How Exactly Does Love Win?

BillyHillHere has not posted in awhile but, it is time.

First a Little Story
There was a man one day that had captured the hearts and attention of quite a few people in his country.  Often times he would sit on a hill side and talk to his fellow countrymen about various topics.  Lets refer to this man as the teacher.  One day a lawyer in the crowd spoke out and asked the teacher a question.  Ignoring any motivations behind the question, the question was rather simple and plane - what is most important?  The teacher did not answer the lawyer, but rather said, you are an educated man, what are your thoughts?  Like a true lawyer, never at a loss for words, the lawyer said loving God with all your heart is most important, and  loving your neighbor.  The teacher nodded and told the lawyer he was correct.  But, being a lawyer and all, they inquisitive fellow could not let it stop there and so he asked, so, who exactly is my neighbor?  And this is where the story gets interesting because, rather than answering the question, the teacher told a little story (paraphrased with BillHill vernacular) that went like this . . .

A man was walking along the road and came across some badass dudes that beat the crap out of him, robbed him, and left him half naked and almost dead laying on the side of the road.  But soon after, a religious man came walking by and saw him laying there.  And I dunno, this passerby could have been a republican or a democrat politically, but whatever the case may be, this passerby saw a mess and burden and he simply did not want to get involved and so, he simply passed by on the other side of the street.  Fortunately, another man came walking by, and this cat was a well-connected upper middle class kind of guy.  I am not sure if the victim could see him approaching or not, I don't know if he could even cry out for help, but nonetheless, this well-to-do fellow also saw a mess, a time suck, and he just did not want to get involved and so he too passed by on the other side of the street.  Finally, an outcast of society came walking by.  And you can paint the picture of what this outcast was based on your own ideologies.  You could call him an illegal alien, a homeless person, a person with different political persuasions as you, or whatever.  The point here is that this person saw the man in need and took it upon himself to set aside his schedule, his agenda, his comfort and reach out and help some stranger that was in need.  He did not ask the victim who he voted for, he did not ask if the victim had insurance, he did not ask if the victim had a means to make payment for being helped, he did not ask if the victim had connections or if the victim needed to borrow his cellphone and call for help.  He simply rolled up his sleeves, tended to the victims wounds and carried him to a safe place.

The teacher then turned to the lawyer and asked "who do you think acted neighborly here?".  The lawyer gave the obvious answer - I guess the outcast guy.  The teacher then replied "well, be like that".  In essence, the teacher was telling the lawyer that he was asking the wrong question.  If you are loving God and loving your neighbor, don't ask who your neighbor is, because everyone you come in contact with is your neighbor.  Instead, just be a good neighbor or stated a different way, just love everyone.

Who is going to throw the first stone?

On another day, the teacher found himself in a crowd of people that had found a lady who cheated on her husband.  The law of the land said that the punishment for her was to be killed by hurling stones at her.  The crowd asked the teacher what they should do.  The teacher did not renounce the law, he simply said "let the person that is without sin throw the first stone".  One by one the crowd dropped their stones and walked away.

What would BillyHill do?

The climate in this world sucks.  Everyone is quick to judge and condemn.  And BillyHill has to confess, he also is not immune to this activity.  In fact, BillyHill has passed by on the other side of the road on many occasions and also stood in a crowd with a stone in his hand ready to cast judgement on people that he has never met, never sat down with them to hear their story, never tried to understand their hurts, pains, wounds . . .  It may not be a literal stone, but BillyHill has cast words that were equally as damaging.  And BillyHill does not care who you think this "teacher" is, just a man, the Son of God, a tree hugger, or whatever.  What he said just makes sense.  And so, BillyHill cannot unsay what he has said (other than selectively deleting social media posts) but the words have been delivered, to stones were cast, and there is no way to actually determine the damage that ensued.  But today, BillyHill is opening his fingers and letting the stone drop from his hand.  But he does not want to walk away with the crowd, silenced by the simple truth of the teacher.  Nope.  BillyHill wants to walk up to the person, without any magic words, without any ability to understand this other person and simply say

"you matter and you are not alone, regardless of our differences and views in life, I am standing with you, right in the zone where the stones may be hurled, because you matter.  And you may not like me because of my ideologies, but I don't care, because at the end of the day, everyone matters and I can learn from you, love you, and stand with you.  And if you never learn from me, love me, or stand with me, or even try to understand me, that is not relevant.  The teacher did not say 'be loved by your neighbors', he just said to love them.'  "

And so, this BillyHill persona that was created almost 4 years ago to be a badass voice in a politically correct world is sitting down, pouring himself a bourbon, and is deciding to love his neighbor.  He may screw up from time to time, but the last 4 years of pondering this simple concept have had an impact on this Kentucky man.  He now finds himself surrounded by wonderful friends that do not share is ideologies, political views, economic views and principles.  But, as he looks past the garments of those he is surrounded by, he finds that he is within a host of the most treasured friendships he has ever had.  He has found that spreading love rather than harshness, rigidness, even hatefulness has an incredibly beneficial side effect - he meets more people, he receives more acceptance, he is happier and his friendships are greatly enriched.

