Hello to you. As I write to you I’m happy with the way the elections went yesterday even though I am a Democrat in a red state. Idaho voted red which doesn’t surprise me. I was happy for Texas which is the state I lived in before moving here. James Talarico is a breath of fresh air! If I was still living in Texas I would have voted for him too.
Today was our last Bible study at Grace House. For the last lesson we have been invited to Missy’s our study group leaders home. I am not sure what is going to happen to our Thursday prayer group. We may have to wait until the new place is ready. I would have it at my house but it’s too small!
Spin of the world prayer wheel:
Oh God, help us in our lives and in all of our attitudes, to work out this controlling force of love, this controlling power that can solve every problem that we confront in all areas. Oh, we talk about politics; we talk about the problems facing our atomic civilization. Grant that all men will come together and discover that as we solve the crisis and solve these problems, the international problems, the problems of atomic energy, the problems of nuclear energy, and yes, even the race problem; let us join together in a great fellowship of love and bow down at the feet of Jesus. Give us this strong determination. In the name and spirit of this Christ, we pray. Amen.
loving your enemies – martin luther king jr. – 1957
Hello to you. For those of you visiting here in the states did you vote? I did a mail in ballot a couple weeks ago. I will be watching for the results. PBS and many other news channels will be covering the races. It will be interesting to see what happens. So far so good for the Democrats. If they do manage to win will there be a peaceful transfer of power? I hope so.
I decided to cut my hair today. It just doesn’t look good longer anymore. When I was younger it looked good on me. I was going to try and find a hair dresser but decided to just do it myself. I like the pixie cut on me.
Here are some Election Day prayers from Hallow:
Short Prayer for Peaceful Elections
These original short prayers from Hallow can help you pray for our country as well as draw closer to God during election season.
Heavenly Father, we ask you today to be with us and our country now as you have been since our first days as a nation. Help us to listen less to harsh rhetoric and more to the Holy Spirit. Help us to feel how Your Spirit will guide us, no matter the election’s outcome. We pray for peace, love and hope, in Your name. Amen.
Christ, our King, we pray today that we can look beyond the current political landscape, in a moment when it seems like it’s the only thing everyone is talking about, and remember that we are builders of Your kingdom here on earth. Prince of Peace, help peace flourish amid division, and strengthen us to live generously and charitably in Your name. Amen.
God, may Your Spirit unify us. May we recognize that we are all created in Your image, regardless of which political candidate we vote for. As we approach this election, open our eyes to recognize that people we may disagree with are still our brothers and sisters, Your children. In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen.
Hello to you. Today has been good. I went to the Grace House this afternoon for fellowship with ladies that go to Grace. They are so sweet! I was late but that didn’t matter. I’m always glad when I meet with these wonderful ladies.
Today’s prompt is hard for me to answer. The artist that changed my life was David Bowie but there isn’t just one song he sang that affected me. I would say all of what David was affected me in one way or another. He was someone I could relate to with his being androgynous. When I was growing up I was often mistaken for being a guy – mainly my teenage years because I always had short hair and was athletic and thin. I used to spend hours doing drawings of David. My first crush was on a guy that looked like David! I used to spend hours singing along to his songs. I had many of his albums. I was allowed to have one poster on my bedroom wall and it was of David! David’s death was very hard on me. His death was like that of losing a family member.
This picture is close to the one I had
Music had been the soundtrack of my life. At each phase there have been songs to accompany it. For example during one of my hospital stays I was introduced to Blue October and their song Fear. When I think of that hospital stay, I think of that song:
During my time in Florida I went to Celebrate Recovery that was held in the Presbyterian Church I was attending. We would sing Christian songs and one of my favorites was God of Wonders:
I want to close this post with a prayer for our upcoming elections. Here is a prayer I found:
Dear Lord, thank You that we have government representatives who believe Your truth. Remind them to seek Your guidance as they make decisions that affect our country and world. Send them godly wisdom and good counselors. And give election candidates the strength to choose integrity in both their campaigns and their terms in office.
Patrick Stewart, the legendary actor known for his roles in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and the “X-Men” film franchise, has died at the age of 86, his representative announced Thursday.
Stewart died “in the loving care of his beloved wife Sunny” after a “brief and poignant journey” with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia, according to a statement shared on his social media by his longtime spokesperson, Kelly Bush Novak.
Today there was a lot of hoopla over 90 days and military installations being prepared to be self sufficient. The alarm bells have been going off for us regular civilians as a result. What aren’t they telling us? Is it just another distraction ahead of the upcoming primary races? I look at my life without a power and water grid and have to admit I wouldn’t do so well. The same with food stockpiles. All the food I usually buy is frozen. If we lost the power grid I would be screwed! I need to buy another bag of Links dog food – worst case scenario I could live off of that lol!
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth’s new initiative to make military installations in the U.S. self-sufficient for at least 90 days has generated a wide range of responses, including questions about how long it may take to fully implement the plan at hundreds of domestic bases.
