getting nowhere fast...???
Is there such a thing as a ‘NATIONAL’ SIN...???
Are you aware of the sin of DETRACTION...
Detraction is not a common word today, but the thing it signifies is all too common. Indeed, known by another name—gossip—it may be one of the most common sins throughout all of human history.
As Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J., writes in his Modern Catholic Dictionary, detraction is "Revealing something about another that is true but harmful to that person's reputation."
SO...even if I am telling … (2 comments)
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frans friday forum: LET ME ASK YOU A QUESTION...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 10/27/17 06:56 AM
Have you noticed how polarized our nation has become...!!!
We have lived under the two party system for generations now...yet never before have politicians been so divided...some refuse to even discuss their differences...SO...
Essentially there is very little actual discourse where two people truly LISTEN TO ONE ANOTHER...AND...As my title suggests: ASK QUESTIONS OF ONE ANOTHER...!!!
NO...people's minds seem to be made up even before the discussion begins...!!!
Is is to be understood as a fact of life that most, if not all, will always believe what they already believe...!!! Are we so resistant to change that all of our discourse is defensive...Is there nothing … (6 comments)
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frans friday forum: FRIENDS FOREVER...60 YEARS AND COUNTING...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 10/20/17 09:27 PM
Sixty years ago a bunch of friends were beginning their first year of High School...
Months before we had all ‘graduated’ from various grade schools in the Norristown, PA area...mostly Catholic schools, some from ‘publics’, and mostly taught by habit wearing dyed in the wool NUNS (Sisters, actually)...NUNS are usually cloistered, SISTERS were usually educators (read: teachers)...
NOW...fast forward 60 years...many of those new friends we were ‘forced’ to mingle with, interact socially with, and share a classroom with, have become symbols of real deep and lasting friendships...many now having moved on ahead of us to their heavenly reward awaiting our arrival...missed but … (4 comments)
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frans friday forum: THE EYES HAVE IT...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 10/13/17 08:34 AM
SO...It has been said, “The eyes are the windows of the soul”...
WELL...It has been over 1 week since my cataract surgery has been completed in both eyes...NOW...
I can see so clearly and wonderfully with my new lens implants...IT IS ALMOST HARD TO BELIEVE that a less than 12 minute surgical procedure can effect such a miraculous outcome...!!!
I am now enjoying blur free vision, colors vividly representing themselves, and the capability of reading without glasses...and the improvement will continue to manifest itself as more days go by...!!!
I guess I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge all the health care professionals … (2 comments)
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frans friday forum: FILLING THE GOD SIZED HOLE...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 10/06/17 10:20 AM
Less than a week since the massacre in Las Vegas...many are still confused and puzzled...WHAT WOULD MAKE SOMEONE CARRY OUT SUCH A HEINOUS AND DISGUSTING ACT OF INHUMANITY...???
If we believe that ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL then we must find reasons why someone would slaughter 58 innocent people and brutally injure hundreds more...but...
Regardless of what motives investigators eventually attribute to the perpetrator, for me, it boils down to his inability to fill the GOD SIZED HOLE IN HIS LIFE...
OUR LOVING CREATOR has made each one of us with an inner compass to help us eventually lead us to HIM...
For some, it … (2 comments)
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frans friday forum: GOD'S COUNTERFEITER...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 09/30/17 01:07 PM
ONE NEED ONLY TO LOOK AT GOD’S CREATION TO ‘SEE’ HIM...BUT...
FOR EVERY ASPECT of God’s Creation there is a counterfeit version...!!!
FIRST THINGS FIRST: ONLY GOD creates from nothing...anything else is an illusion...!!!
MAN CREATES energy...FROM THE SUN...created by God...!!!
MAN GIVES US STARS...IN SPORTS, HOLLYWOOD, ACADEMIA...all tainted and flawed...none perfect...!!!
MAN SPEAKS OF ‘NATURE’ as CREATING FOODS, ANIMALS, OCEANS, RIVERS, and OTHER WONDERS...ALL OF WHICH WERE FIRST CREATED FROM NOTHING BY GOD...!!!
SO...SATAN... A BEING CREATED BY GOD...IS THE GREAT COUNTERFEITER...THE GREAT ILLUSIONIST...THE CAUSED CAUSE AND ‘ORIGINATOR’ OF ALL EVIL...DON’T BUY IN...!!!
TRUST IN GOD, THE CREATOR...NOT IN SATAN, THE GREAT COUNTERFEITER...!!! Now, a good counterfeiter … (2 comments)
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frans friday forum: IT'S A GUY THING...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 09/22/17 11:33 AM
IS IT A GUY THING...???
DO WE MEN seem to get blamed for almost all that is wrong with the world...???