BillyHillHere
As always, I like it neat.

When "Later" Runs Out

Well, Billy Hill says there is nothing like punch in the gut, and there is no punch in the gut like losing someone you love.  One of Billy Hill's friends has had a hell of a Christmas this year.  He had his kids this year and was able to get some awesome gifts and they just had a marvelous celebration.  But, while he was fully engaged with the kids and the celebration, there was an underlying current that kept bringing him to tears.

Billy's friend was headed to the grocery story Dec 17th when he got a call from a good friend.  She asked him where he was and he jovially replied "driving to the grocery story, where are you?"  She then said, "I guess you have not heard then, we lost Kim last Thursday."  He immediately swerved to the side of the road and asked "what did you say?" hoping he had heard her wrong.  But she repeated the news to him.  She kept talking about particulars of the event but Billy's head was spinning, trying to get his mind around the words that he just heard "we lost Kim".  You see, Kim was her dearly beloved little sister, but that is not at all who Kim was to Billy Hill's friend.

Who are you, Kim?

It was late in the summer of 2001, Billy's friend had been working at a silk-stocking firm for two and half years and rumor had it he was up for equity partner vote that coming November.  He had pretty much met everyone on all 6 floors of the firm by then and as always, he gravitated towards the staff because, he agreed most attorneys were assholes and he wanted to make sure the staff was appreciated.  Well on this summer morning, Billy Hill's friend stepped into the copy room for a quick moment and as he turned to leave, the most beautiful blue-eyed blonde he had ever seen came walking into the copy room sporting the hottest red dress.  Billy Hill's friend was taken aback . . . and the smile on her face made it clear that she knew it all too well.  Billy's friend asked "who are you?" in more of an inquisitive sort of way as opposed to a creepy sort of way.  She replied "Kim".  He then inquired "are you lost?" thinking she must be a client or something.  She said "not at all".  "Oh" he replied, "did you just start working here".  She smiled and said "No, I have worked here for many years".  Billy Hill's friend said "yeah, I have to call bullshit, I have been here two and a half years and I would have seen you by now".  At this point, she was done making her copy and she laughed and walked down the hallway.

Later that day, Billy's friend was working away in his office and the door popped open and in walked Ms. Kim, in her red dress, and she plopped herself down in his guest chair.  "I need to  talk to you about secretarial staffing" she said.  Billy's friend was thinking "who in the hell is this woman" and so he asked "okay, so who are you again?".  Kim replied, "I am the HR manager here".  Billy's friend pushed his desk chair back and asked "why have I never seen you in the last 2.5 years".  At this point she laughed and informed him that she worked here before but had left for a couple years to have a baby and raise it but, had recently been divorced so was now returning to the work force.

This is how the best friendship of his life, with Ms. Kim, began.  By October, they had sufficiently flirted with each other enough that Billy Hill's friend finally decided to ask her out on a pseudo date.  She met Billy Hill's friend, along with his son and three of his son's friends at Jocks and Jills for dinner, and then a trip to the local haunted house - Netherlands.  By the time that all the ghost and zombies had jumped out, each one causing Kim to grab his arm, she felt comfortable just walking to the car with her arm in his.  The romance began to blossom but, Billy Hill's friend had a problem.  He knew he was up for equity partnership and he was just not sure he was ready to be in tied down in a relationship.  Stated another way, yes, Billy Hill's friend was a womanizing slut and he really just wanted to play the field.  And so, he kept pushing Kim away.  But she would never go far, she stood by his side, encouraged him at work, looking out for him and really just being the bestest and truest friend one could have.

There is an asshole in every crowd, make sure it is not you. 

Around that time, Billy Hill's friend organized a trip for three of his college buddies, his neighbor and himself to head to Las Vegas.  When he mentioned the trip to Kim, she said "you have to be kidding, really, because I am heading there with my friend Beth at the same time".  Billy Hill's friend was a bit suspicious and a little bit furious with Kim, thinking she had organized her trip just to crash his party.  He told her that this was a guys trip and that she was not to hang out with them.  She said of course.

