Wagler Wisdom

We recently purchased several books by Frank Viola , a prolific Christian writer who questions a lot of what is Considered Church today.He is not writing from an Anabaptist viewpoint , but from the same Holy Scripture.

We very quickly found out why he is so reviled by many Church leaders today . He questions almost everything that we do in or about Church today .He is especially adamant about Christ being the leader and head of the Church , and not some person , as we all are so used to . We would think there is some middle grounds there . Perhaps a leader with a serving heart ?

Most of what he points out applies to all Protestant Churches , and Anabaptist too. We need to keep in mind that just because one reads a book , does not mean one understands or agrees with all of it . It should , and does tend to make one think, and may help evolve one’s beliefs too.

In clearer terms, some of his ideas are hard to follow , If we believe our God is really omnipresent , and that the Church is always present somewhere ,in spite of man’s maneuverings .

We would like to point out just a few of his points here , that we would feel are often overlooked or smoothed over in today’s too often convoluted Churches that are substantive.Adding a few of  our own Comments ,too.

1. He quite often takes issue with today’s Bible layout of  Chapter & verse , especially the verse layout , that it impedes the tone and purpose .. It may come as a surprise to many that the Verse dividing in Our Bible is a fairly new thing . He also points out that Paul’s Letters are laid out in the Bible Longest letters first , Down to the shortest letters last . He pointed out that if Apostle Paul’s Letters are studied in Chronologically correct order , a lot of Confusion is avoided , in learning from his evolving Ministry.

We have in our library a Copy of a Copy of the Wycliffe New Testament , the first English translation , put out by John Wycliffe . It has no Verse division at all , and the so called English is almost indecipherable ,compared to The later KJV.

Almost everyone I have ever showed this translation to , especially Preachers , are totally bored by it , consider it like an imposition , even if it came out several centuries before the KJV. It’s compiler was executed as a heretic for his works.

2. An issue is made of Church Pews , the high backed wood benches so many of us sit on uprightly on Sunday mornings . (Hopefully padded). He points out how they evolved , that at the early Church services most folks were standing throughout , or setting on stone benches at the sides of the room .

He makes the point that Today’s Pews are set up for one and only one purpose , to watch a performance ,and that is a reasonable assumption , from our own personal observation over many years .

What he says about any and all pompous Pulpits , we won’t bother to go into here , we’ve felt that way for some time. Any kind of Pulpit , raised or at floor level ,has never been a part of Anabaptist history or heritage. Until the recent past , that is .

The Bishop-worship as practiced by the Amish,and others ,up to today ,is an appalling example of Man’s fallacy when it comes to Worship not centered on God or the word. And they try and back it up with Scripture , too.

3. And ”Running ” a Church either by Dictatorship, or by a  Majority Vote , has exactly the same end result according to the thoughts in the books.. Both methods divide and compartmentalize folks , and the end result is always chaos or the dreaded split , and bad blood .Between haves and have -nots, In- power or out-of-power factions tend to  develop.

He points out that a  Godly way is by consensus of believers , and that it is imperative in every way , for a Godly Church to function and grow upon. That Churches often have an abundance of unbelievers in it , complicates matters a lot.

And what could be a main difference between Voting and a consensus in a Church ? A consensus is when everyone to some degree  supports a matter. A vote , every major voted decision has the seeds of division in it , every time .

That many, if not most , rules and strictures in our Anabaptist circles are there for folks in the Church who may have no core beliefs , is something for us  to think about..

4. Wearing of special or different clothes for Church . The books take a dim view of the reasons for that . Especially in the Clergy’s case, of their special garb, special seating , even special walk , (the stick in the back pant-legs look ?) .in or to the forefront .

. We must realize that the clothing issue is greatly changed from even a generation ago . Clothes are so abundant now , availability is not even an issue . Clean clothes may not mean what it used to . Apostle Paul missed his cloak , and made special effort to get it back . He perhaps used the same cloak for work and preachings , and almost surely would not have washed it as often as we pop clothes in the washers. It seems credible that he would have blended into any street scene with his cloak , because it was what was in his heart that made the difference.

Some  Anabaptist often take it out on their women to be different in dress appearances ,in the name of modesty . While so many of the Strictest Anabaptist Men too often live lives that are a sham .That the strictest , most unbending of men in an Anabaptist Church are also Corrupt is almost a given .

5.The issue of Tithing that is taken from several verses in the OT , and is never commanded or mentioned as a thing to dwell on , or practice  in the NT.

. We would note that about the only mention of the practice in the New Testament is when people tried to show how upright or holy they were . It seems to us that that trait continues to this day . People bragging about themselves often tout  their own OT practice of strict Tithing .

For a child of God, it all belongs to the lord , not just 10% .

6. The idea that every Christian must be under some appointed Person’s authority or even a Denominational ‘covering ‘ is addressed in some detail . He notes that this always ends in sordid corruption , If any man sets himself up. or allows himself to be set up as “God”‘ in any form .  This is a huge one for most Mennonite settings we are aware of , that the leader , right or wrong , must be obeyed at all and any situations. He points out rather severely that this whole thinking is not from the Bible , but from the Devil , and that all the fruits bear that out .

So what if he is right in this  ? It would toss much of current Anabaptist authority & succession  practice into the scrap pile . Our own observation and experience in the past, is that utter corruption always has followed this type of one- way authority  practicing.  Our God really is a jealous God in every instance.

To be continued…….

Reading about the Ohio beard-cutting Amish crazies , it is odd to see their mad Bishop-leader saying on tape that ”Certainly we are not a Cult”.  So, that got us to wondering , exactly what and who can be a cult and not know it , as those chaps plainly appear to be .

Looking up the origins of the word ”Cult”  gets confusing to say the least , it is a word first used in about 1932 by a noted sociologist to describe certain attributes in a religious group or groups. No one , and we mean no one,ever  sees themselves as a Cult in any way  today, including the mad-Bishop in the hair-cutting saga.

But the meaning we attribute to the word Cult today, is age old , as long as there have been words written , to denote false and-or faked religious activities. A Church , or any group of religious adherents can cross that line and not know it . The line we are talking about here is the one between serving God and serving The Evil one , Satan and his empire. There is some scripture that would indicate both can be served very short term , but one has to win out quite quickly , To serve and worship either God or Mammon.

