Why Does God Allow Bad Things to Happen to Good People?

My pastor (Pastor Russ Smith - see our church's website for audio of his preaching: http://meridenhillsbaptist.org/) just preached on this tonight, and I wanted to share some thoughts from his lesson, adding in my own thoughts as well.  This is something so many of us struggle with because, simply, we love each other!  We don't want to see anyone suffer, especially those whom we think sacrificed for others, lived a good and decent life, never committed a crime, etc.  Why should they in turn be rewarded with evil, or so it seems?  Why should those we love suffer in pain and agony?

To answer this question we have to break it apart into simpler questions.  First of all, who is good?  1 Peter 1:18-19 says, "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."  Jesus, the Lamb of God, is good and perfect.  In contrast, we are all sinners, no matter how good we seem as we compare ourselves among ourselves.  Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."  2 Corinthians 10:12 says, "For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise."  

It's not about what we think is good, but what God thinks that matters because He is the final Judge.  This is His world and we are merely creatures borrowing space.  When we view ourselves through the eyes of God, we will see ourselves as poor wretches, blind, poor, filthy in light of God's holiness and beauty.  

What do you define as good?  Is it someone who has not murdered anyone, or raped anyone, or robbed a bank?  Is someone good who hasn't gone to jail?  Our pastor ministered in a prison ministry, and he said even those in jail think they're good, like they don't deserve to be there, etc.   We might look at our sweet grandmas and think they of all people are good.  But what we have is a subjective morality, using different definitions, and we can never draw a solid conclusion unless we have one source, one moral authority upon which to base everything else on as a point of reference.

So since none of us are good, then it changes the question: Why Do Bad Things Happen to Bad People?"  We talked about who is good, so now let's ask, "Who is Bad?"  Isaiah 64:6: "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."  Isaiah, a great prophet, included himself in this when he wrote, "We."  The Israelites took purity very seriously, and would separate people out who were diseased or bleeding or wounded, etc. until they were clean again.  They were careful about spreading germs to the point of even exile.  He in essence is saying to them, "we should all be exiled; we're all bad."  Even our righteousnesses, and notice he has that in plural form, so not just taking our very best but all of our goodness, are as filthy rags in the sight of God.  Our lives are but a vapor, it says in James.  We all do fade as a leaf.  

So who is good?  No one.  Who is bad?  Everyone.  It's not that good people don't deserve bad things to happen to them, but rather we are bad and the good things that happen are by the grace of God.  I know that's humbling, but until we swallow our pride and see ourselves as we really are, there will be no healing or peace for our souls.  Until we repent, there will never be forgiveness of our sins.

The third question is, "Why is there Pain and Death in the World?"  How could a just, kind, loving God allow this to happen to those He created?  Romans 5:12: "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."  Who is that one man?  Adam.  We may complain and say, "Ugh!  If Adam never sinned, we wouldn't be in this mess!  We'd still be living in paradise."  Well, Adam was the very best we had, and even he sinned.  Let's be honest; we wouldn't have lasted as long as he did!  We started out with an environment that a holy, perfect God called "very good" and yet man sinned. Genesis 1:31: "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day."  

Here's the curse, guys: Genesis 3:16-19: "Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

¹⁷ And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

¹⁸ Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

¹⁹ In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

We are in a cursed world.  But the question can be asked, "Would you ever allow pain and suffering for your children?"  The obvious knee jerk reaction is, "of course not!"  But let's think about this more.  When you tell your child to clean his room or eat his vegetables, he may feel like he's emotionally suffering, or even physically suffering.  We not only allow that child to suffer, but we're causing it.  But it is suffering with purpose, and we are inflicting suffering with love.  We want our children to be healthy, and we want them to be responsible and clean.  We don't want them to trip over their toys and get injured.  We can and should allow certain types of suffering to our children with purpose.  We are born bad, and need to be taught to do right, even if it feels uncomfortable.  

