reekie

Thankyou kindly El Bob,
The "Professor" bit was an attempt at sarcasm on the part of the fellow members of "The Christian Endeavour." but backfired - to their annoyance.
In those days very few of us had "Further Education" with the school leaving age at fourteen. Your just had to leave.
Someone who attained the "Classics" stream in the local Academy were looked on with a kind of awe.
I was a fairly dumb laddie with a both a father and a sister who were on the way to brilliance. This caused quite a lot of friction.
Two separate Academy Rectors (School Masters) came to my mother and begged her not to allow my sister to leave as she was definitely going to be the next "DUX".
But she was taken from school and put to work first as a house-maid to two unmarried sister school teachers who treated her so badly that my aunt stormed across the street into the house and took her out.
Then, because we had family connections in the "Close Brethern" (I have heard them called the Exclusive Brethern), she got a job in a wool mill as a weaver.
The war broke out and she joined the Royal Navy who instantly saw her potential and she very quickly became Post Mistress of the Royal Navy Post Office in Scapa Flow, one of the largest naval bases in Britain and home of the North Atlantic Fleet.
I tell you this because it is often said that the Scots almost worship education but in the 1930's having another income come into the house was more important. However small it may be.
So I felt a close affinity to the poor and poverty stricken in the all the lands of South East Asia because my first ship took me first to Malaya, Singapore and then Tang Jong Priok in Java. Thereafter, we sailed slowly around all the islands.
We on the other hand have had to pay for every hour of our daughter's education, first in Hong Kong (Where education was NOT compulsory?) and then boarding school in Scotland which in turn put her to Napier's University in Edinburgh for an honours degree in business management which she attained First Class with honours.
I, remembering my sister's life - wasted - was determined that my daughter would be better prepared for the real world than my wife and I were.
I frequently said that the house would have to go before I interrupted her education.
I think I was right.
Nowadays I think that I would be classed as a slow developer because after passing my engineer's exams I felt as if I could go straight on into University but the system existing here at the time would not allow that.
"Mature Students" coming from the work place into University. They do now. It has all changed. Maggie Thatcher even stopped apprenticeships and now every government is trying to reintroduce them.
My daughter was the first person in our whole family history to go to university but her second cousin soon followed her.
Unfortunately, there is a cloud you may not know about, most Scots leaving home in those days before television dreaded the outside world. And almost all have a deep seated inferiority complex, prone to depression and despair. The highest suicide rate is in the Scottish Highlands and mainly among men between 18 and 25.
So, there are inumerable obstacles for a Scot to over come which are not seen by others. On top of that I am NOW told that my "Red Hair" probably caused me to fail in many interviews.
It is on record that they are "discriminated" against more than any other people of any colour in Britain.
And there are eight million of us - a sizable minority, larger than the population of Scotland.
Did you know that "Red Head's" feel pain more than any other people??
I didn't until last week when there was a large part of a T.V. programme devoted to the subject. Even the presenter said he would never have believed it except for all the evidence and records produced.
So, all in all I think that I did fairly well most of my life.
I do not think a government can introduce a "Welfare State" unless there is a strong surge in the population wanting one.
It is one of the main differences I find between citizens of the USA and us Europeans. We have such totally different aims in life for our countries.
Anyone is almost totally covered for health problems travelling all over the EEC.
It gives a great peace of mind to those who take many holidays but the British work the longest hours in a week of any country in the EEC and receive the least rewards.
I always tell young people who may be willing to listen. Civilization is only a veneer which can easily be cracked and torn apart and it would be very easy to slide blindly into a depression such as was in the 1930's.
I know this appears to digress from the main topic but the subjects are not far apart.
Once again our government is depending far too much on charities to take care of what they were elected by the people to do.
They told us that "never again" would there be a means test - it is back and I am fed up filling in forms.
A decent pension - which we have paid for already - would wipe it all out
It is reckoned that some eight million people will NOT apply for what "is theirs" because they refuse to go through the means test. I assure you it is very demeaning. Year after year after year.
If you want to know the Far East that I first saw I would recommend reading Somerset Maughams collected short stories. He is wonderfully descriptive. Most of the stories are mainly true - he was banned from Hong Kong.
The Merchant Navy I knew ceased to exist with the introduction of containers which in their turn have put hundreeds of thousands of workers all over the world out of work.
Singapore has a container berth completely operated by computers - no human beings at all.????
In 1953 the harbour had their "Tally Clerk's Pipe Band."
"All is change sayeth the Prophet and behold all things are new."
My last few years were spent in ships carrying only one engineer - ME!
God Bless and Keep You All.
reekie

donnyaz

In Iraq the Christian group I belonged to we got together and built the biggest roof I have ever seen so that mothers waiting for assistance could have shade in the desert son.There wasnt one man who could have been doing somthing for them selves that day like relaxing or writing home but instead risked their lives and spent their money for people they didnt know.Thats what Charity is to me.