That is warned about when Jesus taught that one cannot serve both God and Mammon .  About the Sheepfold and also about the false Shepherd . One of the most Spiritually alarming passages about misled believers  in the New Testament is found in Rev. 3 verse 9…..

It describes ”Those of the Synagogue of Satan,who claim to be Jews ,though they are not, but are liars”….(Like the One  they serve)..

We won’t here try to decipher  that in our way , or any which way , just let it say what it does . So often  much of Scripture is minced and diced any and every way , until one is entering into confusion of every sort . We would point out this appears to refer to a group of misled folks , not just a slick leader serving Satan .

Were those described in Rev. 3-9 sincere but sincerely wrong ?  Regular Church goers and attenders , perhaps members in good standing , but serving Satan as noted ?     All questions here , for now ………..

So, we will offer up a few suggestions of signs of progression as to what we refer to as Cults gravitate towards , a few are original with us , most are thoughts gleaned from other studies on this peculiar Often mentioned but elusive  subject.   What does a Cult tend to do or not do?  What to look out for ,If our desire is to stay away from Cults  today ?

Anabaptist history is rife with examples of what we would call a Cult today , from the Munsterites of the 1600′s ,through today’s actual weird Amish reasoning that ”Having a car may keep one out of heaven , but not having a car surely will not keep one out of heaven”.  Trade the word car off for a lot of other inane things and the thicket of confusion widens.And not for the  good.

First of all,  as far as we know ,there are no professing cult members anywhere to get first person accounts or warnings from . none that we are aware of .. Sure, there are lots of stories out there about long ago ones or these or that crowd we are sure are cults , because you see ”They aren’t like us , so they have to be a Cult”.

I Cor. 7-23 .”You were bought with a price, do not become slaves of men .Brothers ,each man,as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to …  (Called ”Christ’s Slave”   in v. 22).

No 1”. Do not become a Slave to man”, sounds elementary , but shows a way that fosters a Cult-atmosphere, often the buzzwords of ”brotherhood” and”accountability” may mean Slavery to other mankind, in action.

2. Saying ,teaching, commanding  that ”Christ is the way ,but we are  the way for you to get to the way ”  . cults are a jealous guardian of their sheep , try to  control about everything.

3.Isolating of the ”Sheep” ,supposedly it is for their own ”Good, Growth,protecting  from the unknown factor”.It can also mean separating them from exposure to all  competing worldwide influences ……(Cars ,  Internet , news, other cultures ,etc,etc ) .Also exposure to Truth .

A twisted example comes to mind of a very Plain Anabaptist group that existed In Tennessee some years ago . James 1;27 was taken to an extreme ”To remain unspotted from the world”.Any and all inventions were out the Door .Motors , calculators, anything invented in the last 100 years to make life easier . Curiously enough , bicycles were allowed .

And did it last ? No. And were they sincere in their beliefs ? Absolutely .This was not a case of Blindly following the Blind . Perhaps hundreds of thousands of words were very well written to espouse this particular small group’s very narrow view of the World , and their own supposed part it . They far out-Amished the Amish view ,and attemptted to live it fully.

4 Mind control of followers of man,by man , not by the Holy Spirit …. An old saying ,which may have a lot of truth to it ,is that many if not most Church programs would continue as is , if the Holy Spirit removed itself from it, and them .

4b “A Leader That is not Christ” . a Physical leader , with or without Charisma , is usually found in or around a Cult . The last word needs to come from the Bible ,not from anyone’s lips.

5.”And if you try to leave us ,we will pursue you relentlessly,  like a hound after a hurt rabbit, because we fear you will expose us in some way , so we will do what it takes to destroy you and yours…””  all cults, and budding Cults do this , otherwise anyone may be enlightened.

6.Preaching and Teaching of the word tends to take a complete hiatus in Cults . It becomes all about our self or ourselves .It is all about me , in words and actions . It is the tone instead of the substance that gets and keeps  the faithful sheeple  occupied . Gibberish is to be expected where Satan rules the hearts. Selfishness and selflessness are spelled about the same ,but are a long ways apart indeed.

A cassette recording of the Rev. Jimmy Jones ‘ ranting still exists , where he is shouting incoherent religious monologue as over 700 of his followers die.(People’s temple, Guyana , ) Originally he started out as a Bible preacher .

Another major Anabaptist problem is that their Preachers sometimes think quite well of themselves , and their abilities , when in truth they could almost all use some formal training , in what a sermon consists of …….

7.Cults tend to have few, if any, bible beliefs , only practices . There is a big difference ,as practices change with the leader’s whims ,or popular vote, or any way the wind happens to blow just then . Belief based on truth should not ever change .

If it is all practice , and little if any Biblical Belief to go with it , It’s perhaps like what the Texans call an ”All hat , no Cattle” guy . In other words ,lots of show and little if any Bible Knowledge to put to use.

8.A Cult is a closed Society . Look around you in church ,if everyone is like you in background and names , you may have a problem coming up…..And a much bigger problem later on at the end of  time.

9.The Social-economic closed circle of so-called true Believers, is a sign of selfishness, setting the Christain’s charge to “”Go to all the world”, on hold. Overly being concerned or expectant about increasing in this World’s goods is warned against in the Word ….Mega-Churches that teach that the Lord’s Blessings are to be bestowed in hard cash ,down  to  the small congretant’s public rejoicing about found moneys  is  perhaps often only  all about oneself , Not God’s works. The story of Jabez is a good thing , but let us not get selfish over it . Many hundreds of thousands of folks went gaga over a book about a few verses about Jabez , mostly enriching the compiler of the booklet .

10.Putting a lot of significance  in One’s or other’s  dreams and signs  ,can be , and often is an attribute of a cult . The Anabaptist bishop Claus Epps in the late 1800′s would be an example to take a warning from, about following Dreams and such . He was the one that would baptize in the names of the Father, Sons, & Holy Spirit . He considered himself the 2nd Son of God , and had a sizable following of faithful Mennonites till his death, in about 1913.

