Where do we as Baby Boomers fit into the growing phenomenon of social network sites? If we have spent any time at all on the internet we will have come across such terms as Linkedin, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Plurk, and many other specialized personal sharing sites such as Flickr, Digg, and StumbleUpon.

The share of adult Internet users who have a profile on an online social network site has more than quadrupled in the past four years — from 8% in 2005 to 35% now, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project’s December 2008 tracking survey. 19% of Baby Boomer on line users between the ages of 45 and 54 have at least one online profile,  10% between the ages of 55 and 64 have a profile, and 7% of Baby Boomer online users age 65 and over have a profile on at least one social networking site. 

The growth of these social sites has been phenomenal.  Back in February of 2005, just 8% of adult internet users had used a social network site. That percentage had risen to 16% by August of 2006, and as of December 2008 stands at 35% of online adults.  Boomers seem to be playing a larger role in this growth.  I’m sure future sociologists will have a field day trying to figure out why we respond to digital things the way we do.

Of the popular personal social networking sites, MySpace appears to be the first one on the scene having been launched in August 2003.  According to Wickipedia“MySpace is a social networking website with an interactive, user-submitted network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music, and videos for teenagers and adults internationally.  In June 2006, MySpace was the mot popular social networking sie in the United States.  MySpace was overtaken internationally by Facebook in April 2008″.

On the professional side, LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site launched in May 2003 an is used by more than 30 million registered users for professional networking. 

Facebook is a popular, free-access social networking website.  Members can connect and interact with other members, add friends, send messages, and update their personal profile.  Originally membership was limited to Harvard University students and later expanded to other colleges.  Today it is available to virtually anyone over the age of 13 with over 150 million active users worldwide.

In 2006, along came Twitter, a free social-networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users updates (tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.  Updates are posted on the user’s profile page and delivered to other users that have signed up to “follow” to poster.  Users can receive tweets by various means, including RSS feeds and email.

One of the newer players on the scene is Plurk, a free social networking and micro-blogging service launched in May 2008 that allows users to send updates (plurks) through short messages or links, which can be up to 140 text characters in length.  Updates are shown on the user’s home page using a timeline which lists all the updates received in chronological order and delivered to those who have signed up to receive them by instant messaging or text messaging.  the Plurk website identifies it as being a social journal.

Rocking Chair Wisdom will share more about some of the personal sharing sites in a later post.

Have you had experiences with social networking sites?  If so, would you be willing to share on which site you have a profile, why you decided to join, and how often you participate on the site?  Leave a comment or email us directly at RockingChairWisdom@gmail.com.  If you email, please let us know if we can use your comments in a future posting.

Does truth transcend time or is it a function of time?

As a former Business Manager I am used to preparing both balance sheets and profit and loss statements.  While a balance sheet is a snapshot of an organization’s financial postion as of a particular date in time a profit and loss statement represents a summarization of financial activity over an established period of time.  Both of these documents are true by definition and by principle, but do they really reflect the truth?  If you pay your landlord $1,000 for rent, your bank balance on the balance sheet will reflect the $1,000 reduction in cash and the profit and loss statement will show a $1,000 expense.  However, if this payment is miscoded as prepaid rent, then there will be no change in the balance sheet other than transferring from one asset to another and there will be no expenses recorded on the profit and loss statement.  Given both sets of satements, how do you know which is true?  The methodology may be true, but the final results may not be true.

Is Truth only truth until proven wrong?

Given today’s technology, we now know that planet Earth is pretty much a spherical object and we accept that as being true.  However, we all know that this wasn’t always the case.  Consequently, is something only true until it is demonstrated to no longer be true?

In a court of law, witnesses swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth (at least that is what appears on tv).  But it has been demonstrated that eye witnesses may not know the truth of what they saw.

Who or what determines what is true?

This leads me to my observation about today’s technology and the practice of sending and forwarding emails.  Today we want to be informed citizens and do the right thing about the causes we support.  Along comes and email that indicates that that cause may now be threatened and it comes from a somewhat reliable source (someone on our white list) and it also comes with some kind of notation that it has been passed by Snopes.com.  Somehow Snopes has now become one of the standards of truth in this electronic mail age.  Did anyone ever question how Snopes got to be this authority on truth?

How do retiree’s determine what is true?