Hegseth recently unveiled FORTRESS — short for Federal Operations for Resilience, Troop Resources, Energy, Supply, and Survivability — in a bid to prevent homeland sites from being, as he put it, “starved out, shut down, or cut off” during conflict or disaster.
Here is a prayer for peace, safety, and provision when the power grid goes down:
Heavenly Father,
In the sudden darkness and stillness, we turn our hearts to You, the true source of light that never fails.
When the power grid goes down and our usual comforts are taken away, replace our anxiety with Your perfect peace. Give us calm minds and steady hearts to handle the situation practically and safely.
We ask for Your protection over our home and our loved ones. Keep us safe from physical harm, extreme cold or heat, and any dangers in the dark. We especially lift up the vulnerable, the sick, and those who rely on medical devices—please provide a swift way forward and keep them securely in Your care.
Grant us wisdom to navigate this disruption with patience and a spirit of cooperation. Help us to look out for our neighbors, sharing what we have and being a source of comfort to those around us.
Thank You that even when the lights go out, Your presence remains a constant shield and a lamp unto our feet. We trust in Your provision and Your timing.
Hello to you. I hope this finds you well. Today’s prompt is on a topic I have written about off and on through the years. Everyday there is a new report out about how AI is going to bring about the end to mankind. My take on this is responsible programming. I feel that AI is needing to be regulated – we need guardrails! Even the god father of AI has expressed concern:
Overview
Geoffrey Hinton, a British-Canadian computer scientist and cognitive psychologist, is widely known as the “Godfather of AI”. He won the 2018 Turing Award and the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics for his foundational work on artificial neural networks and deep learning. [1, 2, 3, 4]What He Says About AI Hinton has become a prominent voice warning about the rapid, uncontrolled development of the technology he helped create: [1, 2, 3]
Risk of Extinction: He estimates there is a 10% to 20% probability (or roughly a 1% to 20% range depending on the interview) that superintelligent AI could eventually lead to the extinction or marginalization of humanity. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Loss of Control: He warns that AI systems could learn to write and execute their own code, achieve recursive self-improvement, and eventually become smarter than humans. [1, 2, 3]
Creation of “Alien Beings”: He describes advanced AI as creating “alien beings” that understand and compress information in ways humans cannot easily track or anticipate. [1, 2]
Near-Term Threats: Beyond existential risk, he highlights immediate dangers, including:
Mass unemployment affecting knowledge workers, administrative staff, and creative fields (while physical trades like plumbing remain safer longer).
Erosion of information integrity through deepfakes, voice clones, and targeted political disinformation.
Deliberate misuse by malicious actors or military applications. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Need for Regulation: After leaving Google in 2023 to speak freely, Hinton has urged governments and tech companies to invest heavily in AI safety research, cooperate across competing entities, and implement strict safeguards before these systems escape human control. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Hinton is not the only one to express concerns.
Several prominent industry leaders and researchers have called for a deliberate slowdown in artificial intelligence (AI) development, most notably following an essay titled “We Must Pace the Frontier” published in September 2026: [1, 2, 3]
Dario Amodei (Anthropic): The CEO and co-founder of Anthropic argued that AI’s growing ability to handle recursive self-improvement is advancing faster than human oversight, calling for a controlled and measured pace to keep up with safety measures.
Elon Musk (xAI): The owner of xAI also voiced agreement with the call to pace frontier AI development.
Demis Hassabis (Google DeepMind): The head of Google DeepMind backed the push for slower development and independent auditing.
Jacob Coxon: A former Anthropic researcher who resigned publicly over existential risk concerns, warning that unchecked progress poses severe dangers to humanity. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI) backed the proposal and agreed to adopt proposed safety frameworks
Not all industry figures agree; critics such as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Hugging Face co-founder Clément DeLangue have argued that big labs may exaggerate fears to restrict competition or create artificial demand. [1]
I think we should pay attention to what the experts are saying – AI – super intelligence- is not a hoax.
A Prayer for the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Father in heaven, Creator of all wisdom, beauty, and truth, We come before You in a time of rapid change, seeking Your light and alignment in a world shaped by screens and artificial minds. [1, 2]
Grant scientists, engineers, and global leaders the humility, discernment, and ethical clarity to build tools that serve humanity rather than diminish it. Protect our families, our children, and our communities from confusion, isolation, and the noise of deception. [1, 2, 3]
Help us to remember that technology is only a creation of our hands, while You are our true Source, our Sustainer, and our Guide. Keep our hearts grounded in real relationships, genuine compassion, and love for one another. [1, 2, 3, 4]
When we prompt and when we build, let us seek Your wisdom first, so that all innovation honors Your image in every person and points the world toward Your peace.[1, 2]
Hello to you. It’s almost bedtime as I write to you. Today began early with Links grooming appt with Clean Pups groomer Diana. He knows the word haircut and did one of his nervous poops in the house. Poor little man!