11. In our World of Churches , Anabaptist has always held sway ,and it has many worthwhile spiritual attributes . Mix the Roman Catholic and Anabaptist together , and you have what can only be described as a Cult . Intolerant of Other’s Ideas and lives , Spiritual rigidness , Forms of Godliness , without Spiritual content , we would contend that that is not from God , is is from the Evil one.

We must wonder what some of the original Anabaptist would think, or say of the mixture we have today , They almost tirelessly strove to get rid of the Reformed- Catholic influences to an excess ..

And what is the difference between a Cult , and Homeopathic Religions ? A good question , one we can’t address just now . Our sympathies to any who follow Homeopathic Medicines , you are following something that is ”Nothing built on many Nothings’. Herbal medicines we can understand ,and use confidently . Homeopathic Medicines can be diluted with one drop of the original in many a million gallon , and it is considered  more powerful , the more it is diluted . Sounds rather familiar with the way some folks try to “practice” religious beliefs .

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The biggest technological advance in 100 years is the World-wide-Web . If you are reading this you are involved in it . So be it , learning is never outdated . Unless you are ignorant.

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12.The Republicans are mud-debating to get the chance to run against Pres. Obama next year . It looks now that Mitt Romney is edging ahead , a Mormon for president it may very well be……..

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11. A credible new study points out that the Social Security system is going to be around for the next 50 years , with a few minor adjustments here and there . The Amish do not collect it in any form we are aware of , and never have ,while Amish .Also ,they tend not to pay into it . Across the board .

Those with Plainer background but who drive cars now , that are exempt from paying into it somehow , are problematic.  Almost all of those folks I am aware of or know of , are not seemingly against filing to draw SS of some sort once they reach retirement age .

That has got to be corrosive to the soul . Living cheaply by lying about your beliefs on paying into SS , to save money now , will cost in some form .

Most wage earners with dependent children have so many credits of various kinds coming to them , that the SS tax is mostly offset ,and they do not need to lie about it , to stay on the program .Oct21-11

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10 . Today is the day , Oct 21 , according to the 90 year old Camping fellow in CA, that the Earth will be destroyed in it’s entirety , Kaboosched , so to speak ..

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9, The Amish That are cutting off other Amishmen’s beards at the command of their Bishop in Ohio bring to the forefront the corruption of such ”Bishop-powers”. That the Bishop’s reasoning was that he has a right to discipline his wandering members is not at all an unusual  claim.They are displaying what is found everywhere, even ex-ex-ex-Amish , that the stricter the demands , the more of the bad is hidden away.  Call it what it is , a Cult.

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8. The days when the US Postal service literally brought the world to your door , or mailbox , have more or less ended .  The Internet , FedEx and UPS have all taken their toll from the venerable old institution that Benjamin Franklin helped set up . They will probably always be around , but a whole lot less important to most folks.

Maybe it is a bit like Kmart has become over the years .Still there ,but not indispensable . Unlike Walmart which is a must for most folks.

Now if one is not online , like most Amish , the Postal service would still be crucial to one’s day to day activities . The Christmas rush of mail is over , good riddance , giving in to face-book and such type of doings . Oct 20-11

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7. So tonight the wood-man calls well after dark. We burn some wood here and supply at least 2 other households too,sometimes 3.  Anyways , he needs money right now , and has a nice trailer load ready , well over one and a half face cords of split partly seasoned oak, for $50 , with him setting the price  .

Sure , bring it on out .  We prefer not to cut firewood ourselves , for several reasons .

He has 3 more loads just like that , so ,sure we’ll find a place for it ..So he can pay his Insurance bill , or whatever .  Several things we always do . Someone always eyeballs the load when he brings it , and pay up when it is unloaded , in that order .

It will get cold here , maybe even snow once this winter? Hopefully a few brisk nights will perk up the wood-selling demand , for the poor chap. He lives on the main Highway , and I tried to explain to him he needs to set out little racks of wood , to sell for $10. as most folks around the area like to buy wood just as they need it.  Oct 19-11

A face cord of wood is 4 feet high and 8 feet long  & 16 inches deep.

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6. We recently attended an evening service at a local Mennonite church that was conducting a week-long preaching series . The speaker was very able , articulate , and hit point after point brilliantly and hard . The Brother was also about so strict minded , I wondered if he perhaps had a horse and buggy hid in the parking lot . Very interesting , worth while to listen to , keeping one’s interest with sharply slanted stories and illustrations .

It would not have meshed at all with his teaching ,to mention to him that one has not been a formal member of a Church for close to 3 years , we think.

The crowning admonition of the night came at the very close of the service , and was a doozy ……… “”If you have problems here tonight , there are lot’s of Ministers here tonight and also Minister’s Wives , that can help you if you will only let them ”’……We presume the rest of the audience was the intended target of that .

Having said that , we did enjoy it , and it makes us remember stricter , more controlled  by Man times in our lives . Control is fine ,but needs to come from following the life of  Christ. Aug 19–11

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5. We survived another Yard Sale in the Wagler’s yard . We could’nt stand it so we went on to work ,or something , and let the others carry on with it . They sold about $250. worth , but it was obvious the economy is tightening even in that category . Lots of looking , and some  buying . Oct. 12-11

P.S. Add $100 to that for the old pop-corn machine someone bought off the Front Porch , it wasn’t for sale but someone spotted it , and wanted it, since then ..(you can see it there on the left ,behind the A , an old 10 cent one).

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4, Steve Jobs , the Apple Computer  founder, has died , another example of an unhappy, very Rich man , passing on . Note the following situations.

Many Apple products are made by slave Child labor in China , There has never been any public record of  Apple charitable activity in spite of all the wealth. Steve Jobs was always the Meanest , most foul-mouthed ,rudest,person , wherever he was . We’ll leave it at that .

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3. and now , a wild but reasonable prediction . By prediction ,we mean like a weather outlook , where one looks at the weather map , and draws conclusions from the radar map of what may,or may not come about . It may not happen , but tomorrow it is another day ,the Lord willing.