The last point for part 1 is this: "God's Punishment."  Sometimes we are not allowing pain and suffering, but rather actually punishing our children for wrong doing.  Why?  Because bad decisions = pain.  If we discipline our children in the small things, then they will avoid greater pain in the future.  For instance, if you punish your child for disobeying you for touching something she should not have touched, then when she is ready to put her finger in the light socket or touch the hot stove, she will obey when you say, "No!"  If she is running after a ball into the road with a car coming, she will stop when you say, "Stop!"  God punishes us for our good, just as we do for our children, so that we learn to obey and inevitably avoid greater pain.  We do it because they are our children that we love, not someone else's children, but our children.  Hebrews 12:6-7: "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?"  Why do we discipline our children? To make them stronger, build moral character, teach them to be hard workers, practice relationship building (by, for instance, making them share a room), etc.

I hope this gives some perspective from God's point of view as you consider the sufferings in this life.  There is meaning and good that can come from anything we go through, if we love God and seek His will and purpose for our lives.  Romans 8:28: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

How Should We Treat Pets When They're Dying?

Proverbs 12:10: "A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel."
My cat Mandy was dying, but we did our best to make her last days the best they could be. It is a beautiful thing to care for humans, as I do as a nurse, but also to care for animals, living creatures that are also very precious.

Mandy had been with us for almost 11 years, since she was a kitten. She just turned 11 on 6/25. I'm thankful for the time we had with her; she was so sweet! Trying to make her food easier to eat, giving her lots of love, whatever we could do to support her was my goal. We kept her going for about 3 months after her diagnosis. The vet thought she likely had cancer. We had done what we could medically to see if this was reversible, but it was not. She was getting along pretty well overall at first, but then it seemed like she was suffering. It's healthy to have a spirit of life, care, and support in our interactions with living beings. There is so much death around us, killing, disrespect, selfishness when it comes to life, the inconvenience it brings to us, etc. It feels good to oppose that for the sake of life and well being for the suffering. Death is a natural part of life, as strange as that sounds to say it.


I am not supportive of assisted suicide for humans, but we would give morphine to comfort a human as they are dying. A barbiturate to put an animal to sleep is a merciful way to put a suffering animal to permanent rest. In the olden days, before they had this medicine, they would go out and shoot the animal if it was suffering. They don't have a soul, so for them it is literally the end of their lives when that time comes. For the human, their eternal destination becomes a reality at that moment. This is why it is so important to make sure a human sees a spiritual leader before dying, so they can make sure they have the opportunity to trust in Jesus Christ if they have rejected Him or were never given the opportunity to trust in Him before.

I asked my Pastor three months ago what he thought about the matter of euthanizing a pet, as I was struggling with this, and he said, "Although assisted suicide for humans is morally wrong, I don’t see any Biblical principles that would apply to animals. We are told to care for the lives of our animals (Proverbs 12:10), but it is in reference to how we treat them when they are alive, not if/when we put them down.

"I don’t believe you would be wrong in either choice. I would choose the option that gives your family the most peace. It is a difficult decision to make, but if you aren’t convinced it is time to put her down, I would wait. I am sure that you will have no doubt when that time has arrived (if ever). Our family has allowed our animals to die naturally and medically, but it depended on the animal and how much pain they were experiencing at the time."

I wanted to share that good advice, as it may help some of you if and when you are put in this situation.  I find it a very difficult, heart wrenching journey, and it's so important that we do the right thing and know we are doing the right thing so we can have peace about it.  

It came to a point that to continue to wait was only prolonging her suffering, because at that point she looked uncomfortable, like she didn't feel well pretty consistently, was throwing up blood, was incontinent, not able to clean herself, and not finding much pleasure in eating.  She hunched her body in a way that made me think she did not feel well.  

After three months of trying everything, medicine for her stomach, anti-nausea meds, steroids, giving her baby food, real food such as canned tuna and canned white meat chicken, grilled real chicken, every kind of cat food (even the expensive wet food), finding her favorites and buying those, softening her dry food with water, changing her dry food to a different flavor, giving her hard treats, filled treats, and soft treats, she was eating very little and has lost almost all her body fat.  She liked the filled treats "Temptations" the best, but had trouble eating any of them, as she had no teeth anymore but used to be able to swallow food whole.  She became light as a feather, bony, and her fur coat looked like it was too big on her.  