Well, the first night in the casino, up walks Kim and Beth.  Both being gorgeous blue-eyed blondes, and obviously tons of fun, they were immediately welcomed by the group, well all but Billy Hill's friend.  He was embarrassed that a somewhat romantic interest was crashing their party and he was so concerned that his friends would look down on him that he did not bother to observe the fact that Kim and Beth were totally embraced and welcomed by the group.  It got a bit ugly and Billy Hill's friend proved one thing quite clearly - he was a total asshole.  The trip almost destroyed their friendship.  Kim was deeply hurt and it took some serious apologizing and milk shake treating before Billy's friend found himself back in her graces.  But soon enough, they resumed their early afternoon trips to Baskin Robins for mint chocolate chip milkshakes, hanging out in each other's offices and hitting live music around town.

Kim chased Billy Hill's friend for almost 3 years until he finally made things clear by meeting and getting married to another woman.  Billy's friend tried to maintain the friendship with Kim in his marriage but, things got complicated and he had to sever ties.  But as Billy Hill's friend's marriage got more and more complicated, and ugly, he began to remember his friend Kim, how sweet and supportive she was, how kind and giving, how loving, and he wondered to himself "what the hell were you thinking you idiot".  But alas, that was water under the bridge, he had a marriage to focus on and a family to hold together.

It was October 2014 that Billy Hill's friend had a knock on his office door.  He opened to door to see the sheriff standing there with his deputy and an envelope.  Yes, Billy Hill's friend was being served with divorce papers.  It was an ugly process but 349 days later, he found himself in August of 2015 a divorced man.  That September, Billy's friend shot the text to Kim "it is done".  The friendship was immediately rekindled but, because he had moved over an hour away, the friendship was mostly text based.  The trips to Baskin Robins and popping in each other's office were a thing of the past.  Billy's friend also learned that Kim had been fighting cancer.  He was heart broken that he had not been able to be there for her.  But one thing he knew for sure, well two things, (1) he had become much less of an asshole and (2) there was nothing that would ever keep him from Kim again.

Campaign Kim

And so, Billy Hill's friend then launched "Campaign Kim" in which he was certain that he would win her heart back over and they would ride off in the sunset together and spend wonderful vacations at the beech - Kim's fave.  Well, it turned out that while Billy's friend was becoming less of an asshole, Kim was changing as well.  She was becoming more wise, more focused, and more careful about who she let in her life.  All of the sudden Billy's friend found that the person he had pushed away for so long was now holding him at arms distance.  But, just like Billy Hill, his friends don't give up too easy.  And so, he tried again, and again, and again and again some more.  Finally, in the fall of 2017 he convinced Kim to come visit and go to a Georgia football game.  She was a huge Georgia fan, her father having played for the team when he was in college.  It was the most spectacular day ever.  You should have seen the look on his face as he walked around campus holding Kim's hand.  One of songs he used to sing to Kim on his guitar, Kim's favorite,  was "Wonderful Tonight" and he felt like the song was being lived out that day.  "We go to a party, and everyone turns to see, this beautiful lady, walking around with me".  It was the most spectacular day and Billy's friend knew that he was finally getting a foot in the door.  Their time was finally arriving and he was ready to love this lady, respect, build up, encourage and treat this lady like she deserved.  As he watched Kim drive down the driveway and turn onto the road, he never dreamed that that was the last time he would lay his eyes on Kim. 

You see, it may have been a foot in the door that day but, with the size of Billy's friend's head (and I am speaking poetically about his ego), there was a lot more work to get that through that door than he realized.  And so, there he was again, back in the mode of begging and pushing and trying his hardest to get together with Kim for dinner, a concert, a movie or just a moment to laugh.  At times he wanted to give up, it was frustrating, it hurt.  He would try to go out on a date with someone else but, it was always empty and he knew exactly why.  But, every time he wanted to give up, the words that Kim said on October 26, 2015 at 1:37 in the afternoon would ring back at him "you know I love you and feel like you are my soulmate".  And so, he would latch on to those words and circle back around to try again.  Then the cycle would start all over, and while he felt that eventually they would be together, he knew it was just going to have to be ... "later".

Billy Hill's friend hit another wall with Kim in April of this year (2018).  Once again, hurting and feeling defeated, he wanted to give up, he figured his efforts would never lead anywhere.  That spring and summer was a busy time, a trip to NYC, being in a play, doing background work for new Dwayne Johnson movie, and before he knew it, Billy Hill's friend found himself at the Cayman Islands that November and he had not spoken with Kim for over 5 months.  Sitting at the beach, watching the sunset, knowing that that was her most favorite thing, he missed her and longed for her and so, he finally reached out again by sending Kim a text.  But the text was never answered.