Gasoline (What you put in the car), will continue to drop and should fall below $2 a gallon next year . All kinds of things come into play for it to go there . The election , The desire of big oil to knock the solar and wind power folks down to size , maybe even the collapse of the Euro , that funny money over there across the ocean .The coming Greek default shouldn’t affect it much , it is what the rest of Europe does is perhaps what will affect us .

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2. We recently bought one of those less then $5 flashlight-lanterns at Lowes’ to fill out an order to make it $50 so we could use the $10 off coupon. Surprise, it is actually an LED light with 3 little bulbettes that claim they will last 5 times longer then the regular ones . Oct 03-11

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1.Here In the Abbeville SC area , we have just lately had an unusual phenomena we have noticed taking place in about all the Mennonite Churches. A Goodly number of married , hopefully upstanding  middle aged Mennonite men ,(aged 30 into the 50′ s ) , Have been buying up these huge cruising Motorcycles , and all riding around together on sunny Sunday afternoons.(Men only). These aren’t the crotch rockets , but heavy bikes that have lots of chrome and go ‘Roarrrrrr” rather then  ”’Varhhhrooom”. All are older bikes , a main subject is at how good a price that the bike has been purchased for from some poor hard-up redneck Cycle Buff.

Maybe it is something in the water , or the pretty fall weather , or some sort of mid-life crises being worked out,Working out things about their wives,  or perhaps something to do with all the weird Spiritual stuff going on locally in most of the ”Plain” Churches. Who knows ?  Just be careful out there .

We see these yellow signs around that say ”Save a life , look twice”. We would say ” Grow up , graduate from 2 or 3 wheels to 4 ”.

Excuse us now , we need to go on craigs’ list to see the latest cruising bike offers ,just looking of course , unless it is a really super deal ……..     Oct 04-11

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Like a good Anabaptist , we ourselves seem to be 20 to 30 years behind in a lot of things , and so be it with movies we watch from time to time . Proverbs 17;22 may enter in as a reason to consider in this activity .

The Amish did not allow things like hay loaders , grain binders or even buggies until they were about over with . They rode horses with rough wooden saddles when roads were improved enough to use buggies on . Then they graduated to wagons without springs or backs to the seats . They were not allowed to use most styles of the buggy until the car came upon the scene ..

And now , back to watching of Movies today . For us it is VHS all the way , the slightly grainy picture gives it more character , and since many are 20 or even 30 years old by now , a bit of a squeak too ..

We only watch several hours of it (VHS)  a week , so it is not a major time taker .

So here are several of our favourite ones , with comments to them as we go..

“Gilligan’s island” all 3 seasons of it . Yes , they are the new-fangled DVD’s but they are also the very first ones for us ..Actually about 7 years of watching  it .And Ah yes , that would have been during the times of ”Pulling the blinds , putting out the lights , hope the dog barks if someone drives up” time..  The girls and I liked these immensely , Lynda liked them not so much .

As an Old Farm boy , I can’t get enough of the Animal VHS ones .” Babe the Pig” ”Babe Pig in the City”  “Gordy the Pig”  ” Gus the Football playing Donkey”, We could fill the several hours a week watching them over and over .

“The Andy Griffith show ” in all its glory , is good as they get .

The rest of our family enjoy ”The Walton’s ”  more then I do . To me ”John Boy” , and “”Gram-pa Walton” are an irritation.

”George of the Jungle ” ,We have watched so often , perhaps over a dozen times , That youngest daughter Virginia , who always watches with me , refuses to watch it with me anymore..

“”Kangaroo Jack”  , and “”Big fat liar ” , where the main guy turns blue , round out the favourite list for now .

Then off course there are the Red-neck , Car chase ones , like ”Smoky and the Bandit ” , ”Dukes of Hazard”  etc. When you get done watching One of those , one realizes one has probably wasted some time .

On the historical note ,, ”Apollo 13” the true tale of the Moon shot gone awry , and the Amish movie ”witness ” filmed in the mid 1980′s , are good , but contain a bit of  foul language . ”Apollo 13” does have a newer version where the language is clean , but the original one is possibly more authentic .

In the year 423 A.D., in eastern Europe , a man named Simeon Stylite built a 60 foot tall pillar of rock about 6 feet wide at the top . Somehow , he got to the top of it , and stayed up there for 37 years , Meditating and shouting religious phrases at the folks who came from far and wide to observe him and get advice.

He did not know it , but his example was followed by hundreds , if not thousands of people over the next almost 1200 years , through all the dark ages . And almost entirely in Eastern Europe and those parts of Asia that called themselves “Christian”.

The western European “Christians” Did not mess with anything so benign or harmless in the name of holiness. They went on massive campaigns or crusades to free the Holy Lands , killing and being killed by the hundreds of thousands , for God , they said. The 4 major Crusades took place from about 1190 A.D. to 1370 A. D.

In the spring of 1492 A.D. Christopher Columbus signed a covenant to the effect that if he brought back a lot of Gold from his forthcoming exploring trip , his share would go towards organizing yet another ”Christian” Crusade to free the holy Lands from the unbelievers.!!!

With a rope and basket , the Pillar setters would take up ,and let down things that needed to be moved , but they stayed right there , to please God , they said.

One man stayed up there on a Column and alive for 52 years before he died. We would call that Ascetic today , or punishing oneself to try and please God. it got so popular a thing to do that some towns had several tall pillars  with competing religious hermits arguing back and forth for years from way up on high .perhaps confusing the faithful that gathered to watch them .. they today are called Stylites , in honor of that first one that was noted .

Asceticism in itself can be a good thing if practiced for the right reasons . John the Baptist comes to mind , also the Apostle Paul in some aspects .

Roman Catholic Monks historically practiced it to a degree unimaginable today . The Monks in their Monasteries mostly did it very privately ,sometimes going for years without speaking . The Roman Catholic Church is by far the oldest “Christian Church’ in history . Most historians believe the Monks in their secluded enclaves  saved western Civilization During the thousand years of the dark ages , up the the years of the Reformation , starting at or before 1500 A.D.

Then they were known more for their excesses then the good works . They did not think much of Anabaptist or their ideas.