Maybe we waited too long, but she was still finding pleasure in being rubbed down by a freeze pop (still in the wrapper of course!), enjoyed listening to music with me (of my singing; she was my biggest fan!), looking out the window, snuggling with us, and at times eating, so we kept things going.  She really loved my daughter (and vice versa), so wanted to give them as much time together as possible before she had to go back to college.  We didn't want Mandy to experience that loss of seeing Rebecca go, either, and it was important that Rebecca was there to say those last good-byes to our cat and support her in her final hours.

It was a beautiful day, and we loved her, pet her, snuggled with her, and she was very affectionate.  I again tried to feed her, but she was refusing everything.  We put her in the cat carrier and brought her to the humane society.  The sun shone through the window and she seemed to enjoy looking out the window and feeling the warmth of the sun.  We put in my oldest CD, which she knew very well from hours of me playing it, and it was appropriately entitled, "Beauty in Pain."  My daughter sat next to her and spoke softly to her, which also seemed to comfort her.  She meowed a little.  We got to the Humane Society and said our final good byes, walking away and sobbing at times.  After a few minutes, she was brought back to us in her carrier.  We brought her home and buried her, and had a funeral service for her.  My garden was not well kept this year, but we were able to pick enough beautiful flowers to support three small bouquets for my husband, daughter and myself.  We said some kind words, and then put them on her grave site.  I still watch vigil over her grave to make sure no animals dig her up.  It comforts me to know she is still on our property.  She was such a blessing to our lives, and we thank God for her.

God used many animals in Scripture.  Some examples are: Jesus used a donkey to ride on, a donkey to speak to a prophet, a large fish to swallow Jonah, a dove to communicate to Noah whether or not land was found, and He will ride a horse during the Battle of Armageddon.  He used pigs to dispose of some demons, a rooster to alert Peter's denials, lions to destroy Daniel's enemies, and a raven to feed Elijah. 

If you own an animal or animals, I hope you are a wise steward and a loving caretaker of these precious little beings put in your care.  I believe that people who abuse animals are acting in an evil way, and will be judged by God for it as an evildoer.  Show kindness to all of God's creatures, especially to humans, and give them your utmost respect and care as you value life and honor the Giver of Life.

This post is dedicated to Mandy.

As an indoor cat, she loved feeling the fresh breeze when I'd first open the window in the porch.

The love seat on the porch was her favorite spot.

My daughter was her best friend.

 She loved to be scratched!

 Especially in her last days, rubbing a freeze pop was her favorite thing to do.  She'd rub the pop, then rub Rebecca.  Rub the pop, then rub Rebecca.  You get the idea!

More snuggle time!

Tried everything to try to get her to eat.

We will miss you, little one!  You fought a good fight and stayed loving to the end!

Rest in peace.

Thoughts on Church and Worship

I've heard many a preacher say that we should be more excited in church, because they know we can get excited as evidenced by our behavior at a sporting event. However, I would like to make the argument that church is not a sporting event. It is a place of humble worship, and we are to show reverence to a holy God. Not to say we can't smile and laugh at a joke the preacher makes! But the sanctuary should reflect the holiness of God.

We could take a lesson from the Catholics in their beautiful architecture, probably done as an offering to God to show respect and try to reflect a piece of heaven on earth.  It gives one a sense of awe and wonder as one enters and worships in that place.  There's also some value in a warm, inviting, family-friendly atmosphere.  But respect should still be shown either way.

Also, group worship is different from personal worship. We ought to conduct ourselves in a holy, righteous manner with respect to others, but with a heart of humility and sincerity. That has been on my heart lately. I love God's church - it has been my source of strength and comfort throughout the years, and I cherish it with all my heart.  I love my church - Meriden Hills Baptist Church, whom I believe has this balance. I love my church family.

I hope you too have found a church you can call "home."  It's such a blessing to be a part of a church community, in which everyone is trying to improve and do their best for God.  It is a great place for you to use your talents and wisdom for a greater cause than yourself.  It also is fun to share holidays and activities with a group of people who share your same values.  Education and counseling is also a part of a church ministry.  I encourage you to find a church that will help you and your family grow spiritually, reaches out to others, is not abusive (unfortunately I have to add that; there are cults out there to avoid), and helps you worship God in a group setting.  It is also an opportunity for you to be a blessing to others as you use your spiritual gifts.  