Boanerges

I cannot stop giving because of what may or may not happen that is not my nature.
One of the many Pastors our local church supports is Pastor Kyanja (not sure about the spelling ) from Kampala Uganda- it has been our churches joy to pour $ into this ministry and as a result of this ( and others) this brother now has the biggest facility in Uganda- the muslims tired to build a comprable one but couldn't finish because of lack of funds-
It was a great service when he made it to the US and he shared this testimony-
When God told him to build this new church facility everyone on his staff thought he was crazy- when God told him to move into this facility before the roof was on it they really thought he lost his mind- but God provided the funds thru His people- and before they even opened they had hundreds of people in line to get in- soon the church grew to the point of opening multiple orphanages, ministerial schools and is touching their nation for Christ-a nation that once slaughtered thousands under Eci Amein ( again not sure of the spelling) is now a center of a move of God to reach these souls- Pastor Robert came to our little church to thank us for making a large part of that happen-
Now what does that have to do with this post- everything-
I will touch, love, pray for and feed everyone God places in my lifes path and leads me to minister to- BUT WHAT A BLESSING- I can do my small part thru giving to faithful stewards reach people on the other side of the world-
If I have missed anyone's point sorry- but giving into trustworthy hands to build the kingdom of God is an expression of my love for Him and His people and one of the most rewarding things I have done in life-
many blessings in His Name Larry

reekie

';morning to you too American Angel,
Sorry for the delay in answering your post but things do get a bity hectic at times here.
I have never been able to conquer the pasting and copyiong or is it copying and pasting??????
I have found a way printing just one post - click on itsd number and "Open in another page" and then print it from there."
I have to do this as my wife cnnot see the monitor screen but she can read the rpint outs OK.
Thanks for all your help.
God bless You all
reekie

reekie

Dear El Bob,
I once replied, when asked by a teacher what I would do if they increased the school leaving age from fourteen to fifteen, I would like to learn German.
You, you, she spluttered will never, ever leave this town and grow up and be a fisherman just like your father - what use would a foreign language be to you?. You can' t even speak English.
Well, Bob, the Good Lord turned me aside from my aims to be a joiner and literally forced me into becoming a marine engineer apprentice (there was no other work available in the middle of the late nineteen forties depression) and five years later the Government gave me the choice, two years in the Army or Five years in the Merchant Navy.
I was fifityone years in the Merchant Navy and had the good fortune to visit every continent on earth apart from Australia and New Zealand.
So my globtrotting was not of my choice - it was ordained by God.
I was killed with asthma and bronchitis in the North - East of Scotland - and I still am. But whilst on the ships and deep in their hot steamy, humid enginerooms I was completely free of everything except sweat and heatstroke.
A willing compromise.
Thanks for being so polite in your posts but we are going through a tense time just now and there were quite a lot I had to get off my chest.
Too many people here seem never to have even heard that there is a world outside of Peterhead.
At least I have met very few.
Most who leave never come back as I had planned to do but my wife wanted back amongst her ain folk.
Robert Louis Stevenson in the very first vers of a book stated "He committed the two most deadly sins a young mand can commit. One was in leaving home and the other was in coming back."
I paraphrase
He also states, "By the time a man gets into the seventies his mere existence is mere miracle."
So, by that I MUST be a miracle.
God BLess You,
rekie

konerko14

Boanerges

Simple answer- if you know Jesus you will love and care for others just like the Master did?
konerko14 are you born again?

smellycat

i wouldnt want a hand out from you.bit like cain never give God the harvest held back for himself.he worked hard for it why should he give it God.then God said i dont want it ,you give it for the wrong reason.....just to clarify things to you if you worked all your life and earned 1million dollors,then your no good bum of a brother needed treatment to give him an extra 20 years of life ,would you give it to him .or say sorry brother you should have worked harder.

konerko14

He certainly doesnt deserve the money. The fact that you NEED the money doesnt necessitate what you DESERVE.

smellycat

who deserves anything,so the coal miners who broke there backs for the uk,and died an early age because of it deserved it.then the silver spoon boy who thinks poor are dirt under his shoe deserves it.God works in a diffrent way.wisdom will be shown at the end.