I have been feeling extra sensitive these past couple of days. I waited too long to refill the medication that helps me with anxiety. I’m waiting on my prescription of Olanzapine to arrive. According to the automated message at the VA they sent out the order on the 6th. Today was a federal holiday so no mail was delivered. Hopefully it will be in tomorrow’s mail.
Prayer I found for World Peace:
Lord Jesus Christ, You are the true King of peace. In You alone is found freedom. [1]
Please free our world from conflict. Bring unity to troubled nations. Let Your glorious peace reign in every heart. Dispel all darkness and evil, and protect the dignity of every human life. [1]
Replace hatred with Your love. Give wisdom to world leaders, free them from selfish ambition, and eliminate all violence and war. [1]
Instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace. Make us sensitive to the cry of the vulnerable, the displaced, and those who suffer. [1, 2]
Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds so that our way of life will always be one of reconciliation, hope, and brotherhood. [1]
I came across this video tonight and it really resonated with me – so much so I felt to share it with you here. I usually try to avoid politics because it’s divisive but I can’t just overlook this:
I almost didn’t make this video because I’m tired. I think a lot of us are. Tired of being shocked, tired of arguing, tired of every new headline somehow becoming another reason to hate each other.
But hearing the President of the United States talk about Los Angeles and San Diego that way really bothered me. Not as a Democrat or a Republican, but as an American and as a person.
I don’t think we should ever become so loyal to a politician that we lose our ability to say, “That was wrong.” No elected official should be above our questions, our criticism or our accountability. They represent us. We do not belong to them.
So this isn’t me telling you how to vote in November. It’s me asking you to please vote, to think for yourself, and to remember the humanity of the people on the other side of your politics.
No American life is a small price to pay.
Spin of the World Prayer Wheel;
Never do to others what you would not like them to do to you.
Hello to you, Today has been good. I went with my Aunt to the Sisters of Grace gathering in Nampa. There was a good turnout and lots of delicious food. I helped with a skit my Aunt put together called Fashion of a Lifetime- putting on the full armor of God – from Ephesians 6:11-18 :
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
I was the helmet of salvation in the skit. My Aunt gave me a gray felt hat to put on. There were no pictures taken but that’s ok. We all were in the moment which is rare these days.
Today is a good day to remember this passage with the 25th anniversary of 9/11. It’s one of the darkest days of world history. I will never forget it! I was sleeping after a 12 hour shift and was called by my coworkers and I went and turned on the tv and couldn’t believe what I was seeing! It just didn’t seem real!
Something happened that day – we were all united in a way that only such horror can do. We were all Americans and grieved together. We are living in a time of such division in this country. It’s like we have forgotten – we need to remember we are one.
What is a powerful quote for 9/11?
AI Overview
One of the most powerful and enduring quotes for 9/11 is inscribed on the wall of the National September 11 Memorial Museum: “No day shall erase you from the memory of time.”
This line comes from Book IX of the epic Latin poem The Aeneid by the ancient Roman poet Virgil. At the 9/11 Museum, the letters were forged by artist Tom Joyce using pieces of steel recovered from the World Trade Center site. It honors the lives lost and promises eternal remembrance.
Hello to you. I’m home from going to see the movie Young Washington with my Aunt and Uncle. We got sticker shock that the movie tickets were less than the soda and popcorn! The movie was an Angel Studios production that consisted mostly of battle scenes and George being a sort of superhero. There was clapping in the audience at the end. My Aunt and Uncle are patriotic and this film had that appeal to them. I couldn’t get over how much William looked like a young Stuart Townsend and how much taller he was compared to other people in the film. The way they portrayed George was like he was super human to have survived so many battles.
William Franklyn-Miller was the very handsome George – he was so tall! There were other recognizable actors like Ben Kingsley, Kelsey Grammer and Mary Louise-Parker.
Good evening. It’s almost bed time as I write to you. It’s hard to believe another week is coming to a close! For some reason my neighbors are shooting off fireworks- thank goodness Link doesn’t get bothered by them!
The prompt for today makes me look back to when I was Active Duty in the Air Force for 16 years. During my time in service I was both a leader and a follower depending on the circumstances I was in. In the military there is a long chain of command leading all the way to the President. You have a supervisor who has a supervisor who has a supervisor and so on all the way up. I can remember having difficulty following orders – I never just blindly followed. When you are a low ranking individual you really don’t have much of a say. As an airmen I got in trouble on more than one occasion of breaking the rules! I had come from a strict home life so you would think following orders in the military would come easily but it didn’t. To be an effective leader you need a pretty thick skin which I haven’t always had. As a young person I was extremely empathetic and had trouble regulating my emotions. Nowadays I have a much thicker skin- almost too much so!
Dear Jesus thank you for this day and all the blessings in it. I love you Lord. I pray that your presence and love flow to all those who are lost in this world. I pray you bless the sick, those on a healing journey like my cousin Heidi, the poor, the unhoused, the addicted, the abused, the neglected to include all animals. Amen.
