A Boy's Prayer

The Rich and Famous

   Aren't you fascinated by the interesting people you meet everyday? A fellow Chamber member named Adam (not his real name) gave a talk this morning. He was a Regional Director of GM and he was married to Miss Arizona for 10 years until the stress of being on the road ended in an amicable divorce. Onboard an international flight he helped his seatmate put his luggage on the overhead compartment. Their flight conversation ushered him to his new job. The old man turned out to be Roger Penske who founded the multi-billion dollar Penske conglomerate.

   According to Adam, through the years, company profits soared but, Mr. Penske decided (at 52) that he needed to spend more time with his family and retired from full time work. Adam was crushed and was out of a job. Adam's brother (who was a dentist) hired him to market his practice. A movie director was doing a movie about the tragically murdered singer Selena. He spied a young waitress who resembled the singer and cast her in the lead role. The waitress was Jennifer Lopez. Jennifer was one of his brother's patients. Adam had the foresight to take a photo of his brother and Miss Lopez. It was made into a powerful endorsement for the business. Within a year business was up 2,000 %. Adam recalls he was invited to play his violin at a star-studded birthday dinner event for Jennifer's parents and sat beside Clint Eastwood's family. Jennifer danced with her fiance, Ben Affleck. Adam wanted to share more but he ran out of time.

   It's another day here in Los Angeles --- a melting pot of cultures, celebrities and people who love to share their celebrity gossip.

Wisdom from Rey of Simi Valley, CA

Boy's Prayer
Contributed by Tom of Pasadena, CA

"Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it ...

I'm having a real good time just as I am!"

Explanation of God
Contributed by Tom of Pasadena, CA

This was supposedly written by an 8-year-old named Danny Dutton, who lives in Chula Vista, CA. He wrote it for his third grade homework assignment, to 'explain God.' Although his understanding may be a bit skewed, it does make you think about your own assumptions. (Hard to believe that such an assignment was given in liberal California, and then having the story published --- I guess miracles still happen!)

MY EXPLANATION OF GOD:

One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die, so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. He doesn't make grownups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way he doesn't have to take up his valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.

God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times beside bedtime. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this. Because he hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in his ears, unless he has thought of a way to turn it off.

God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy.So you shouldn't go wasting his time by going over your mom and dad's head asking for something they said you couldn't have.

Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any in Chula Vista. At least there aren't any who come to our church.

Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work, like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of him preaching to them and they crucified him. But he was good and kind, like his father, and he told his father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said O.K.

His dad (God) appreciated everything that he had done and all his hard work on earth so he told him he didn't have to go out on the road anymore. He could stay in heaven. So he did. And now he helps his dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones he can take care of himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more important.

You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to help you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time.

You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God! Don't skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong. And besides the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway.

If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can. It is good to know He's around you when you're scared, in the dark or when you can't swim and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids.

But...you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and he can take me back anytime he pleases.

And...that's why I believe in God.

Videos of the week:

Americans Try Filipino Street Food
Contributor: Art of Pasadena, CA

It's always amusing to watch people try out strange new dishes. Did I ever tell you? The strangest and worst "food" I ever tasted was pickled grasshopper? It smelled bad and it tasted even worse --- like grass dipped in garlic and balsamic vinegar and soy sauce. I threw up after crunching the head. Yeccchhh!

What a cool concept. A little show (literally) before the meal. It'll boggle your senses.

Strange Morphing
Contributor: Mike of New York

This is morphing for morphing's sake. There's no real theme going except to make you curious about what's coming up next. Fascinating visual.

Another Kind of ATM
Contributor: Charlie of New Jersey

Charlie sent this video a while back but I was hesitant to use this because I thought it was too much of a commercial but ... I don't know ... today I felt that someone (maybe you?) needed this video this very moment. You may not be as fortunate as these people but I wanted to remind you that God blesses you in His special way. Just look around. TGIF people!