Then there was that December 17th call when Billy Hill's friend found out that "later" had just ran out.   This was followed by seven days of crying.  Hours of reading back through every email and every text and wishing that there was a saved voicemail so he could just hear her voice. 

So, my friend asked ole Billy Hill to just say a few words and this is what Billy Hill has to say:

The last thing that Kim said to Billy Hill's friend, talking about walking through hard times in life, which Kim and Billy's friend had had their share, was this:

"We have to walk away with something so it is not just wasted time"
And so, here is something:

Love hard and never stop.
Love hard even if it hurts, because loving is the right thing to do.
Love hard, whether it is your spouse, your kid, your parents, a friend or your soulmate.
Love hard because, if you pull back, even for a moment, you are going to create a regret.
Love hard because you never know when later is going to run out.

And so Kim, if you can read blogs in that wonderful heavenly place that my friend knows you are at, my friend wanted me to tell you that he is ever so sorry for every moment of hesitation, for every second that he pulled away to protect his heart, for every instance that he did not pursue you fully and for every opportunity to love you hard that he missed.  He loves you dearly and he wishes he never had to say goodbye.

Who is Kim?  She was a friendship that began in a copy room on the 49th floor of the Bank of America Building, a beautiful woman in a red dress, but that is not who Kim is.  Kim can partially be expressed in the words of John Legend:

"All of me loves all of you, all your curves and all your edges, all your perfect imperfections . . . your my end and my beginning, even when I lose I'm winning . . . you ARE my rhythm and muse"

and
"Golden leaves look brown to me, the world has less color without you
Shapes in the sky, look plane to my eye, the world has less color without you
Notes on the keys, mean nothing to me, the world does not sing without you
Birds in the trees, fall silent to me, the world doesn't sing without you
I know, plenty of people with eyes closed, they don't see you like I do
Darling I do, see .  . . . . . you. "

RIP Kim February 23, 1963 - December 13, 2018
I Ain't Ever Had a Friend Like You

Billy Hill Here - - I like it neat

Heather from Account Services - you are dead to me

Have you ever been called by Heather from Account Services?  If Billy Hill ever ends up in prison, it is going to be because he strangled that bee-atch.  Our how about those guys from NYC that are ready to give you money to invest in your company. 

Well here is the deal, Billy Hill has an inside scoop on this company called BlueHouse Communications.  They have an app that you can load onto your phone and get a SECOND number, right there on your existing phone.  This is not a wifi or voip deal, it is not a forwarding like Google offers.  This is a true cellular number that works ANYWHERE you cellular service works.  You can call from this number, you can receive calls at this number, you can text with this number, and it even has its own dedicated VOICEMAIL.

There are tons of other features and applications. 

Imagine this:

Your family and close friends are the only ones that know your BLUEHOUSE number.  You set up a special ringtone for the BLUEHOUSE number and you know when family or friends are reaching out. 

In a BYOD environment, you can simply obtain a BLUEHOUSE number for your employees. 

If you are purchasing something, checking into a hotel, or some other merchant is asking for a phone number, rather than giving them your personal number, give them your BLUEHOUSE number.  Now, when the jerks sell the number and telemarketers start hounding you, log in to BLUEHOUSE, dump the number and get a new one.  Heather is now dead to you. 

https://dial.blue/Default.aspx

Just visit https://dial.blue/Default.aspx with your mobile device and get your BLUEHOUSE number in just a minute.  For $10 a month you get 1000 minutes and 250 text messages.  You need to give this a try, it has changed Billy Hill's life. 


Billy Hill Here

I like it neat, and this BLUEHOUSE number is very neat

Billy Hill Here - Eat The Cake

There is a proverb, Billy is sure that you have heard it:

"You can’t have your cake and eat it too"

This is Billy bothersome because it is one of those things that snooty people say when someone is just trying to have some fun but then something goes awry, resulting in there being a cost associated with the fun that has been or that is being or that shall be had.  

But what is the point of the saying?  It basically means look buddy, if you eat your cake, then you ain't going to have it anymore.  Like, you can't spend your money and then bitch about not having anything in savings.  You can't run off at the mouth and say whatever you want, whenever you feel like it and then complain about not having any real friends or getting your ass kicked from time to time.  It is a good principle, reasonable, and easy to understand.  Basically in life there are often time consequences.  But that is all just boring.  

What irks Billy Hill is that the use of cake is just a stupid example.  Because here is the gig, illustrated in fancy diagrams so you can fully understand this point.  You see, sometimes in life, if you make a carpe diem choice, you end up having a caveat emptor moment.  But other times, you miss out on great opportunities because you are too afraid to jump in to the mix.  Billy Hill almost missed one of those moments just this week.  The Eagles were in concert and the ticket prices were out of this world.  But, Billy Hill watched the StubHub activity and grabbed some tickets, mind you at 10 times their face value still, and hit the show.  Regrets - heck no.  Was the best show the Eagles have ever put on, complete with Vince Gill and Glenn Frey's son.  

