Happy Easter, may you and your family enjoy a special day of togetherness. As the warmth of Spring renews life and raises the human spirit, so does the celebration of Easter. God’s greatest gift of his only Son and the message He brought to the human realm that ended with Jesus’ death on the cross and then his resurrection is truly amazing.

I love my sons more than I can express. It is difficult for me to comprehend what God and Jesus must have felt as the last days were playing out. I understand they both knew the plan, but for Jesus to have that much faith in his Father and God to watch as his Son was brutally tortured and murdered could not have been easy. It is a true testament to their infinite love of mankind.

God then blessed us with visual proof. On the third day Jesus rose from the dead and forty days later ascending into Heaven to be with his Father. This making and proving everlasting life is available to each and every one of us through the acceptance of Jesus Christ as our savior. Wow, what a deal in today’s world!

That my friend is the number one problem in today’s world, not enough folks are accepting that deal and living their lives by what Jesus taught us in his short time on earth.

As you are enjoying Easter Dinner, the perfectly cooked ham and potato salad or mashed potatoes, the coconut cream pie, the laughter and friendship, please talk about why we celebrate this most important Christian holiday. Simplify it for the young folks or those who may not know, understand or been exposed to this message.
Reach out to those older folks or that neighbor that lives alone and offer a plate of Easter cheer and some conversation. Make a phone call or drop by someone you know that is experiencing hardship, illness or may have recently lost a loved one.

Use Easter Sunday as a “What Would Jesus Do” moment and share your love with someone who truly needs it and set the example for the children. As you settle back in your chair that night and enjoy the candy from the kids basket or a bowl of that leftover whipped cream and Jell-O mixture with the little marshmallows you will feel the inner peace and love the day is truly about.

Thank You Arnie

I consider Ron Wenning a friend and mentor. He is a fatherly figure that I look to for advice about business, family and life. He forwarded the following to me as a must read from his friend Arnold McClure, Chairman of the Huntingdon County Republican Committee. Mr. McClure has sent this letter to The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The New York Times. I would like to share it with you.

Dear Editors:

This past week I have read the columnists of The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The New York Times as they all—in lock-step– excoriated Donald Trump and added criticisms of those who support him.
Wow.

I have long wanted to write to you to tell you how different you (all) are from us who live in the hinterland. That task will wait another day and will require a longer letter.

Today, however, I feel compelled to tell you this. I didn’t like what I read. As an editor I appreciated your writing skill, but as an American voter I didn’t like the content or the tone.

You folks are the Establishment. You don’t understand us. We, however, more clearly than ever understand you. It is clear you indulge in Group Think. It is clear that you think anyone who would vote for Trump isn’t very smart. It is clear that you scoff at “Evangelicals” who would vote for Trump and you have concluded that such people are hypocrites or worse.

I want so badly to tell you that we rural/Conservative/Evangelicals/NonEvangelicals/Christian/Non-Christians/educated/noneducated/ rural voters are not monolithic. In my case I am not in the business of judging others as to their degree of Christianity, or moral probity, or Conservative fidelity. I know we have some in our community who indulge in that, but I, and many of my friends, do not. The Donald has been married three times. He clearly has not discussed or studied Scriptures enough to know that the second book of Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth is known as Second Corinthians, not Two Corinthians. We know he is crass and often cruel in his verbal sparring. We wish he weren’t so. But we know that he is the only candidate who has demolished the political correctness tool that has permitted Liberalism and Secularism to channel and control the conversation and the debate about many issues of the last several decades.

We also know that it this kind of man who often “finds the Lord” when confronted by the awesome duties of leading the greatest country in the history of the world. I think of a local woman who had four children by four different men, lived a life that none of us would want, but found the Lord late in life and is now a very effective preacher.

Donald’s posturing, his crassness, his rudeness, his lack of understanding of international trade issues, his lifestyle that reeks of excess materialism—we see it all. And yet we have decided to vote for him. And when Mitt Romney gave his speech (we all voted for him four years ago) my friends and I felt like reaching into the television screen and punching him. Who does he think he is? Of all of the Donald’s faults and sins and deficiencies, he won’t be the first president to suffer them. That is a basic tenet of Christianity—that we know we are deficient and sinful and only God’s Grace can heal us of that.

This letter should tell you how desperate we are for a change in direction. And in future columns of The Wall Street Journal I will be looking for reasons that we should listen to you—the Establishment, who got us into this mess.

Sincerely,

C. Arnold McClure

Well said, God Bless America.