• Investigate the claim. 
  • What is the past experience? 
  • Who else do you know and trust that has had the same results that are being claimed?
  • What authorities are cited for the claim?  Remember, there have been medications thought to be perfectly safe and promoted that way that were later determined to be harmful.
  • Perform due diligence research.
• Examine the facts.
  • Do they ring true?
  • Do they sound too plausible?  If it sounds too good to be true it probably is.
  • Are the facts verifiable?
• Make a decision about the truthfulness of the claim.
  • Based upon your interpretation of your investigation you will need to make a decision as to the truthfulness and move forward in faith.
  • Observe your decisions about the weather.  You make decisions as to activities based upon your confidence level or trust in the weatherperson providing the data.

It would appear that many of the individual decisions we make on a daily basis, investing, borrowing, traveling, shopping, etc. are based upon judgments as to what we believe to be the truth.  However, many of the things we take for granted such as gravity, breathing, colors, life as we know it, etc. are based upon never changing principles of truth.  Man may be able to temporarily suspend some of those principles (suspend gravity) but to do so he will need to know absolute truth of the principle of gravity.

Conclusion

• There is an absolute truth relating to those things that matter to the sustaining of the realities of the universe and to life everlasting.
• There appears to be a level of truth that is dependent upon time in that it is true until proven otherwise.
• There appears to be a twisted level of truth that says accept me as truth without further investigation.  This category would include scams and attempts to secure personal information for identity theft, especially those directed to the retired community.

How can we determine if that e-mail supposedly coming from our financial institution is really real?

How can we know whether or not that e-mail or phone call supposedly coming from a government agency is actually legitimate?

Long gone are the days where we grew up in small rural communities where we seldom locked the doors to our cars and trucks and even our homes. If we did, all our neighbors knew the keys were on the ledge on the back porch because that is where they left theirs. Never was there a worry that someone would break in and steal anything and especially that they would steal your mail. That is not necessarily the case today. Our privacy and our personal identification are being threatened daily.

Medical Information

Have we looked closely at the labels on our prescriptions? These labels more than likely contain minimally our name and address along with the type of prescription. Consequently, if we are careless in discarding our labels we have just given private information away to whomever may be going through our garbage. If we live in our own home, we may have some control over this, but If we live in a community where we share trash receptacles, we can’t control who might be going through it prior to being carried to the landfill.

In addition to the above, we should also be on the alert for unusual, suspicious, or inappropriate requests related to the following on-line activities:

Internet Auctions

E-Mail Spam

9 Threats to Screen from Your E-mail

1. The “Nigerian” Email

2. Phishing

3. Work-at-Home

4. Weight Loss Claims

5. Foreign Lotteries

6. Cure-All Products

7. Check Overpayment

8. Pay-in-Advance Credit Offers

9. Debt Relief

Rocking Chair Wisdom wishes you success in your search for the truth.  Be Safe in 2009.

This is my first “Retiree’s” Christmas. Without the confines of having to be at an employer’s location I am able to enjoy the greater freedom of attending granddaughters school events and even more time appreciating the effort many folks make in preparing enjoyable web sites around the Christmas theme.

With this post, I want to share some of the web sites that have caught my attention.

From Caroline’s Precious Memories comes the True Meaning of Christmas.

The old man sat in his gas station on a cold Christmas Eve. He hadn’t been anywhere in years since his wife had passed away. He had no decorations, no tree, no lights. It was just another day to him. He didn’t hate Christmas, just couldn’t find a reason to celebrate. There were no children in his life. His wife had gone. !–more–

For a look at The First Christmas Gift visit AndiesIsle.

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In this economy many of us are looking for some kind of employment to supplement our retirement income. Here is a job posting I actually came across on one of the job boards: 

Kringle Enterprises Santa’s Helper Job Overview

Santa’s Helper

Come join the most magical manufacturing, shipping and receiving company ever conceived. Here you’ll build state-of the-art gadgets and old school throwback toys, as well as replace lots and lots of twinkling light bulbs. You may even get to ride shotgun in the sleigh with the Big Guy himself. This position requires an abundance of holiday spirit and general holly-jolliness — there’s no room for Grinches in this workshop! We’re looking for someone who is great with kids, has experience in the toy-making industry and isn’t frightened by hairy, flying mammals.

Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to:

• Reindeer grooming.
• Working closely with homeland security to taste-test cookies and  milk.
• List checking (We operate on a naughty vs. nice grading scale).
• More list checking.
• General sleigh upkeep.
• Accompany Mr. Kringle to shopping malls and perform crowd control on hyperactive and/or frightened children.
• Coal mining (Depends on number of naughty children.)