So, either way, at the end of the day you are not going to have cake.  You shall consume it, someone else will consume it, or it will rot and be tossed out.  So,

"You can’t have your cake and eat it too"

and

"You can’t have your cake and not eat it"

What is your point Billy Hill?  

Simple, just because someone throws a fancy proverb in your face, way the costs and by all means, eat the cake.


Billy Hill Here - I like it neat

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From a Hanging to a Kneeling

It was 2:30 AM as the young boy slept on top of a stained and well worn mattress, no covers and the windows opened wide in an attempt to capture just the slightest breeze on this muggy Mississippi evening of August 28.  Just visiting his family, the young boy from Chicago was not used to the heat and humidity.  It was just three days ago that this 14 year old kid had flirted with the beautiful 21 year old young mother in the local grocery store.  He was startled in his sleep by yelling voices outside, voices demanding that the boy be turned over.  He heard his uncle pleading with the men outside but at gun point, they dragged the young boy from his bed and drove him to a nearby shed where they brutally beat the boy, gouged out his eye and tortured him for hours before finally shooting him in the head.  Then, tying a 75 pound cotton gin fan to his neck with barbed wire, they tossed the lifeless child's body in the river.   Less than a month later, the murderers celebrated on the front steps of the court house after being found "not guilty".  The young boy was Emmett Till, he would have turned 76 this year.  His murderers, his 12-man jury were white.  Emmett was black.  This scene unfolded in our country just 62 years ago.

Today our nation is torn apart, polarized and in each others face because a few men are taking a knee during the National Anthem.  Billy Hill was talking about this issue with a friend the other day and discovered that his friend was in great turmoil over this kneeling controversy and is on a journey.  A journey to try and understand. 

Billy Hill's friend said to Billy Hill, "this just does not make sense, why all the emotional explosions over issues that I am sure everyone agrees on: (a) freedom of speech, (b) right to protest, (c) right to be offended.  Why is everyone venomously frothing at each other's throats because we all agree with these rights, right?"  Billy Hill's friend even got involved in a FB argument just to jump into the midst of this controversy.  He admits that he pushed the limits as he engaged in this FB argument with a young lady but he was very careful to never disagree with anything she said.  All Billy Hill's friend would do is state that he had the right to be offended by the actions and that employers had the right to fire employees for not following rules if they chose to do so.  He was sure that the young lady agreed with him, but she was too busy making her points to even realize that nobody was disagreeing with her.  It even resulted in name calling where Billy Hill's friend was straight out called a "disrespectful rude ass".  And honestly speaking, Billy Hill has felt the same way about his friend on more than one occasion.

But after sitting down and taking a moment, Billy Hill's friend pondered a very deep question, a very eloquent question, a haunting question . . . that question is "Huh?".  He did not get it.  Now, his observations were this: Kaepernick took a knee, nobody REALLY knows why, nobody but God really knows his heart, but he did it.  A few followed suit.  A few were outraged that Kaepernick lost his job or did not get resigned.  Then President Trump says that the owners should fire anyone that takes a knee during the National Anthem.  Well, that is when all hell broke loose.  And when I say all hell broke loose I really mean that it was straight from hell.  The people that do not like Trump said he was a racist.  Trump says it was about respect not race.  And just like Kaepernick, lets assume that nobody but God really knows Trumps heart or the heart of the football players taking a knee.  But instead, lets focus on the fact that what Trump said stirred the pot and whole lot of shit floated to the top.

So it happened that Billy Hill's friend ended up spending last Saturday with a group of friends that he loves and respects dearly, regardless of the fact that they are all very politically and sociologically diametrically opposed to how his friend sees life.  But his friend kept asking them the question "what do you feel about the kneeling controversy".  Billy Hill's friend disclosed to some that he felt protesting was intellectually and physically lazy.  It was just saying "hey, here is a problem" but then expecting someone else to fix it.  One dear Irish born friend of his challenged him and said why can only poor people protest.  His friend said she had heard many say that these well paid athletes should just do their job and work at fixing the problem rather than protesting.  But she said why don't they have the right to protest?  And besides, she totally disagreed that protesting was lazy.  She said it is the way the system works.  It is how issues are brought to the surface.  She said it takes a lot of time to get over injustices, and there has not been enough time in America, not close to enough time to get past the racial issues that plagued our country.  Even Billy Hill's friend's young daughter called him out and said "but what about Martin Luther King and what he accomplished with by protesting?"  Billy's friend pondered.

