A Note to My Pastor

Dear Pastor,

If I were to title your sermon today it would be Opening Up The Kingdom.

When I was a child, I experienced so much rejection in my family church.  If someone smoked, drank, payed less than a full tithe or were immoral they were shunned, disfellowshiped and even excommunicated.  Fast forward now 30 years with prison populations probably doubled since then, gays out of the closet, pornography a challenge for 70% of Christian men, divorce the norm and and daily discussions on transgenders common.  What we see is our civilization being drawn toward two polar opposites - accept everything and everyone or close the doors to only the visibly righteous.

Your message today helped to mold my core values.  I shall accept every person as God's child worthy of acceptance, love and forgiveness. Period.  We the people, are God's people, that is our right and blessing given to us by the blood of Christ.

I will open my arms and my heart to love my brother and sister as Christ would.  That is my prayer.  I will treat the prison inmate with the same love and respect as my fellow officer or next door neighbor. That is my vow.

Build Your kingdom here

Let the darkness fear

Show Your mighty hand

Heal our streets and land

Set Your church on fire

Win this nation back

Change the atmosphere

Build Your kingdom here

We pray.

By Rend Collective - YouTube

Bless you in your continued work.

-- 

gus

My White Bread Recipe

I'm not a connoisseur of bread or bakery items.  I'm a utilitarian.  I make bread for toast, sandwiches and other uses to serve a family.  Wheat, Rye and specialty/gourmet breads are fine, but I bake family bread similar to American store bought white bread.  I've done the specialty loaves with exotic spices and herbs, cheeses and nuts, but I still come back to the trusted standard of simple ingredients.

If I were to bake my loaf from scratch, by hand in an oven or on a hearth I would still use the same recipe and order of ingredients because it has worked for centuries.

Back in about 1995 I purchased a ZojiRushi bread maker because it was "top of the line" by Consumer Reports at the time.  I have been using that same bread maker ever since, even though it makes vertical loaves and not the standard horizontal to simulate a loaf of store bought bread.  It is one of my top 10 purchases over my lifetime I'd dare to say

I use a balance (scale) when I can because of simplicity.  Flour is easier to measure by the gram, salt is easier to measure by the teaspoon.  I'll give both measurements and you can choose.  If you use strictly measuring cups and spoons you'll be fine, strictly a scale and you'll also be fine.  Use both and you'll save some time.  (I'm a poet and don't know it.)

Here is my recipe for Basic White Bread.

With the bread maker pan on the balance (scale) press Zero or Tare between ingredients.  Add them IN THIS ORDER.

• 1 1/3 cups water (320 mL or grams)
• 4 Tbsp. sugar (46 g) - sucrose for the yeast
• 2 Tbsp. dried milk (8 g) which provides lactose for the yeast, plus lubricant.
• 2 tsp. salt (11 g) - provides seasoning
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. butter or vegetable oil (35 g) - I use veggie oil.  The important thing is oil provides lubrication in the process. Oils have less fat than butter, and are a better lubricant.
• 4 1/4 cups of flour(544 g), a discussion item, but - I prefer Gold Medal Unbleached Bread flour, but frankly I will use anything in my cabinet.  I mix flours if I have to, rather than take a trip to the store.
• Yeast - add 2 tsp or 1 packet of active dry yeast (6 g) to the top of the pile. - Check the date for expiration.

Place the pan in the bread maker, set the mode to Quick Bread  and press Start. Walk away for 4 hours - go somewhere. One note of caution here.  If I do this before I go to bed the bread machine keeps me up all night with the aroma more than the sound.  I have to bake my bread on the weekends or earlier in the day.

I add the ingredients in this order to keep the liquids separate from the solids as long as possible, and the yeast separate from everything else as long as possible.  This insures the yeast is not affected from contact from too hot or cold water, or die because it contacts the salt.

In about 4 hours you'll have an edible, tasty, utilitarian loaf of bread that is delicious fresh or for sandwiches this week.

My last batch went moldy after a week kept on the kitchen counter-top, because there are no preservatives in this bread.   We ate most and gave the rest to our backyard birds.

As I Lay Me Down To Sleep

As I lay me down and reflect upon my day,
I see all the beauty that was placed before me.
I experienced so much goodness in my interactions,
Random people blessed me as a fragrant bouquet.

May tomorrow be like it, may my steps be blessed.
Let me be an influence, like a cool drink of water,
To those who thirst or hunger for kindness,
Help me see their needs are addressed.

gk

Call Your Mama

One word daily is better than a thousand words yearly.
Kind words are always appreciated dearly. - gk

Write a note, make a call to a loved one. It will bless your life and theirs.

An Easter Message of Hope

On one hand I cannot believe I wrote a Passover message prior to Easter.  What was I thinking?