We hope this won’t come as a surprise, but this is not a real job. However, 10 real-life applicants will be “hired” to receive a one-time-only $100 salary just for filling out and submitting the most entertaining answers to our assessment questions. There are plenty of prizes to go around, so be sure to send this to your friends, even if they’re 6 feet tall and hate snow. 

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The following is an amazing Power Point Slide Show wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. I wish I could take credit for authoring this, but I can’t. If anyone knows the creator of this, please let me know so I can give proper credit. The file is large and can take some time to load on your computer. Please be patient. I think you will be pleasantly surprised what you can do in Power Point.  Since Rocking Chair Wisdom believes in interactivity, click on the words Merry Christmas below to enjoy. If you are not familiar with how to run a Powerpoint slide show, send an email to wbrierly@gmail.com and I will send the file to you as an attachment that should open like any other attachment.

Merry Christmas

The English colonists we call Pilgrims celebrated days of thanksgiving as part of their religion. But these were days of prayer, not days of feasting.

Our national holiday really stems from the feast held in the autumn of 1621 by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag to celebrate the colony’s first successful harvest. View the slideshow here to see what this first “Turkey Day” might have looked like. (See Scholastic.com)

Do you think our nation’s leaders have outside influences today? Consider Sarah Hale who commenced a letter-writing campaign in 1846 to make the last Thursday in November a National Thanksgiving Day holiday. On August 6, 1863, 17 years after Sarah Hale began her campaign, President Abraham Lincoln declares the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day.

One would have thought this would have settled the matter but in November of 1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt changes the date to the next to the last Thursday in November thanks to the encouragement of the National Retail Dry Good Association urging him to do so in order to extend the Christmas shopping season. Was this the first inkling of “Black Friday”?

Due to the confusion about the date established in 1939, President Roosevelt finally signs legislation establishing the 4th Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day.

Each of us has our own Thanksgiving tradition. Perhaps it is being with family. Maybe watching a football game or two on television. Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade anyone? Or perhaps to some it is just another day at work. However, you spend the day, Rocking Chair Wisdom urges you to take time to reflect on our national heritage and give thanks to God for the many blessings He has bestowed upon this country and upon you as an individual.  Enjoy the day and be safe.

Computer Safety – On Line Shopping

The number of identity theft complaints collected by the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel program hit 258,427 last year, more than a third of which involved stolen credit card or bank account numbers.

Despite the dangers, no one’s telling consumers to abandon their online shopping carts. Instead, security experts advise consumers to take practical, often obvious steps to protect themselves.

The most basic steps consumers can take are to install a security program on their PCs and to make sure that and other software on their computers — particularly their operating systems, Web browsers and browser plug-ins — are kept up to date. Software updates frequently plug known security holes and, on the security software side, provide protection against newly discovered malware.

Beyond that, security experts recommend using common sense — and staying vigilant. Consumers should be wary of clicking on e-mailed links or visiting unfamiliar Web sites, they say. It’s a good idea to go to security sites, such as one run by F-secure, that offer free malware scans. And they should keep a lookout for strange charges on their credit cards statements.

Personal Safety

• Park your car in a well lighted area of the parking lot.
• Secure valuables in the trunk of your vehicle out of sight.
• Walk with others to your car after dark or ask security to assist.
• Keep one hand free for carrying your keys in order to have access to the panic button on the key fob.

Financial Safety

• Protect your personal information. Keep credit card and debit card information close at hand. Be cautious when relinquishing your cards at restaurants.
• Be aware of your surroundings when using ATM’s.
• Monitor your credit card and bank account information on-line if possible.
• Reconcile your financial statements monthly, matching receipts to charges.
• Use caution in purchasing gift cards. With many stores going out of business or closing some stores, it may be difficult or impossible to use that gift card.

The Scottsdale, Arizona area seemed to have 2 seasons:  Summer ON and Summer OFF.  Nevada comes closer to the 4 seasons I remember as a kid growing up in the Midwest.  Here we have seen cooler temperatures, snow, tree leaves turning colors, and leaves even falling to the ground.  I know my old school textbooks talked about 4 seasons, but having lived in Arizona for more than 30 years I guess I thought maybe the textbooks had been rewritten.

This also got me to thinking about “Seasons of Change” within our individual lives.

A few years ago I read The Seven Seasons of a Man’s Life by Patrick M. Morley.  In his book he identified the follow 7 seasons, or unique challenges men face:

• The Season of Reflection (The search for meaning and purpose)
• The Season of Building (Building a career and lifestyle)
• The Season of Crisis (Burnout)
• The Season of Renewal (What is worth dying for?)
• The Season of Rebuilding(Paradigm shift?)
• The Season of Suffering (Why do bad things happen to good people?)
• The Season of Success (How do you define success?)