Billy Hill's friend reflected on a FB "discussion" that had included some very close friends of his.  One such friend was a black man that Billy's friend is involved in a ministry with it.  His black friend said some huge things that rocked Billy Hill's friend back on his heels.  From memory, some of these statements were like "the flag does not represent black people in the same way it represents white people", "justice and equality are just words", "there is no equality in this nation".


Then one of Billy's friend's friends posted an article that can be seen on this link:
What you might be missing in the kneeling debate

I strongly encourage you to read it.  Especially the article linked to within that article that can be found here:  Lynching In the United States

The first article listed above made a statement that really sobered up Billy's friend, it was similar to what his Irish friend had said.  That statement simply says:

What you’re seeing on the field before these games is not just about the last few years—it’s about the last 400.

Billy Hill's friend is still on this journey.  He wants to understand it, he wants to get it.  He is not there yet but he is beginning to see things differently.  Will he ever be able to step into the shoes of a black man in America?  Probably not.  But this is his observation as of today:

Have you ever witnessed the frenzy that occurs when a fight breaks out at school?  Two people really trying to hurt each other and everyone standing around cheering.  What the hell is up with that?  Well roll that clock back just a few years and imagine that same spirit, that same frenzy, that mob dragging a young black man or woman to a tree, wrapping a noose around his or her neck and stringing them up.  Or poking them with a hot iron, or slowly burning and torturing that person.  All of this done based on unproven allegations, maybe fabricated lies, with no judge, no jury, just a mob foaming at the mouth and jeering the torture.  Sounds similar?  Sounds a lot like what Jesus of Nazareth also went through.  But things like this happened during some of our lives, like 1955 for the child Emmett Till.  Just shortly before we put a man on the moon, people were being killed in such lynchings. 

What about September 16, 2008?  Remember a young 24 year old kid named Brandon McClelland that was dragged to death beneath a truck by two evil white men in Paris Texas?  Or what about 10 years earlier when James Byrd was dragged behind a pick-up truck along an asphalt road, remaining conscious throughout most of the ordeal and only dying when his body hit the edge of a culvert severing his right arm and head.  Yet he was dragged another mile and dumped in an African-American cemetery in Jasper Texas.

Do a google search and read about the lynchings in the United States, these were our fathers, our uncles our families that did these things.  We are outraged by the events of 9-11, but what about 4000 black men, women and children that died at the hands of a lynching mob?  Were these deaths justified?  How will we ever know, they did not get a chance to make their case.  But suppose only 10% were not justified, or even just 1 individual, one little black kid?

Yes, there is a lot of hurt.  People say "it was the Europeans that brought the blacks to America, why don't they protest against them?"  Others say, "if they don't feel equal, let them go back to where they came from".

Wait a dang minute.  There is no "where they came from".  The black people in America today are Americans.  They have fought for this flag.  They have fought for their freedom.  And they have some deep wounds from the past.  Billy Hill's friend is beginning to see that this controversy makes sense.  You see, when another young black man gets shot on the streets without a trial, it rips open these wounds from the past.  It is like after Jesus was beaten until his back was the consistency of hamburger meat, then wrapped in a robe, and then after the wounds began to heal and the scabs were encased within the robe, the soldiers ripped the robe off his back and all those wounds were ripped open again.  Is this what is happening within the hearts of our black Americans?

Here is a hard question to face: what difference is there between how the black people have been treated in America and how Hitler and his army treated the jewish people?  Our nation stood up against that injustice, we chased the perpetrators down, we had the sentenced to prison and death for their war crimes.  How many times has Billy's friend said "hey, the civil war was not about slavery, it was about States rights"?  Shame on him.  What a blinded way to side step the black American holocaust rather than dealing with it.

So Billy Hill's friend is saying this, the heated frenzy that has risen out of the "take a knee" protest is not warranted when you just look at the surface.  So maybe, if you can, take a moment.  Try to look past the event, try not to judge what is in the heart of these men on their knees.  Sure, one may do it to follow the crowd, another may do it because he hates Trump, one may do it because he hates America.  But maybe, just maybe some these Americans are saying we are hurting.  We are afraid.  We know what it is like to be walking home from school and have a car full of white guys drive by and hit us with broom sticks because we are black kids living in an affluent neighborhood, or chasing us home and calling us horrible names. 

