Nelson Daily Stories

                WE WELCOME YOU YEAR 2021                 CBS had an inspiring program yesterday morning – on the last day of 2020 – “a terrible year” that has brought so much pain and suffering, so much despair and depression – to so many people in so many parts of our world. Spiritual leaders of various faiths – Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, offered words of encouragement and hope on the program. “We are interconnected,” the Buddhist representative said. He was one of the group that encouraged listeners to face the future with hope and “feel the wind of spirit at our backs.” At this time of change and uncertainty we need to depend more on “The Holy Other”, said Rev. Jacqui Lewis, Senior Minister at Middle Collegiate Church in New York City. “The Holy Other” is her personal term for God. Hope and firm faith in God will...

GOD PUT ME THERE TO SAVE THEM “God put me there to save them!” the man told CNN . Who is the “ me ”? A well-known evangelist perhaps? Or an aspiring politician? Could it have been an expert swimmer? No, none of those. In fact, the ‘me’ we are dealing with is a homeless man. His name is Mr. Keith Walker, he lives in Atlanta, USA and he owns a dog called “Bravo.” From time to time Mr. Walker would walk past W-Underdogs where several dogs and cats have shelter. The facility often provided food and shelter to Bravo . An article on the NBC News website on Tuesday December 29, 2020, tells how the owner of W-Underdogs was out collecting supply donations for the shelter when he heard the shocking news that the place was on fire. It turned out to be an electrical fire. The next report from the Atlanta Fire Department was that someone rushed into the burning building “and helped bring the animals to safety.” After the animals were rescued other volunteers mobilized and brought the ...

 “THIS IS REDEMPTION!” At 10 o’clock one morning on a dark and cloudy day in the north-west of England, Mick “a well-established underworld fixer” waited in his car, a stolen car, to clear a drug debt with another drug dealer.  Mick had his gun in a plastic bag on the seat beside him, he was ready to use it if it became necessary.  Then he saw the man walk out of the building. Two little girls walked beside him. Mick got out of his car, holding the wrapped gun in his hand, and walked toward the man. He had business to do, there was no time for any nonsense. Suddenly “a blinding light came from one of the children’s hands. It was white, brilliant white. For 15 seconds I could not see. It was like looking into the sun and I was paralyzed by it.” He collapsed to the ground then struggled back to the car. “I felt sick I was shaking, sweating, my heart was beating fast I could hear my pulse as if it were in my head. I didn’t know what was happening to me.” The story, written b...

           “FORGIVE US AS WE FORGIVE…” Thirty seven years is a long time. Thirty seven years in a pleasant productive situation is great. Thirty seven years in prison must be awful. Thirty seven years in prison for a crime you did not commit must be living hell. Yet two days ago “Bruce L” wrote a note to the Detroit Free Press that said:” What an incredible man. A true brother who kept his integrity intact in a situation that would have eventually destroyed a person of weaker character.   Welcome back to the world.” Let us find out what this is all about. On December 14, 2020, an article by Omar Abdel Bacqui was published in the Detroit Free Press . It was about a man named Walter Forbes who became a free man on November 20, 2020 after spending more than 37 years in prison. So, what was so special about that? Many men spend long years in prison for crimes they commit. Ah! That is the point. He was exonerated “after witness admit...

  FIRST WILD ANIMAL WITH COVID-19 “On December 13, (2020) the US Department of Agriculture reported that a wild mink in Utah tested positive for the coronavirus.” Brian Resnick wrote this in a wide-ranging article titled “A wild mink in Utah has Covid-19.  Veterinarians fear this is just the beginning.”  “It started in nature. A coronavirus that originated in bats has wound up in humans causing the Covid-19 pandemic. And it can go back to nature.” Resnick wrote. “The SARS-CoV-2 virus can jump again, from humans, back into animals, back into wildlife, where it can wait, mutate and change. Perhaps, years from now, it can infect people again.” In the article he looked at which animals can catch COVID-19, which animals cannot - - and why it matters. “A mink in Utah has become the first known wild animal to become infected with COVID-19 the US Department of Agriculture USDA said Monday,” was how MSN News (Business Insider) broke the story on Wednesday, December 16, 2020....

  “GOD HAS A SENSE OF HUMOR” There is a train station in Doraville, Georgia. Across the street from the station is a charity, called “I Care Atlanta”  run by Anthony Delgado. Seven employees work at the charity which occupies two buildings. Inside there are 17 freezers. Two trucks are used in the organization, a non-profit “devoted to ending homelessness by reaching out to the working poor and homeless men women and children in metro Atlanta and surrounding communities.” The owner of the charity, Anthony Delgado, told Jennifer Hauser of CNN that he often looks at the train station and thinks “God has a sense of humor.”  Really? Why would he think so?  Some years ago, Delgado had “an argument with his cousin” and because of it he was left at a train station in Doraville. That event opened the door to a life of homelessness and addiction to crack. “He panhandled on the streets of Atlanta to feed the habit,” Hauser’s article says. One day in a very cold winter he was ...

  THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS     On Old Scugog Road SCUGOG is the Indian term for submerged land.  On the website “Early history of SCUGOG” we read: “The Indians, who roamed over Ontario at will not so many years ago have left behind them some very euphonic names as their everlasting epitaphs. None is more pleasing to Ontarians today than the word Scugog – the name for both the pretty lake and river and the fertile island midway up Ontario country’s eastern boundary line.”  On December 7, 2017 Ainsley Smith wrote in Featured Events in Toronto: “This holiday season if you’re dying to see some good old fashioned Christmas lights you’re going to want to head to Old Scugog Road in Bowmanville. “Located just over an hour from Toronto, Old Scugog Road is home to the most incredible Christmas light displays that go beyond your traditional twinkle lights. “Picture over 100 homes decked out in not only lights but also spotlights, moving Ferris wheels, projection scre...

 DO YOU REMEMBER GUNNER? HE IS NOW A DEPUTY DOG! Do you remember the story about Gunner, the little puppy that was rescued by his owner, Richard Wilbanks, from an alligator that wanted to eat him for breakfast?  Well, Gunner is making news again! He has a new job. An article by Janine Puhak, Fox News, says Gunner has been named “deputy” for the sheriff’s office. He had a police patch placed on his harness at a swearing in ceremony.  “Gunner to help teach children about safety, officials say” was the headline to newscast producer Caithleigh Winnigham’s article on Florida.com. “A Florida dog whose rescue went viral last month has a brand new job. Gunner is now a “deputy dog” with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. He will work with them to help educate children about safety.” “Do you swear to uphold the constitutional law for the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Gunner?” Sheriff Carmine Marceno asked the pup? His owner smiled and then retold the story of “the wild encounter” when...

  THE CHRISTMAS STAR When my son asked me about the Christmas Star that is coming this December I realized that I had “forsaken my first love” for some time. He knew that I am passionately interested in the stars and planets and have always been aware of the unusual, beautiful, and amazing things we can see in the sky. But this coming event slipped me! On December 4, 2020 CBN News reported that a rare event would take place on December 21. The “ Christmas Star ” or the “ Star of Bethlehem ” would appear in the sky. The “ Star ” had not been seen in almost eight centuries - not since the Middle Ages, not since July 16, 1623. On the day that marks the beginning of the Winter Solstice, Monday December 21, 2020, Jupiter and Saturn the two largest planets in our Solar system “will align. They will appear to form a double planet. It is a rare event.” Jamie Carter , Senior Contributor, Science, Forbes.com, writes (November 2, 2020) that a spectacularly rare “ Christmas star ” i...

          “GOOD FOR YOU AND GOOD FOR THE WHOLE COUNTRY” “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity….it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” Charles Dickens words from “A Tale of Two Cities” seem to be written for this time in our history. The United States just recorded its highest weekly COVID-19 death toll, a seven day average of 2.249 deaths last week, as it experiences a surge in cases according to the New York Times . This breaks the previous record of 2,232 deaths in one week set in April. There have been over 283,000 coronavirus deaths in the United States as of Tuesday morning December 8, 2020. Over 15 million cases of the disease have been recorded. On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, one year after the COVID -19 began in the United Kingdom, Britain started the Pfizer-BioNTech va...

  Dr. R. Todd Magnum, Associate Professor of Theology, Biblical Theological Seminary is ordained by the Southern Baptist Convention. He serves frequently as pulpit supply in several area churches and is an active churchman at Grace Bible Church, Souderton, PA. In May 2020 he responded in a guest opinion column to the question posed by Christianity Today: “Does the Biblical pattern of disaster and discipline with a call to repent apply to COVID-19?” “This is a difficult question to ponder. I do not presume ourselves to be under either the blessings and curses of theocratic Israel or the apocalyptic doom of Revelation. However, I do see patterns of Biblical teaching indicative of God’s ongoing engagement in the affairs of human life and his willingness to use extreme measures to accomplish his purposes.” When confronted with disaster, Scripture calls us to look to God for both comfort and self-censure. Prophets from Moses to Malachi point to sin and the need for repentance as r...

 FINLAND’S PRIME MINISTER AND THE EQUALITY PROGRAMME   “We must all be focused on how we can make the program a reality,” Finland’s new and youngest ever Prime Minister, Sanna Marin said recently, “This is my mission.” What program was she talking about? The Equality Program that will help improve the position of racial minorities. “Our backgrounds still affect the possibilities that we have in life and that should not be the case,” she added. She feels that it is “a job for all Finns.” Finland’s coalition government headed by five women began work almost one year ago. It is drafting a new and “ambitious equality program” having “dealt efficiently with the coronavirus pandemic.” The government meets behind closed doors at Finland’s House of Estates, a Renaissance building. In December 2019 Sanna Marin began her new job as “Finland’s new and youngest prime minister.” She headed a five-party center-left coalition government – the members were all women . “Feminism...

                                     I DID IT BECAUSE I LOVED ANA   “I felt overwhelming gratitude and thankfulness and a little bit of relief because I was finally able to thank her. In my work I have tried to repay her by helping others.” This statement came from D.C. lawyer Ana Reyes as she sat beside Pat Harkleroad on November 13, 2020. It was the first time they were seeing each other in 40 years , and it was a very emotional interaction. Ana Reyes, 46 years old, was born in Uruguay, South America.   Her family moved to Spain for some time before settling in Louisville, USA in 1979. Her father was a Civil Engineer. Ana could not speak a word of English. “I remember feeling lost,” she said in the interview with Sydney Page carried in the Washington Post . The little 5 year old girl “was adrift”. But help was on the way. Her first grade teach...