Just as there are 4 earthly weather seasons that repeat themselves throughout our life, the above seasons continue to repeat themselves in our lives.  While one age span of our life may be more prone to a particular season, it certainly doesn’t have a corner on the market.

Where financial independence and creating wealth may have consumed a good portion of our adult life, we may be moving into a season now where we are more concerned with significance.  How can we leave that portion of the world where we have some level of influence in a better shape than when we found it?

It’s not the date you were born or the date you died, that really matters.  It’s “the dash” between those years and what you do with it to make a difference with your life.

In the past few weeks and months many friends, relatives, and acquaintances have suffered greatly through various issues.  Some have suffered financial setbacks and struggles due to the falling economy and others have suffered through the devastating effects of cancer either in their own bodies or in the bodies of those they love.  Still others have suffered through the loss of a loved one through death.  None of this is ever easy.  But by defining our personal “dash” by serving others will allow us to come through the various seasons of our life.

The classic poem written by Linda Ellis has been put made into a flash movie accompanied with music.  In addition it has been expanded into a small book that is worthy of gift giving.  To watch the movie, please click on the banner below.  You will have the opportunity to purchase the book and dvd if you desire but are under no obligation to do so.

Retirees and the financial crisis

September 29, 2008 will go down in the history books as the first time the Dow Jones Industrial average dropped 777 points in one day. While not the highest daily percentage drop (that occurred on Black Monday, October 19, 1087 when the Dow fell 23%) it was certainly significant in light of the financial turmoil the United States and the world in general is experiencing.

I suppose numerologists could have a great time with this as triple 7’s are usually represented as lucky number especially in simplified slot machines in gambling establishments. From what I have read, holding 3 sevens in a game of Black Jack almost ensures a win since they add up to 21. The number 7 in scripture is often referred to God’s perfect number, the number of completion. I would also suspect that most of us would conclude there is no numerical significance to the events of that day.

Rocking Chair Wisdom doesn’t begin to represent itself as knowledgeable in the area of economics to easily understand everything that is happening in the financial arena, let alone to try to explain it to someone else. Like many other Americans, and from what we’ve read many economists, RCW doesn’t know the real answer.

For most of us in the “retired” community, we are just as concerned as those in the “non-retired” community about trying to maintain our current standard of living. Many retirees have taken jobs to supplement their retirement income and others have started their own businesses.

With credit markets becoming tighter, it may be more difficult for retirees to secure loans to grow their business or obtain favorable financing when purchasing vehicles or other durable goods.

As values in retirement funds decrease, at least short term, the ability to withdraw the necessary funds to satisfy your retirement dreams may be compromised.

Watching the news reports on American television could give one a false sense of the severity of the current financial problem. However, this crisis reaches beyond our shores and becomes a global problem. Financial institutions in other parts of the world are failing or are being propped up, bailed out, or rescued by their governments as well.

Dave Ramsey is a nationally syndicated talk show host, and many thousands of people have followed his advice and followed a path to recovery from debt. Now he has provided some advice for our nation’s leaders to consider in Three Steps to Change Our Nation’s Future and in The Common Sense Fix. In addition, you can read up on some of the debate going on related to the mark to market rule that is getting quite a bit of press here at Zacks Investment Research. If you don’t understand this accounting rule, CNNMoney.com has an interesting article.

$700 Billion has been the most quoted figure for the cost of the bail-out which is now being called a rescue. However, some have used figures up to $1.5 Trillion dollars. A lot of us have a difficult time conceptualizing those dollars when we may be trying to stretch our fixed income retirement and social security checks. To give you some perspective as to how much this affects the individual resident of the United States let’s assume the cost is $1 Trillion. With a US population of approximately 305 million people, this amounts to an approximate cost of $3,300 per person including men, women, and children, whether they pay taxes or not.

Once we get a handle on the bleeding and the pain associated with this disease, we need to identify and eradicate the root of the disease. There will be many committee hearings, task forces, and investigations all pointing to a “cause”. However, Rocking Chair Wisdom believes that when you strip everything away you will find the root of the problem is “Greed”. Money in and of itself is not evil. It is the “Love of Money” that is root of evil and results in the problems of today.