There is much division in this UNITED States.  And it seems like the media and the politicians feed on this and use it to bolster their position and jockey for power.  Maybe they throw fuel on the fire to further the division.  But screw the politicians and screw the media.  Lets look at our fellow Americans as humans with hearts and feelings and children and families.  Billy Hill's friend is as WASPy as can be.  He is a disrespectful rude ass but he is hell bent on taking this journey onward.  I hope that maybe you also will join in the journey.  When your child says their stomach hurts, do you tell them to just get over it?  When your child says someone is bullying them at school, do you tell them to toughen up?  When a man is lying in a ditch having been beaten and robbed by hoodlums, do you walk by on the other side of the street like the priest and the Pharisee, or do you have compassion on the man like the Samaritan did in Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan?

My word, what would our country be without our black Americans?  Holy smokes, they make our country laugh, the move our country with songs, they light up the silver screen, they have taken the great American past time to new levels of competition, they govern American cities, states and even our nation, they teach children in schools, they have brought great inventions, they have brought great healing, they have helped to build our roads, grow food to feed this nation and other nations, they have started and run business, they have been shot dead in the streets for speaking out that they are hurting.

One of Billy Hill's friend's favorite movies is What Dreams May Come with the late Robin Williams staring as Chris Nielson.  The quote is:

That's when I realized I'm part of the problem.  

Not because I remind you. But because I couldn't join you.  

Billy Hill's friend has realized you have two options.  Further this controversy by standing in our own self righteousness and telling the other side to stay in their place or, closing our mouths for a moment, and listening, and imaging the hurt, the fear, the helplessness of 400 years of bad people doing bad things.  Don't be offended by this whatever position you may be in today, but "Make America Great Again" and "America First".  Two great concepts but has to start with me and you looking past a protest that we may find offensive, looking past the fact that a black man that does spectacular things on the football field and makes a lot of money for doing it is just one generation away from the atrocities mentioned above.  Lets stop being part of the problem and lets join in with our fellow Americans, extend grace, ask forgiveness, show love and acceptance, LISTEN and then listen some more.  Don't try to win an argument, instead, try to understand.  We cannot fix it, we cannot undo it, but we can embrace our fellow Americans and walk through this together.  That is how we put America First.

Billy Hill Here - I like it neat

Billy Hill Badassery Award 10 - Hair Today, Jong tomorrow

Yes, it appears that this is the decade for world leader swith really bad hair (and you thought the wine stain on the top of Gorbechev's head was bad).  Today, we are focusing on the newest recipient of the Billy Hill Badassery Award and it is awarded to none other than the world leader with the first or at least second most intriguing hair cut - Kim Jong-Un.

It is not about your hair.
But it is not his hair that is earning him this reward, it is the sheer fact that right in the face of certain annihilation of himself, his smoking hot wife, his family, his friends, his dog ranch and then the rest of his rat-eating, city confined, poor, hungry, pathetic citizens that live life behind an electric fence even though they have no electricity for their home, he boldly stands up and says "dotard" to the leader of the most powerful country in the world.

Kim Jong-Un, recently dubbed as The Rocket Man by the world leader with either the second or first most intriguing hair cut, seems to be fearless of the big American bully that takes cruel advantage of the rest of the world while it is feeding it, clothing it, taking care of it medically giving it large amounts of money and protecting it from crazy assess with large bombs, tiny brains and little concern for fellow humans.  If you are worried about global warming but not what Kimberly is up to, then you are basically either the next to the bottom or bottom range of the IQ scale, which means you are either an imbecile or retarded.

Yes, Kimberly thumbed his nose at the big bully we call America and says, and Billy Hill paraphrases here in a very politically incorrect manner, "you can stahv my people, you can drive the poor, hungry and depressed citizens of my country to death by sanctions, but you will only peese me off and drive me to make a bigger and bigger firequacker and brow it up over Pacific Ocean".  I am sure Kimberly, his smoking hot wife, his friends and his dog ranch will be just fine.  I am sure they have stock piles of food and water to last them through any sanctioning that can be thrown at him and quite frankly, I am sure he does not care if his citizens die.  I mean after all, they are just a burden on him anyway, always wanting food, water and clothing, they really don't pay attention to his 24x7 propaganda TV broadcasts and they won't stay put in the city they are supposed to stay in so we watch them on camera.

It is not about your smoking hot wife. 
But holy smokes, it takes some cowboy sized balls to make this move Kimberly.  Because, it will become apparent that the only ones suffering from the sanctions are the kind but unfortunate citizens of North Korea.  And even though we appear to be a divided nation, we will all agree that this is not the solution and the only real solution here is to mess your hair up, with a nicely placed MOAB.  Yes, the hate-filled evil Americans will not put up with your citizens bearing the brunt of your stupidity.  And so, there will be a big target put on your overly fat and bulging cheeks . . . . both sets of them.  You will be taken and you know it, but you just don't have the ability to admit it and so, as Trump so clearly stated to the UN, you are on a suicide mission.  And so, like the guy that walks into a redneck bar and screams "you bunch of retarded hay seeds" or the guy that kicks over the Harley Davidson bikes lined in front of a biker bar like dominoes, you are not very smart but you are fearless.  And because of that Kimberly, you receive the valued Billy Hill Badassary award, and the fact that you have a smoking hot wife has nothing to do with it.  Seriously.