Just let me say this...I know that my Redeemer lives. What comfort this sweet sentence gives! He lives, he lives, who once was dead. He lives, my ever-living Head.He lives to bless me with his love. He lives to plead for me above. He lives my hungry soul to feed. He lives to bless in time of need. Source

This Lenten season, Ash Wednesday through today has been a season of continual reflection.  One holy day merged into another, and now the Jewish holiday of Passover begins soon..  The Bible story can not only be wonderfully broken down into individual messages of inspiration and wisdom, but it also must be look at as a whole; the same with one’s spiritual life.

Long before I was positively influenced by Christ’s disciples in my high school (thank you), I was taught by my family and the religion of our past generations, the LDS Church.

Forty years later I recall some of the teachings and hymns of my childhood and fondly sing them under my breath, so as not to be seemingly judged by some of my main stream Christian contemporaries. As I think of Easter, this song comes to mind which is a traditional LDS hymn. I only included the first verse and the chorus because that is what rings in my heart and causes me to sing aloud.

The Day Dawn Is Breaking

The day dawn is breaking, the world is awaking,
The clouds of night's darkness are fleeing away.
The worldwide commotion, from ocean to ocean,
Now heralds the time of the beautiful day.

Beautiful day of peace and rest,
Bright be thy dawn from east to west.
Hail to thine earliest welcome ray,
Beautiful, bright, millennial day.

Now a message of hope written by a friend suffering from depression, that end in a message of hope reflected in Easter...

On My Finite Depression

Is it possible to be happy again, normal?
I get by daily by following my routine,
But sometimes it can get very dark.
Knowing deep inside I'm blessed, sometimes joyful.

Family, friends, a loving wife. A life blessed.
But shadows are comfortable and darkness my friend,
Hours pass, accomplishing nothing.
When I was younger, unstoppable this didn't need to be addressed.

I see a light ahead, just out of reach.
One week, month, year of this yet to go.
I'll hang in there, because of faith.
Faith in a a power greater, that will let this wall be breached.
I can because He is risen!

-author's name withheld.

Matzah 2016

I really have an appreciation for Jewish people. I'll never understand what they've been through, or the discrimination they've faced or face today. However, I have a deep respect for their traditions, therefore the following recipe, an adaptation from recipe Matzah.

Matzah - the bread made by the Jews during the Passover...I know Wiki is not the best source for information. I am only including this link as a reference for general knowledge...

In preparation for the Passover this year, April 22-30, this is how I made my Matzah, and it is a superior recipe to previous years...

Move an oven rack near the top of oven and preheat oven to 475 degrees F.

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose, unbleached kosher flour
about 1/3 cup water (more/less if needed)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour for dusting on the counter and the roller

Yields: about 4 – 5 inch diameter pieces of unleavened bread. In a religious ceremony, this amount would serve approximately 100 people.

Add in all ingredients to mixer bowl.

Move an oven rack near the top of oven and preheat oven to 475 degrees F.

Preheat a heavy baking sheet or baking stone in the oven. Dust a clean work surface and a rolling pin with 1 teaspoon flour, or as needed. Place 1 cup of flour into a mixing bowl; set a timer for about 16 minutes (18 minutes maximum). Start the timer; pour the water, about 1 tablespoon at a time, into the flour. Stir the water and flour together with a fork until the dough forms a rough ball, remove the dough to the prepared work surface, knead rapidly and firmly until smooth, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Divide the dough into four equal pieces. Swiftly roll each piece into a ball. Roll each piece of dough out into a 5-inch pancake and it will be about ¼ inch thick, dusting the top and rolling pin with flour as needed. Gradually roll the pancakes out to a size of about 5 inches  Roll from the center out. The bread rounds should be thin about 1/4 inch thick. Using a fork, quickly pierce each bread about 20 times, all over, to prevent rising. The holes should go completely through the bread. Flip the bread over, and pierce each piece another 20 times or so.

Place the rounds onto the baking sheet. Place the baking sheet onto the rack near the top of the oven, and bake for 5 minutes; turn the breads over and bake an additional 4 minutes, until the Matzah are lightly browned and crisp.

Recipe Modification! - April 2, 2016 - Today I didn't want to mess with a rolling pin and flouring the cabinet today so I mixed it in a bowl and made it flat like a thick tortilla, then popped it in the oven.  Bake @ 475 for 8 minutes, flip then 8 more minutes.  A longer baking time.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Lightly anoint each Matzah with olive oil, using a brush, and sprinkle generously with salt.

Footnotes:

• Making Matzah breads kosher for Passover requires using special Kosher flour that has been guarded from contact with liquids. I used Gold Medal, Kosher, unbleached all-purpose flour.
• The cook is allowed no longer than 18 minutes from the point they combine the flour and water to when they remove the Matzah from the oven in order for it to be considered fit for Passover.