To say we are in troubling times as a nation would be a gross understatement. It is at this time that we are reminded of 2 Chronicles 7:14. When we go to the polls this November, let’s do so as an informed electorate seeking to adhere to the admonishment of 2 Chronicles 7:14 by humbling ourselves and turning from our wicked ways. If you are interested, here is a link to the Presidential Prayer Team web site as well as their Pray the Vote web site.

If you wish to do some reading about the candidates, take a look through the Rocking Chair Wisdom Store. Check out the Kindle wireless reading device category for some suggestions for wireless reading.

Remember, stresses and friction will help us become stronger, just as a plant becomes stronger by pushing through the dirt and by being buffeted by the wind, we will emerge stronger as individuals and as a nation.

 From Rocking Chair Wisdom

ENJOY your Life After Retirement

There has been a great emphasis on change coming from all fronts lately. The most prominent emphasis coming from the current political candidates, with each promoting change in the way things are done in Washington. Whichever candidate wins the election will result in changes in Washington. Some people will lose their jobs while others will gain new jobs. Attitudes will change and the decision making process will change. This is inevitable.

This got me thinking about other changes, especially changes as they relate to the retired or nearly retired population. It also got me to thinking about some interesting things about society in general.

Of course one of the biggest changes the newly retired individual faces is the different daily routine from being accountable to an employer or business. The retiree needs to find the appropriate rhythm for his or her lifestyle, that rhythm that continues to help give their life meaning. Some retirees may discover that they will need to experiment to find the retirement lifestyle they are comfortable with while others have it all planned out.

Most of us have seen the missives passed around by email over the years comparing life today to that of 25 or 50 years ago. We become amazed at the change that has taken place just within our lifetime and wonder what more could there be for our children or grandchildren?

Some of us can remember the first television sets and how they grew from table top sets to consoles with built in AM/FM radio receivers and turntables that played records (even 78 rpm’s). The fact that this new gadget commenced to utilize our time didn’t matter. We then began to desire television that could travel with us and thus the portable battery operated television came on the market. Now we didn’t have to miss our favorite shows. Then we wanted color and we got color. Change. Was it good? Only you can decide for yourself.

I was doing some reading this past week on another change that has taken place over many years. This change has to do with how earlier societies are able to communicate with later societies.

Prehistoric (before written history) societies communicated with petroglyphs. These were stone etchings or carvings that were used as an early form of communication to those that would follow. Some petroglyph images probably had deep cultural and religious significance for the societies that created them; in many cases this significance remains for their descendants. Some researchers have noticed the resemblance of different styles of petroglyphs across different continents; while it is expected that all people would be inspired by their surroundings, it is harder to explain the common styles.

From petroglyphs society moved on to pictograms and ideograms with pictograms being drawn images of objects similar to photographs today and ideograms being drawn images representing ideas or concepts. Ideograms are still in use today especially on highway and street signs. Ever notice the drawing of an airplane on a sign pointing to the exit for an airport? That is an ideogram.

From there society moved on to actual writing. While it took a few years to progress to where we are today, putting together words in a sequence and format that matches our particular language has allowed for us to accumulate a wealth of information, much of which has been transferred to a physical medium such as paper and bound in books for future generations and societies to enjoy. Will they last as long as the petroglyphs? I’m not so sure, but then even some of them are lost. One thing about both the prehistoric petroglyphs and modern historic writings is that once they were published there was no changing them.

How about today in our digital world? What are we leaving for future societies? What will they discover about us? Will they be able to decipher our digital writings of today and if they do can we ensure that they won’t be changed to suit the needs of that future society? How often do we see articles forwarded to us by those we trust with the note “checked out by Snopes.com”? If we have a tough time discovering what is true, how will future societies know what is true?

As retirees we share common life experiences with others in our generation. While we may not directly impact future societies individually, we will have an impact collectively. Where we will have a direct impact is in leaving our legacy to the generation following us and possibly to 3 or 4 other generations.

How will we do that?

What will we pass on to our children and our grandchildren that will give them an indication of what was important to us? Did you save your journals on 5 1/4″ floppy discs hoping to pass them on? Can you find a computer today that will read them? At least we know that they will be able to read the written journal.

What about today’s modern pictograph, the Scrapbook? But will this tell the whole story? With technology where it is today, photographs can be manipulated to the point where fake pictures can look very realistic. I know that early on when I was taking digital photos I experimented with digitally cutting my granddaughter out of her mother’s arms from a picture in Texas and placing her on the sand of a beach in San Diego. I’m not sure if that picture has ended up in a scrapbook or not.

As a husband, father, grandfather, and hopefully someday a great grandfather, I don’t wish to be immediately forgotten but how do I pass on to my family and collectively as a society what is important?