Worship is done through congregational singing, giving an offering and tithe, praying, and allowing God's Word to speak to you as the preacher expounds on it.  The Holy Spirit will do a wonderful work in your soul if you are open to it.  Don't forget to worship God privately also - He deserves our worship and awe 24/7!  God bless you.

The Solution for America

No matter the push back, we have to keep it simple and stick to truth.  There is so much mess, so much corruption that muddies the water.  When we break it all down, get rid of all the extraneous issues, the result is this: our leaders reflect the American people, and the American people as a whole are corrupt.  We have abandoned our Creator, spit in His face, rebelled against His commandments, and have lost our way, unable to tell right from wrong.  There are a minority of Americans whose eyes have not been blinded, but it can easily happen to any of us.  Isaiah 5:20: "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"  The word "woe" means things that cause sorrow or distress; troubles.  There is much sorrow, distress and trouble in our nation from calling evil good and good evil.  

Isaiah 59:14: "And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter."  We need to get back to absolute truths and stick to them.  We have become so wishy washy in our morality.  Our Creator outlined truth in His Word.  If we all do what is right in our own eyes, then we have chaos and disorder.  We need revival in this nation, getting back to the basics of life, common courtesy, respect, honor, integrity, decency, value for human life and the livelihood of others.  True character is doing right even when no one is looking or we could get away with doing wrong.

Proverbs 6:16-19 says, "These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren."  Look how many have to do with the livelihood of others?  God HATES that!  And pride is at the top of the list.  We need to fall on our faces and repent if there is any hope for America.  Our politicians cannot save this nation.  We need to turn to God.

By the way, a great documentary on the values that our nation was founded upon is by Kirk Cameron and called, "Monumental."  There is a monument in Massachusetts that has the "Reset to Default Settings" for our nation.  Check it out - it's a great documentary, from one father who wanted to get answers for his children.  It will open your eyes, as it did mine, to where we came from, with the instructions on how to get back there.  Our founding fathers knew this could potentially happen, which is why they made this huge monument to show us the way back to our roots.  http://kirkcameron.com/monumental/

This is a song I wrote about hating what God hates: Listen to Hating What God Hates song

Gender Dysphoria in Children

This is a great article showing that there is no scientific basis that children with gender dysphoria are born in the wrong body.

http://christiannews.net/2016/08/15/american-college-of-pediatricians-no-scientific-basis-that-children-with-gender-dysphoria-born-in-wrong-body/

Are You Ready for School?

See my website for a short article about starting the school year.

http://dfgal1109.wixsite.com/dawnfoss/single-post/2016/08/22/Are-You-Ready-For-School

New website

I've just started a new website to link in my other sites, but to also hopefully start selling my books, music and t-shirts online as well, using PayPal. I'd love some feedback as to how you like it, how easy it is to use, and if you're able to leave comments easily on the blog page. Thanks so much! http://dfgal1109.wixsite.com/dawnfoss

Pulling Together Simple Truths

My NYC trip experience

Last Saturday, August 6, 2016 my family and I took a day trip to NYC.  I've been to NYC four times in the past few years.  The first time we spent a lot of time around Time Square and Rockefeller Center.  We watched a show called West Side Story.  The next time we went we explored more fancy shopping, Trump Tower, FAO Schwarz toy store, the American Girl store, the Park Plaza and Central Park.  The last two times we came to be in the audience of "America's Got Talent."  We walked down Park Avenue, walked by the Empire State Building, and went to Madison Square Garden one time and another location the next time.  We went to Macy's, and just had a lot of fun.

This time we decided to take the NY Subway and see more of the city.  We arrived at 11 am at Grand Central Station, and left around 9:30 pm, but even in that time, we still only saw a few places.  But it was a lot of fun, and as I took pictures throughout the day, I anticipated writing about my trip.  The one thing that really stood out to me was the family spirit that was there.  We came on a Saturday, whereas at least the past two times were on a weekday, so it seemed a lot less busy.  There were bicyclists everywhere, and seemed like that is becoming a popular mode of transportation around the city.  There seemed to be an actual event that day for bikers, and people of all ages were riding their bikes.