But who wins the worse hair award hair, please comment and leave your vote.  
(a) Trump 

(b) Kimberly 

(c) Angry man.

Billy Hill here, I like it neat.  

Billy Hill here - Waiting to Die

Don't panic, this is not a Bible lesson, Billy Hill certainly is not qualified to present one of those.

But check this out, Billy Hill is struggling with something (no, not a ponytailed moron in a parking lot).  You see, Billy Hill's mom is living in a nursing home, actually an Alzheimer's facility, and at this very moment is sitting at a table with 4 other ladies, all of which do not really know where they are and how much longer they will actually be able to hold the spoon in their hand and feed themselves.

The residents there all long for love and affection, which is evident as you walk through the lobby because it feels like a scene from the walking dead sans the sword toting Michonne, as they all stand there or move slowly towards you with out stretched arms.  And Billy Hill does not mean to be rude with that statement but that is the best way to describe it.  These people, from all outward appearances seem to be the walking dead.  Billy Hill's mom seems to recognize him but cannot remember his name, if he has kids, what he does, where he lives or even very intimate details about their life together.  And Billy Hill thinks, what the hell God?

Does God put people on the back burner?

Okay, don't get frightened by the scripture references, I said this is not a Bible lesson.

Psalm 139:16 All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be
Job 14:5-7 A man's days are numbered.  You know the number of his months.  He cannot live longer than the time You have set.  


Alrighty then, Billy Hill says again, what the hell God?  Why?  He wonders why his mom is still here.  This is no life for her.  He does not like her living in that place that smells of urine, has bland food and where his precious mom is subject to being taken care of by strangers that are human just like Billy Hill.  You see, they have bad days, they have arguments at home, they experience road rage and at times they probably get tired of wiping people's butts, cleaning up urine, cleaning a toilet with crap and pee all over the seat, and they may just have a tendency to take their frustrations out on residents in one way or another.  It is human nature unfortunately.

Billy wanted to move his mom to his home but, family and friends said no, not out of meanness but out of concern.  You see, it is believed that each time an Alzheimer's patient moves they get worse.  But Billy Hill thinks "worse, so freaking what?"  Is it not better to have your child supervise your care rather than strangers?  But nonetheless, like so many others, Billy Hill and his siblings do not have the resources to really care for their mom in their home.

And so, she sits there, waiting to die, getting visits from her family and friends and she just sits there in their presence, not able to speak actual thoughts but, apparently she has some from time to time that she tries to get out.

And again, Billy Hill says what the hell God?  Why?

Recently, Billy Hill took his guitar to his mom's place and set up in the lobby.  The residents poured in and Billy Hill stood there for an hour and a half playing every hymn he could think of.  As Billy Hill played the hymns and they all sang along as best they could, or just sat there and smiled, he basked in the beauty of the moment.  It was quite worshipful and sacred.  So, Billy Hill paused and said "you know what, I don't think God puts people on a back burner and just waits for them to die.  I think that when He is done with you, when He has accomplished all that He wants from you, if you are His, He brings you home".  Billy Hill really believes this.  Like Job said, He has set the time for you to live and surly He knew these folks would have dementia or Alzheimer's for a portion of those days.  And so, Billy Hill said "I don't know why you are still here, but don't think for a moment that it is because God has put you on the back burner and forgotten about you.  Because at a minimum, I know He has totally enjoyed hearing you sing today".

So, Billy Hill continues to take the 5.5 hour one way trudge to Tennessee to see his mom whenever he can.  Why is she still here?  Billy Hill does not know.  Maybe He is giving her a period of rest, maybe there is someone that needs to have the opportunity to love on her, maybe someone is harboring a resentment in their heart and He is giving them an opportunity to forgive my mom.  We most likely will never know on this side of eternity but Billy Hill stands by his position, she is not forgotten and not just sitting on the back burner.

Incidentally, the picture here has Billy Hill's mom cookware sitting on the stove top.  Very expensive stainless steel Chef's Ware by Towncraft cookware that his mother purchased years ago upon learning that her aluminum cookware could promote an onset of Alzheimer's.  The plates in the cabinet above, mom's Blue Onion china that Billy Hill narrowly rescued from being sent to Goodwill by the late great Colonel.

Billy Hill Here, I like it neat.