Numerous changes have taken place over the millenniums. Have these changes been for the good?

Don’t forget your KINDLE

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A Deadbeat in the credit card industry is a card holder that pays their bill on time and never carrys a balance to the next billing cycle. Even though you are using your credit cards for how they were designed and exercising discipline in managing your finances, credit card companies are not making much, if any, money from your activities and you are then classified as a deadbeat. I have read of cases where not only did the credit card company not make any money from these so called “deadbeats, but they actually paid them to use their cards through cash back incentives.

Credit card companies may actually make money off these deadbeat card holders, but it won’t be through interest they pay. It will be through various banking relationships and merchant fees charged to the merchants that accept the cards.

Credit cards, when used with care and discipline, can be a great asset affording some protection on purchases that paying in cash or by debit may not afford. In tight financial times it can be tempting to pull out the credit card, but unless you are disciplined enough to pay it in full at the end of the month, it can be a costly adventure. Enjoy being a deadbeat for once.

In the July 22, 2008 edition of the New York Times, OP-ED columnist David Brooks writes an opinion entitled The Culture of Debt . In this article he points out the debate between those who say the predatory lenders are at fault for the debt crisis and those who believe the borrowers are at fault. While there are very valid arguments for both sides, is it possible that there may even be a third position to be considered?

According to Brooks, “America once had a culture of thrift. But over over the past decades, that unspoken code has been silently eroded.” As such, what has happened to our financial system is part of a larger social story. Rising home prices presented temptations for people to take on more risk. With an over abundance of easy credit, Americans were able to acquire designer goods. Or how about buying something on credit now with no money down and no payments for 4 years? Make Sense?

Are we like the proverbial frog, that when placed in a pot of cold water won’t notice that the heat is being turned up until it’s too late? It would seem that we absorb the patterns and the norms of those around us. So instead of recognizing the pattern of over indulgence, we start making excuses or jokes about it, which seems to make it a bit more palatable. As Brooks says, “We mimic the behaviour around us. Only at the end is there self-consious oversight.”

What happened after the Depression? A general attitude of frugal living and saving set in. When the dot com bubble burst, we saw a sobering of investments in technology endeavors. With our earlier oil crisis Americans changed their driving and purchasing habits and moved into more efficient vehicles. But once the crisis ended and incomes rose, people began to think the crisis is over and this country began moving in large SUV’s. Sociology must be a fascinating study.

Rocking Chair Wisdom believes it is time for our public institutions, including our places of worship, to begin teaching and speaking about the values our country was founded on. While this would be a worthwhile step, we need to return to teaching these values in our homes. There is nothing wrong with having nice things and even luxurious things. But deep down we need to get back to the basics of where our joy comes from. We are a free people, but seems that in many ways we are trying very hard to lead an “imprisoned” life.

Before we leave you this month, please note that we have added a new category on the right called Inspiration. It is here that Rocking Chair Wisdom will periodically publish articles we find to be uplifting. We encourage you to take a look. Our first article is entitled “Daddy’s Empty Chair”

Until next time, keep on Enjoying Life After Retirement.

Don’t forget your KINDLE

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An empty chair sat beside his bed. The minister assumed that the old fellow had been informed of the visit. ‘I guess you were expecting me, he said. ‘No, who are you?’ said the father.

The minister told him his name and then remarked ‘I saw the empty chair and I figured you knew I was going to show up.’

‘Oh, yeah, the chair,’ said the bedridden man. ‘Would you mind closing the door?’ Puzzled, the minister shut the door.

‘I have never told anyone this, not even my daughter,’ said the man. ‘But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it went right over my head.’ I abandoned any attempt at prayer,’ the old man continued,’ until one day for years ago, my best friend said to me, ‘Johnny, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here is what I suggest. ‘Sit down in a chair; place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It’s not spooky because he promised, ‘I will be with you always’.

‘Then just speak to him in the same way you’re doing with me right now. So, I tried it and I’ve liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day.

I’m careful though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she’d either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm.’

This minister was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old man to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, anointed him with oil, and returned to the church.

Two nights later the daughter called to tell the minister that her daddy had died that afternoon. Did he die in peace?’ he asked.

Yes, when I left the house about two o’clock, he called me over to the bedside, told me he love me and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him. But there was something strange about his death.

Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on the chair beside the bed. What do you make of that?’

The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said, ‘I wish we could all go like that.’

Spanish Springs Baptist Church, Sparks, Nevada Sunday Bulletin July 20, 2008