The Anabaptist themselves veered off into a good bit of ascetic beliefs more often then one would think of . Some of the attributes of asceticism often can closely resemble or even take the place of Spirituality itself.

To be continued

The Plain way does not have to be the dumb way ……………

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6. Do you hear all the talk about the high price of Gold , and are not sure what that has to do with you as an ordinary citizen ? We do not know either .

The USA has the world’s largest reserves of Gold stored away at over 8000 Tonnes of it . That works out to about an ounce of it per person in the country .

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5. An unusual sight yesterday, in our local town. An old dilapidated concrete mixing plant , not used for almost 30 years was being dismantled , including the cement tower . I noticed men cutting on the legs of the tower with torches, to weaken it , we suppose .

It was some kind of professional demolition crew , with all the trucks and equipment , and supervisors to go with it. Something did not look quite right to me , a mere bystander , so I warned several fellow bystanders to step well back clear of the area .They did.

At the final push ,with a screech of metal , the legs of the tall tower buckled , it fell , but in exactly the wrong direction . Electrical wires sparkling   ,ka-boom , it hit the ground , bursting open in a cloud of dust .

Whoa , contrary to all information they thought they had , the tower had been chock full with many tons of dry cement powder. So now , because there is no documentation of what it really is , a  special environmental  waste team has to move in to clean it all up. Sept20-11

Update …With a full day of filtering , men with white suits and masks , probably many Thousands of $$$  , it is all gone . \

In about 1985 this small mixing company was bought out by a large Rival called Metromont concrete , they shuttered it the same day , as is . Now the holding company , called cemex. that appears to own it now , is paying the price .

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4′ The Greek National Debt crises is coming down soon. If they just tell the greedy world Bankers ”We prefer not to pay you back” , they will have a chance for a new beginning . That was what Iceland did 2 years ago and they are coming along fine now . Or somewhat fine .  Sept 19-11

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3. The government’s regulations often are without sensible reason , but here are a few that do make a lot of sense , and that the industries never would have done without a government push , and at no extra cost to the consumer ….. Lawn mower blade brakes save hundreds,maybe thousands  of feet and lives every year………Chain saw chain brakes save even more .a chain saw is still the most dangerous tool one can buy on the open market , they still main & kill thousands every year .About every man occasionally thinks they can easily cut down a tree , and every now and then , the tree wins.

And splitting up the massive telephone monopolies was a huge win for mankind back in the mid-1980′s . It is hard to imagine renting one’s telephone from the phone companies month after month . And rates for calling more then 10 miles or so took one’s breath & money away. Compared to today .

Add to that Automobile windshields that do not decapitate a person in a minor car wreck , and seat belts that save a lot , though not all , lives .

Sept 12-11

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2. We’ve just returned from a Labor day Camping excursion to the North Carolina Mountains . Camping is hard work , and calls for several days of relaxing,after getting back home . We were to a Private Campground near Marshall NC , no cell phone or Internet for 4 days . That was the tough part . The good part was that the Church group we are attending put this on , and the food was never ending and plentiful indeed.

We do feel good about the fact we never imbibed any soda pop the whole time . And only one day and night of rain affected the trip . Sept 07-11

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1. The Waglers have just purchased their annual supply of Charcoal for grilling & cooking outdoors with . Lowe’s Lumber is just now getting rid of their seasonal supply at a reasonable price . 2- 20 lb bags wrapped together sell for $7.95 plus tax . We used a  Lowe’s $10. off card which brought the price even lower . A good thing we took the pick-up truck to haul the 240 Lbs of charcoal  home .

With any Lowe’s card you can get 5% off at the register , only if you ask for it . You cannot combine discounts though .

If you are in a real need for a Lowe’s discount card , and haven’t got one , go to a US post office and pick up a ”Change of address’  pamphlet , one is in there .

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We used to have van loads of Amishmen arrive here in Abbeville SC to visit a Doctor , until that particular doctor moved on several years ago.

I myself dress rather “English’ like ,including a Bill-cap , but I always looked at the Amishmen’s hats to figure out how strict they were in consideration if We wanted to attempt chatting with them . A strict Amish Man always wears a Hat Outdoors, sometimes indoors ,or he is not a true Amishman .

As a rule of the thumb , the wider and straighter the brim , the stricter the Amishman.  The rolly- nollys have a flatter crown , always a round dome on the hat . An Amishman will never have a pointed front to the dome of his hat , as that is too worldly indeed . Occasionally one may see a pointed front on a straw hat of an advanced Amishman , the kind of man that probably has rubber tire buggies too ..

In Sarasota .Florida , in the winter , one sees a lot of smaller hat , even no hat Amishmen about . One reason for that is that the stricter Amish are forbidden to go to Florida , in the winter or anytime , unless it is to “Doctor”.

The wide, straight brimmed wool hats with rather flat round crowns usually belong to the ‘swartzentrubers’ , an extra strict flavor of Amishman . The times I chatted with them , I was surprised at how talkitive and friendly they seemed .

If they were smoking ciggies or those long brown cigars , I avoided them , I can’t deal with that . Once they figured out who you stem from or where , they often proved quite interesting to me . and I to them . Every Amishman over about 50 years old knows of my Dad , who was and still is a proliferate Amish writer. The younger generation would not , so I would sometimes play that card , so to speak .

One large Van load of Amish I met had among them only 1 person who Doctored , but that gave the rest the excuse to travel .What a hard life indeed !

The Ideal setting of the all-important brim of the hat to an Amishman is straight out ,perhaps slanting slightly down . The Humble look . If the back brim was turned up even slightly , it is a sign of creeping Worldliness ,or pride for sure.

If the sides of the hat are turned up , even slightly like a cowboys’ , That is and was a sure sign of the Devil’s getting the nod all around . You were toast .

A stricter Amish person may think that ”What is in a man’s heart will come out in how he wears his hat”.

There is a tale about my ancestor Great , Great gram-pa John S Wagler , Who became somewhat senile in his mid-80′s back when folks did not know what that was . He decided to ” run away” by train from Montgomery Ind, to St. Louis and wanted to disguise himself for a getaway.