This first picture is in Milford, CT where we were about to get our 9:28 am train.

Here we are on the train, enjoying the express ride to NYC, which was still about an hour and a half ride by train.  The kids had their cameras and phones to keep them busy.  My husband and I did some crossword puzzles in an "old fashioned" book with an actual pen, not a stylus! ha ha!

Here we are as enter Grand Central Station at around 11 am.  There are people everywhere.  I still am amazed every time I come here, at how beautiful the architecture is, as well as so many old buildings in NYC. People used to take such craftsmanship and artistic style with anything that was built, with so much detail.  I love it!

My Cinematic Arts daughter Rebecca is behind me.  She was on a mission that day to get some great photographs and video.  I can't wait to see her movie when it's done!

 This is Park Ave. looking back at Grand Central Station.  It's so beautiful!

There are a lot of fountains around NYC.  In all the concrete, there were still some trees here and there, including on some roof tops.  It's just amazing how many buildings and businesses there are in NYC.

 Amazing how small Grand Central Station looks with all the tall buildings around it.

 Lots of awnings and cute little "Mom and Pop" shops around NYC, such as this bake shop with lots of cupcakes in the window.  My daughter was out to find a cute coffee shop.

 Ooh!  A Baptist Church in NYC - I was happy to see that!

 First stop: lunch at Tasty Cafe.  They had GREAT sandwiches!  I had tuna...

 ...and my husband had chicken parmesan.  It was one of his favorite parts of the day!

After lunch we started walking down the sidewalk and came across this  American Academy of Dramatic Arts.  There are many famous actors and actresses who went through this school, new and old, including Danny Devito.

On the walls there are many framed pictures of famous people who graduated from this school.  We knew a lot of them from TV.

We loved seeing all the restaurants and coffee shops.  Rebecca and I did the "unpardonable sin", buying a coolatta from Dunkin Donuts.  Amanda was going to find a drink at an authentic NYC coffee shop.

 There we go - Amanda found one!

This place had style; it looked like a great hang out for college students wanting to have a treat while they study.

Le Trapeze is an old NYC swingers club which has been permanently closed.  I hear it was once a famous club.  NYC has its share of immorality, but that wasn't the feel of NYC on the day we were there.  It had a friendlier, family feeling.

Rocco Steakhouse's menu that was posted outside looked very expensive.  As I looked back at it, I noticed the buildings in the background, which looked really cool, the way they looked "stacked" next to each other.

Here we are at Madison Square Park.  It was a pretty park with a playground and little water park area.  Again, a nice, family friendly feeling this day in NYC.

 An authentic NYC pigeon!

 Interesting artwork! There's a lot of culture and artwork throughout NYC.  I really enjoyed it.

There were benches around and seating with tables near this concession stand.  There were lights in the trees above the tables that must look really pretty at night!

 Can you see the lights?

This is the famous flatiron building.  It comes to a "point" here at the intersection, and the building widens as it follows along the two roads. From the top it looks like an iron!

Some authentic NYC music.  He wouldn't likely get on America's Got Talent, but he was singing his heart out!  There was a talented man singing and playing his guitar in one of the subways as well, which was really special.

That's the Empire State building in the distance.  This crossroad is where Broadway and 5th Ave. intersect.  When going down the highway and looking over at NYC or seeing it from an airplane, it looks so crowded, but it's interesting when you are walking down the streets how there is so much personality and space in between building after building...it's amazing how much is there!

This is just one example of the beautiful buildings and shops.  We went in some stores, including Kate Spade, which made Amanda very happy!  We also went into an art gallery that was free and open to the public.  It was quite an experience to see the perspectives of the artists as they drew or painted the world around them.

 Washington Square Park - this was also a beautiful park, and was fun to get a little wet.

 There were also some guys providing some authentic NYC entertainment!

 There were also playgrounds interspersed around, as well as basketball courts.

 And what is more welcoming than an ice cream truck?

We jumped on the subway and went from Greenwich Village down to Trebeca.  We got to see the World Trade Center memorials at Ground Zero.

 I believe this tall building is the new World Trade Center.