LOOK...Even the last three devastating hurricanes that have brought catastrophic damage and loss of life imply ‘MALE’ blame...Harvey, Irma, and Maria...H I M...!!!
MEN ARE ALWAYS blamed for leaving the toilet seat up...but you never hear that a woman out of courtesy to her man restored the seat to its original ‘UP’ position...
MEANWHILE...’ROCKET MAN’ in North Korea is labelled a madman and insane because of his antics with ballistic missiles and A BOMBS...could it be the lack of a ‘significant woman’ in his … (2 comments)
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frans friday forum: FEELING LOVED...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 09/15/17 06:41 AM
EVERYONE WANTS TO FEEL LOVED...DON’T THEY...??? I certainly would include myself in the group that WANTS TO FEEL LOVED...BUT...
THERE IS A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FEELINGS and LOVE...Let’s start here...
FEELINGS ARE REAL...If I say, ‘I feel like crap’, you can be sure I’m not in great spirits...on the other hand...REAL LOVE IS NOT A FEELING...ST. PETER found this out when he was reprimanded by Jesus and told, “Get behind me, Satan”...when Peter reacted on FEELINGS INSTEAD OF TRUTH...!!!
We hear expressions like ‘gut feelings’, ‘women’s intuition’, ‘hunches’, and the like...AND...The English language is not helpful when it comes to distinguishing between FEELINGS and … (5 comments)
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frans friday forum: AHEM...THIS IS GOD CALLING...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 09/08/17 07:16 AM
With the recent monster hurricanes and wildfires plaguing our nation...IS GOD TRYING TO GET OUR ATTENTION...???
About 6 weeks ago I was diagnosed with type II diabetes...within a few days (one exactly), I developed a sudden onset of cataracts in both eyes which rendered me unable to drive and unable to read...even my daily Scripture regimen...!!! In practically no time at all my entire life was turned upside down...WELL ALMOST...
YOU SEE, when you put God first in your life and you walk with Him daily, you develop a TRUST IN HIM...unlike any trust you may have in other persons or things in … (6 comments)
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frans friday forum: Fran's Friday Forum...CAN YOU FORGET HOW TO LOVE...???
- 09/01/17 06:22 AM
I guess before you answer the question, ‘Can you forget how to love’, you must first be honest enough to admit whether or not you EVER learned how to love...
First of all, LOVE is not a noun...It is a verb...something you do...!!!
Is it like learning how to type, or roller skate, or ride a bicycle, or speak another language...which some say once you learn you never forget...???
NOT FOR ME...who once could speak fluent Italian and roller skate, but learned later in life those talents and skills had long departed my repertoire...
SO...getting back to LOVE...I’m guessing, like many other skills, LOVE NEEDS … (4 comments)
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frans friday forum: ONE NATION...INDIVISIBLE...UNDER GOD...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 08/25/17 07:35 AM
WE ARE A NATION VIRTUALLY evenly divided ideologically...YET...
According to our PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE we are ‘ONE NATION UNDER GOD...INDIVISIBLE’...CAN this be so...???
THE ANSWER IS YES...If we acknowledge as a nation...OUR DEPENDENCE ON GOD...!!!
Unfortunately, for decades now, we have tried to evict God from our schools, market places, and public squares, yet God has not withheld His blessings upon us...PROVING...
WHAT A FAITHFUL GOD THOU ART...!!!
NOW...THE LAST LINE OF DEFENSE...THE FAMILY...Is under attack...BUT...
IF WE HOLD TIGHT AS A FAMILY TO GOD’S HAND, and decide with JOSHUA, ‘AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE WE WILL SERVE THE LORD...WE SHALL BE VICTORIOUS even in this … (2 comments)
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frans friday forum: STATUES...FLAGS...AND OTHER SYMBOLS...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 08/18/17 05:23 AM
Just behind my favorite leather loveseat hangs an old cherished lithograph of LEE’S SURRENDER AT APPOMATTOX COURT HOUSE...
I am not a historian, although I love reading History, particularly CIVIL WAR HISTORY...BUT I HAVE GROWN TO APPRECIATE THE VALUE OF ‘SYMBOLS’...’SYMBOLS’, such as statues, flags, and other objects, serve as MERE REMINDERS OF GREATER REALITIES...!!!
For those unfamiliar with CIVIL WAR events, THE BATTLE OF APPOMATTOX COURT HOUSE signified the official end of the CIVIL WAR inasmuch as it was the last battle fought in this bloody infamous event in our nation’s history...
In this great work of art wall hanging, Confederate General Robert … (5 comments)
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YEARS AGO, between jobs, I spent a year or so selling ADVERTISING SPECIALTIES...
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