So what did he choose to effect that ? He got a stylish little ”English ” hat , perhaps with a feather in it , and wore it to and onto the train . And did it work ? No . The family searching for him  recognized him immediately , and hustled him home . We wonder what happened to the little hat .

The wearing of the Suspenders comes in a distant 2nd in importance in many Amishmen’s lives . If you’ve ever been forced to wear them you hate them for life, even if they become a necessity.

The Amish that do not allow elastic in clothes ,have to do with strips of denim sewn together for suspenders, and that has to hurt .

I’ve heard said that some of the strictest do with only one suspender , to hold one’s pants up , but I can’t recall ever seeing that , as if you are that strict you won’t bother to ”Doctor” much ,just let things run it’s course .

To be continued.An evolving article..  Aug.–11

The news changes every day —Should our views change too? The latest comment is at the top of the page.

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9. Governor Rick Perry of Texas has come up to the Lead for now in the Republican Presidential race. The Tea Party is doing a lot for him . The Tea party is almost universally hated and feared by everyone but the middle class Working stiff , the folks that do not want or expect a free ride , which would exclude a lot of Church folks too.

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8. And now , another noteworthy EBay buy . We have just purchased a 1968 copy of the Canadian  ”Free Press Weekly” ,a long extinct Farm paper . Unlike the venerable Canadian ‘Family Herald ‘ which folks saved , the ‘Free press weekly’ was usually tossed after reading , and this is the only copy I have ever seen available in recent years. At that age ,that may have been about our only connection to the World’s events ,This issue has a photo and story about Apollo 8 and it’s crew  on the front page ……the $8 included shipping .      Aug 24—11

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7. Sir Richard branson’s Necker Island mansions burned to the ground yesterday . Go see it online and all the photos too . He is the guy that owns Virgin Airlines and all that stuff. Sure wonder what Insurance he had and all .

Burt Reynolds ‘ Mansion in Florida is in foreclosure after he made no mortgage payments on it for a year , over a million bucks worth . One thing going for the insurance folks , they can test for accelerants (gas etc) days or even weeks after a fire happens .

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6. South Carolina National bank was one of the oldest, most respected banks in the Southeast , even surviving the US civil War of the 1860′s . It merged with Wachovia Bank in 1991 with the names changed over in 1994 . Part of the deal was that the account numbers stayed the same and one could use the old SCN deposit slips and checks till they ran out .

Yeah , it just so happened we had just received an order of the SCN checks for our special account just before the name change back in 1994 and every now and then we happily,even today spring them on an unsuspecting uppity-nosed  teller . They usually have to ask the supervisor , who assures the dumbfounded teller that “yes ,SCN is us”‘.

We guess we paid good $$$ for these blank checks ,and it is not us that keeps changing names.

Now ,in 2011 , Wachovia Bank has been swallowed up by the great Wells Fargo Bank , but they assure us that we can still use any leftover checks & deposit slips from as far back as the account numbers are the same ,no matter what the outdated but merged bank name says…Live on ,SCN . Aug 20-11

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5.We just got word tonight of the death of 80 years old Andrew (Andy) Overholt of Sarasota Fl . About 30+ years ago I had the privilege of traveling with him to far off places . They say you really get to know someone well if you travel or Camp with them . Andy was about the nicest , Interesting and informed person one could ever hope to deal with . R.I. P .

He was also one of those rare folks who seem to make a  good living without trying  too hard or much . My Grandpa John L Yoder was like that too , and I have an Uncle or two that managed it that way also. Not me , with a nose to the grindstone , it seems  .  Aug 18–11

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4.The City of Abbeville SC recently condemned a very old all brick house , and ordered it torn down . I dated it about 1870 . The owners had made a valiant attempt at ‘remodelling ‘ it , but failed to keep ahead of the red sticker on the door . I happened by the night before the scheduled ‘execution’ of the house . The poor owners were scurrying about , hauling stuff out as best they could. When I enquired about buying things , I got immediate preference over their friends who appeared to be stripping out the wiring and carrying stuff out that we would not have touched, for free. The last time the house was occupied was about 30 years ago .

We ended up with a pickup load for about $30 , including 2 nice trunks , one still full of old letters from the 50′s , 3 old oil lamps , 3 chairs , several boxes of packed dishes ,a half dozen old cigar boxes,several ancient hanging wall mirrors, and several old leather suitcases . The great granddaughter of the long deceased occupants even  threw in a few freebies as we closed the last deal by flashlight.

It is a shame , the original all brick part of the house could have been saved .

P.S> A day later , nothing put a pall of dust , a large pile of brick , a shattered pile of wood remains to be loaded .

Do pay your property taxes on time , and do mow the grass and keep up at least the outside off the houses to prevent this type of thing from happening . Historic means nothing against a dozer.

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3. We watched the repubs’  so called debate (on Fox on-line).  The 2 Minnesotans went at it , with the Woman skewering the Pawlenty Guy to where he quit the race the next day . Ah ,it is heating up to a good run . We still say if Pres. Obama brings the gas prices way down he can easy win it .Aug.16-11

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2. All this debt talk and the downgrading of the USA credit rating . How will this affect us in the pocketbook ? We do not know , as we haven’t kept up with it that well , but it cannot be good if the rest of the world gangs up on the USA money-wise and lending wise. Why is the whole world lending the richest country in the world money , anyway ? Dave Ramsey and his type of thinkers may be about right just now about debts in general. Just say no to it..  Aug. 06–11

The banks are on the verge of charging customers a fee to keep their $$$$ safe . That is not a good sign at all .

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1.. Stamp collecting as a hobby in the USA has virtually collapsed , you can buy mint stamps that are 40-50 years old for less then face value , and use them . Though it takes a number to add up to today’s postage .

Old , and not so old Chinese stamps is where the action is now . Chinese Missionary’s friends from long ago are looking through their closets looking for canceled Chinese stamps on envelopes . There weren’t that many made or used back then . These bring hundreds , sometimes thousands of dollars….It’s a bubble . even if China is the World”s emerging power now. Aug 06–11

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Items that may affect the Plain World  , at least our take on it today .