It was sad looking at all the names carved into these memorials.  Very sad, and  hard to believe that the Twin Towers once stood here.  There was another one on the other side of the museum where the other tower once stood.  Hard to believe that occurred 15 years ago.

 This appeared to be the new World Trade Center building.  We saw another skyscraper under construction as well as some other construction in this area.

This is the Brookfield Mall, located across the street from the twin tower memorials.  It was so beautiful! You can see that skyscraper going up across the way.  There were wonderful views of the water in the windows behind me and on the other side of the lobby area.  These balloons overhead looked like flying birds, and their wings moved.

That family in the forefront were getting ready for a surprise proposal, which we were able to witness as we were leaving after lunch!  She said yes!  Was so cool all the things that happened around us on that day of just walking through the city.

This was a view from the window where we ate at the food court; I had to zoom.  I'm not sure if that is New Jersey, but appears to be a building for Colgate Toothpaste.

 This is the view not zoomed.  The Colgate building was all the way to my left.

Rebecca really loved this red balloon statue.  The children loved running through the fountain...including my husband, who got his hair wet!  It was so hot that this was really refreshing!

 The Federal Office Building near the former Twin Towers.

I thought that really old building with the great architecture was so beautiful!  It's surrounded by a lot of newer looking buildings, but none stood out to me like this old one.

This tall skyscraper was pretty cool, tho, with the mirrored windows.  I can't get over how many businesses are located in this city.  It's like 20 cities in one!

 

I loved the little newsstands!  We had taken the subway back to the Central Park area, even though I wanted to go to Battery Park and see the Statue of Liberty, and Amanda wanted to check out Soho.  Next time!  We went to a juice bar and I got to try papaya juice - it was good!  Then we had a long walk through Central park to get to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was really cool!

 I don't know what this building was, but it was gorgeous!

 Central Park was beautiful!

 Authentic NYC rats near the garbage!  There had to have been at least 20 of them!

 Another great family activity - boating in a lake in Central Park.  So beautiful!

 Raccoons!  I never saw so many!  There were probably about 15 of them!

There were rats crossing the walkway, as well as these raccoons.  Everyone was respectful of nature and kept a safe distance.

 Isn't that a beautiful picture?

People were sitting on blankets with the beauty of the city in the background.  Some people were having picnics.  While there is danger and sin in this city, I admired the good and the beautiful things I was seeing throughout the day.  It depends on what you focus on, and where you choose to spend your time that will determine your impression and experience.  Later when we were walking through another part of the city to get back to the subway, there were some pretty scary buildings that had bars on the windows and looked like places that would house sex traffickers.

 This is at the east side of Central Park as you come out of it onto 5th Ave.

 Another creepy yet beautiful old building in NYC.

 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

 Some of the remnants of Greece were amazing - I couldn't believe the detail put into their artwork!

Marble head of a satyr playing the double flute, from the Roman Imperial period 1st century A.D.  I thought that was an interesting one!

The next room was from I think New Zealand or New Guinea, very different artwork from the Greeks, although for some reason many of the artists have a fantasy about naked bodies!  So many rated X artwork! Ugh!  These looked really creepy to me; not my favorites.  Some of the other rooms had beautiful furniture and dishes, so much to see, but we only saw the tip of the iceberg compared with all that was there.

 

My favorite spot of the day, last but certainly not least, was the garden rooftop of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  This was our main reason for coming, so Rebecca could get some good shots for her video.  This was a magnificent view.  Once the lights went on in those buildings in the distance, it was even more beautiful, but it was after these pictures that my battery died!

 This seemed kind of random, but there was a haunted house looking prop up there.

That's Central Park, and we're looking Southwest.

 It was like a party up there.

 Looking south.

 I thought the clouds looked really cool!

Literally in about 5 min. the lights came on, and it looked like twinkle lights - brought this city view to life!

After this we walked to the subway, about a 10 min. walk, and just made the 9:36 train back to Milford.  It was a lot of walking that day, but a really fun time.  I'm anxious to go back and see Tribeca/Soho and Wall St., and get a view of the Statue of Liberty from Battery Park.  I hope you enjoyed experiencing this day with me.  It was a lot of fun and a nice time with my family.