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15 Housing prices in Ft Myers Fl. , and around but not in Pine craft , Fl continue to collapse at an amazing rate . You can get houses for less then 60K and condos for less then 30K , and in Ft Myers that is a block or 2 from the beach . And these are in fairly decent settings . That according to a recent traveler there. Taxes there are high though , from 2K on up for non-residents, is it time to buy or will it sink more next year ?

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14. We are with Duke energy , and for our costs pay about $92. for every thousand KWZ used . that is by far the cheapest in this area . All the Co-ops are getting up to $145. for that same  amount . Aug 03-11

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13. A swimming pool is a must at some point in most families’ journey.We’ve had a 27 ft. above ground one for over a decade now. The whole key is how to keep it relatively clear , and who maintains it ? Pops does , of course.

We are on our 2nd liner and motor , and have tried almost any imaginable way to keep the water stable . We have the best luck by using a half pound of super-shock every day in the hot weather . One can buy super-shock on-line for about $2 a pound. 68%.

Add baking soda every week for clearness, and a gallon or two of bleach added always at dusk , will cut down on the cloroxy  smell of  it . In milder heat we cut out the Super-shock a day or two for a more natural feel . If you have a center drain , use that to flush out the debris , or get a good skimmer , and use it a lot , as the trash always collects in the center. We run the pump less then half an hour a day .

The reason public pools have so much chemical , is because so many trashy folks go to the bathroom in it . So educate , and provide a potty close by .

And if Dad does all the work , does he swim in it often?  Not yet this season .   July27-11

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12. One of the most misused ,overrated , popular  products in the world has to be the can of WD40 setting on your shelf. Just talk to your local locksmith , or clock repair person about the damage the product can and will do .They all go ballistic on it .

Actually , WD40 was designed to help keep dry the huge minuteman missiles that used to set far underground a generation ago ,poised and  ready to destroy the Soviet Union at 10 minutes notice . Fortunately , they were never used.

If you need lubricant for your tools , get a can of silicone spray , that is what that is for .

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11.How to survive the  Heat wave of July-11 . You all up there in the mid-country , learn how to handle this heat , we always have , about every summer .

Fans are a key .Move the air , move , move, move it. until about 85 degrees or so that is . The newer 20 inch box fans do a great job of it .. Central air will do a great job too, if set at 78 degrees , with the fans . If you do not have central air , get a window unit , have a cool room or two.The small window units only take 7 amps or so .

Drink lots of Water , Gatorade , even cold milk . Never drink pop , as the sugar and caffeine will do you in . Do your work in the morning ,till about noon or so . Then take it easy . If the rooms get stifling , go to the open shaded porch or a shady hardwood tree . Never set under a pine tree , as they keep the heat . At least your Mid-west areas cool down some come night time . Cool out the house then . In the South , it often stays in the upper 70′s all night .

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10. The Reader;s Digest , a venerable monthly magazine that has somehow survived longer then one would have thought , is up for sale again . In the past 5 years they have changed hands 3 times , and went bankrupt once . Almost every “Plain’ family has a drawer of old copies of it somewhere , except maybe the rolly-nollys , and they have them perhaps in the barn somewheres. They are hoping to get perhaps 900 million bucks for the whole thing  . They paid like 800 million $$ for the Riemen publications about ten years ago .

We do not subscribe to the WSJ at this time , for lack of time to read it . We do , however , keep the WSJ on our “favourites”.  To be locked out of many of it’s articles is no problem at all. Just type any of the locked WSJ story headings into google , and it will come up at once in entirety , Why Subscribe ?

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9.A man in Greenville Co. SC recently received an overdue water bill , for 2 months in 2001 . The water man was at the door , insisting the computer could not be wrong , when the homeowner found the 10 year old receipts .

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8. Houses continue to drop in prices monthly . A news item predicts a 20% drop for next year . If the following year only has a 19% decline in housing prices , would that be an ”improvement”?

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7. In North Dakota , an 82 year old man who now resides in a nursing home and has spent 17 years studying the North Dakota State Constitution ,claims that because of some missing or mixed up words in it , North Dakota is not a legitimate State.

Some folks do actually study those long , dry documents , it’s no wonder the poor fellow ended up in the nursing home .

That is about as obscure an obsession  as the man I know who collects old sets of encyclopedias (there is an endless supply of those), or a young chap we know  in Missouri that reportedly has a roomful of old dictionaries ..  ……Ah, we need to leave now to hunt for some more light Bulbs..   July 14-11

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6. All those folks falling out of the bleachers at ball games ? Our take on the one last night with all the folks hanging on to his legs is that it was staged .

And the one where the 39 year old fireman died in Texas ? Look at the video , and it is rather plain  he stole the ball from the other man and paid the price .

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5. The Midwest is fixing to get almost unprecedented heat the next few days . Everyone that can needs to just slow it down . Keep cool somehow , we suppose there are still a lot of houses up there without any AC . If possible , get hold of a 5K unit , in reserve in case you need it . They cost $100 at Kmart ,are light and easy to install , cost very little to run and will cool at least one room . July 11-11

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4. All the USA flags flying , what happened to the flags plan-ted on the Moon over 40 years ago ? According to several experts , several were almost surely destroyed when the landing module took off for the mother-ship. They were too close .  As for the rest , they were just ordinary nylon flags , and if still there , are almost surely faded and or tattered badly……..And no , they are not visible from here or the shuttles , no matter how powerful a scope used.  July 05—11

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3. Space Shuttle launches  Goodbye . The final Shuttle mission is scheduled to lift off next week , July 08-11 . At well over a Billion $$$ for a final blast-off  , it was never the Cheap way to Space it was envisioned to be . (7 Million a pop was promised originally). They only averaged a bit over 4 shots a year , losing 2 . But it was still worth it , in jobs, inventions , and innovations realized. Much of today’s gadgetry is a direct result of the Space program over the last 50 years.

We ourselves saw ,and toured around the original ST1 space shuttle poised on the pad in Jan. 1981 ready to blast off . 2 of the 5 shuttles in the fleet  are no more , going to pieces in accidents.

Another bit of shuttle trivia is that there never was a ST13 flight . At no.11 they changed the numbering system , then changed it back several dozen flights later .  The last flight is No. ST135..

The entire Shuttle program over 30 years cost approx $ 200 billion , in today’s dollars .  In the earlier Gemini-Apollo programs , from 1961-1971 the cost was about $125 Billion in today’s money .However , the earlier Program yielded about 95% of technological and other improvements realized.

We were curious why only 4 people are on this final Shuttle mission . The answer is that the USA has no capabilities lined up at all for any type of rescue , if something went awry. The Russians do , with old fashioned rockets , but only for a max of 4 people.

The Atlantis was scheduled to be retired last may , but was readied to cover for any emergencies the past 8 months . Like a spare tire ready to go , they did decide to reuse it for the final shot .  July06

-11

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2, ELECTON-WATCH-2012…Can president Obama Win in 2012 ?  There are several obstacles . The economy , and in simpler terms , high gasoline prices will do him in at the voting booth . Up to now the Repubs did not seem to have a viable candidate ..   June 24 -11

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1. Worthington, Indiana. , the New order Amish group there has the best and the worst of it to look ahead to . About 30 families in size , they have been pretty well written off now, by the main line Amish at this time.

The reason ?  The Spiritual  journey they are on now seems to have taken them beyond the lowly and ornery horse as a primary transportation method . And for that they are now ostracised by most Amish . The description we heard from a strident Amishman very lately is that they have ”Went all to pieces”. Apparently all except a handful of their families are united in this , including all their acting preachers.

It is an established fact ,throughout the last 50 years, that most New order Amish , if they continue on a Spiritual journey of life , will eventually reach that point , and that bodes well for them indeed . It shows continuing Spiritual growth , and not a stagnating of purpose , unlike many mainline Amish Goals .

One of the central claims of Main line Amish is that they are clearly on the right ”path” because they have been around so long .. To that we would note , and point out that they have not been nearly around as long as the Christian Catholic religion , (About 1200 yrs less) .

And there are a lot of similarities between Strict Amish today , and the Catholics of the past several hundred years . There is some good in both of them , but not a lot of Spiritual content to stimulate the spiritual hearts.

The Worthington Ind. Amish group is fixing to run into some severe persecution from their former Brethren , perhaps not from physical fires or swords , but certainly just as bad , being treated and viewed as mongrel dogs is about as bad as that . The Stricter Amish have almost 300 years experience in this kind of mental torture , long before there were cars , even before they fully utilized horses to ride around . Hatred is always from the devil , no matter what the religious cloak it is under .

May they remember that if their journey is with God , they will be sustained .  And will not later regret their following God instead of man’s unfounded strictures . That has often been the real Anabaptist way of life.         June 08 -11

An update on our stocking up on the 100 watt incandescent light bulbs .(1300 and counting .Regular old fashioned ones). We’ve well passed the 350 4-pack mark that makes us a serious contender as a “Lightbulb King” .Following are a few reasons how and why we are collecting on and on and on.

1.We continue the buying unabated , before the federal cutoff date of Jan. 1-2012 , in less then 6 months  the 100 watt regular bulbs are history. We suspect they will be wiped out well before that date.

1b. We have always been a full 100 watt bulb user . Perhaps the early years of doing with flickering , smelly kerosene lamps has a bit to do with it .

2. It takes a real 100 watts of light to see to get that splinter out of a finger or palm of one’s hand .

3.The government and industry data I’ve seen does not take into account the 6 to 9 months of the heating season, depending on the area , when these are actually little heaters in each room plus real light makers , dual use . What is greener then that ?

In the summer , when it is hot there may be a case for using the curly ones.

4. We have hoarded only USA made 100 watt light bulbs . In our area that means only the Sylvana red box ones , made in st. marys Pa USA.

We avoid all regular light bulbs Made in China , which is 99% of the bulbs in stores today . They tend to last only a portion of stated average  hours , sometimes explode for little or no reason , may contain lead , and a poor vacuum seal means one cannot store them for very long.Some of the Chinese ones are boldly marked as ”extra long life , 3000 hr. bulbs”. The real truth to most of those claims is 50 hours or so .

All the above faults also may apply to the CFL , or curly new type bulbs too,  as they are all made in China , with non-existent quality controls , it seems . Some folks claim the curlys flicker and give out less light then rated . Disposing of them may be a problem , too .

We recently had purchased one of those outdoor security spaghetti lights that was supposed to last like 10 years or more , took like 50 watts or so to light up the whole yard.. Well , 6 months later the bulb is dark forever , and we cannot quite come up with the receipt..

The new Curly bulbs must be installed straight up or down . A Horizontally installed bulb tends to break like a melted Popsicle and the mercury inside may escape ..ugh..

5.These soon to be banned regular bulbs are only available now in a few  “Dollar type” stores in our area at least the USA made ones.. We are sticking with the 750- 1000 hr range ones as they only cost a buck a 4- pack .

Most of these stores stock weekly , so we wipe out all the stock  in that particular wattage, which is usually 12 packs of 4 , and that generates an automatic reorder for the following week .

That we are referred to as “E Bay man ” in several of these  stores would tend to make one familiar with the different possible angles of the endeavor . In fact , they are for sale on E bay now ,at $4 a pack on up , plus shipping .

6. We do claim to have a few standards . One ,we don’t drive out of the way to ”hunt the Bulbs”. At least not far . Also we save all the receipts , as it would be awkward to explain this amount of undocumented items in some dimly lit future .

7. If a few are good , many are better . That may be the hoarder’s mantra. We don’t play golf , hunt wild animals in a bloodsport , or buy lottery tickets ,and never have . Having a 100 year supply of anything puts one in a unique bracket of some sort.

8. The question is , are we planning to continue on next year with the 75 watters ? They are still legal for another year, as of now . We doubt it , because they just do not have the zing , or zip of the full 100 watt ones. And then there may be a looming storage problem ,too.

On the other hand , the light bulb bug bites deep , maybe we should ride this thing all the way out. We wish all a ”light bulb high wattage ” .

Jesse wagler June 28-2011

update july 11-11 .The US House of representatives is now considering a bill to repeal the ”light bulb” laws . Ah ,now wouldn’t that be a pretty kettle of fish ? We doubt that will occur , at this late date.