Bob Cundiff, Councilmember-Elect
In God We Trust
Hi! Dr. Bob here. As a Christian, an American and a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, I enjoyed, this Independence Day, the message posted by The Hobby Lobby at http://www.hobbylobby.com/holiday_messages/holiday_messages.cfm. They have given me permission to re-post it here, for your benefit.
Testimony of a life, at death
Hi there, Dr. Bob here.
The older we get, I suppose, the more we think of the shortness of life. When I was nine years old, I was fortunate (or unfortunate) to be forced to think of how short life is, when my father died.
My dear wife found some interesting obituaries in last week’s Tampa Bay Times, which I would like to share with you. The obits communicate great testimonies to faith in Christ.
From June 6, 2013, Tampa Bay Times:
Beck, Verden Leon went to his Heavenly home on May 29, 2013. He is survived by his beloved wife of 72 years, Marylu Beck.
Stevens, Albvert Ellis II. “Steve,” went home to be with the lord on May 24, 2013. Steve was born Oct. 11, 1957 in Tampa.
From June 9, 2013 Tampa Bay Times:
Hafield, Clifton Eugene, 81, went home to be with the Lord & his beloved wife Nancy Jo and Son Mark Steven Hatfield on Thursday, June 6, 2013.
Hammond, Rev. D. Kirk, 94 met with his Heavenly Father on June 4, 2013, and joined his wife, Mary, whom he had sorely missed for the pas 6 years.
Ball, William S. “Bill,” 81 went to be with the Lord on June 6, 2013.
Deary, Judith M., 73, went peacefully home to the Lord after her battle with skin cancer on Saturday, June 1, 2013.
Sheppard, Ida Geneva, 93, a longtime resident of St. Petersburg, went to be with the Lord on June 7, 2013 in Fayetteville, GA.
May 2013 Sons of the American Revolution Awards
As 2nd V.P. of the Clearwater Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, my responsibility was to organize the selection of high school students from northern Pinellas and Pasco Counties. These students would be awarded, at their school’s annual award ceremonies, two types of medals.
First, with schools who had Junior ROTC units, we gave 10 Bronze Medals to their top cadets. We also gave a silver medal to a college student who was the top in her Air Force ROTC unit.
Second, at all the schools who participated, we gave a good citizenship award to a deserving student. We gave out 18 awards to students from 18 high schools.
I had the distinct honor to attend 14 of the award ceremonies and present awards at those events. You can see the photographs below that were taken at 12 of those events.
- Jacob Kiag from Seminole High School
Leland Steward from Clearwater High School 
Robert Johnston from Hudson High School 
Renee Crane from Clearwater Christian College 
Silvia Martinez-Moran from Pasco High School 
Monica Ramos from Clearwater Catholic High School 
Darren Jackson from Pinellas Park High School 
Samantha Tackett from Tarpon Springs High School 
Austin Riddaugh from Pasco High School 
Leah Bellamy receives the award for her sister Naomi from Countryside High School 
Karolina Peksa from Largo High School
There were two other great students I awarded medals, but their photos did not turn out well enough to publish.
The other awardees, 15 of them, were awarded by compatriots of mine at the Sons of the American Revolution.
This privilege of presenting these awards was the highlight of the month. I’m looking forward to organizing the schedule and visiting many of these schools next year.
Dr. Bob directs “The Taming of the Shrew”
It was my privilege to direct Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew” at Clearwater Christian College March 13-16, 2013.
We had a hard-working cast and crew, a lot of collaboration, and some very good actors who helped make the production a success.
I thought you might like to see some photos from the production.
American Presidents and Prayer
February has for many years been my favorite month. And not just because my birthday comes in February. Or two of my good friends who were born on the same day as I. Or my niece who’s birthday is the same day as mine.
I enjoy celebrating the births of the presidents who were born in February–George Washington, William Henry Harrison, Abraham Lincoln, Warren Harding, and Ronald Reagan. All right, I don’t remember much about Harrison or Harding. But I like to joke that I’m in good company with the great people born in February.
George Washington, was instrumental in freeing the “colonies” from British rule. Lincoln had the Emancipation Proclamation, and won the war between the States which led to abolishing slavery in our country. Reagan encouraged the Soviet Union to “tear down this wall,” freeing eastern Europe from a generation of Soviet domination.
Each of these presidents recognized the need for prayer, urging U.S. citizens to pray for their country.
Though critics have denied it’s authenticity, George Washington was reported to have prayed at Valley Forge. Arnold Friberg created the original painting of “The Prayer at Valley Forge” in 1976 to honor our country’s bicentennial year.
George Washington prayed on another occasion, in a letter circulated in 1783: “I now make it my earnest prayer that God would have you, and the State over which you preside, in his holy protection; that he would incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government, to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another, for their fellow-citizens of the United States at large, and particularly for brethren who have served in the field; and finally that he would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind, which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without an humble imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy nation.” (Circular Letter Addressed to the Governors of all the States on the Disbanding of the Army, June 14, 1783)
Abraham Lincoln prayed for peace:
Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet if God wills that it continues… until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid another drawn with the sword… so still it must be said that the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and for his orphans, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. (Second Inaugural address, March 4, 1865)
Ronald Reagan prayed for citizens to look to God for divine guidance:
To preserve our blessed land we must look to God… It is time to realize that we need God more than He needs us… We also have His promise that we could take to heart with regard to our country, that “If my people, which are called by my name shall humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
- President Ronald Reagan prays. From armystrongstories.com
Let us, young and old, join together, as did the First Continental Congress, in the first step, in humble heartfelt prayer. Let us do so for the love of God and His great goodness, in search of His guidance and the grace of repentance, in seeking His blessings, His peace, and the resting of His kind and holy hands on ourselves, our nation, our friends in the defense of freedom, and all mankind, now and always.
The time has come to turn to God and reassert our trust in Him for the healing of America… Our country is in need of and ready for a spiritual renewal. Today, we utter no prayer more fervently than the ancient prayer for peace on Earth.
If I had a prayer for you today, among those that have all been uttered, it is that one we’re so familiar with: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace….” And God bless you all. (Address, February 6, 1986)
May we follow in the footsteps of Washington, Lincoln, Reagan–and many of our fore-fathers and fore-mothers, who were men and women of prayer.
Profoundities
Happy New Year! Dr. Bob here,
My friend Ted sent the following via email today. I thought it would be a perfect to share with you for the upcoming few months, as we think about tax season.
GREAT TRUTHS
1. In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress. — John Adams
2. If you don’t read the newspaper you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed. — Mark Twain
3. Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But then I repeat myself. — Mark Twain
4. I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. —Winston Churchill
5. A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. — George Bernard Shaw
6. A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. — G. Gordon Liddy
7. Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. —James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)
8. Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries. — Douglas Case, Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University.
9. Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. — P.J. O’Rourke, Civil Libertarian
10. Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. — Frederic Bastiat, French economist(1801-1850)
11. Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. —Ronald Reagan (1986)
12. I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. — Will Rogers
13. If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free! — P. J. O’Rourke
14. In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other. —Voltaire (1764)
15. Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you! — Pericles (430 B.C.)
16. No man’s life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session. — Mark Twain (1866)
17. Talk is cheap, except when Congress does it. — Anonymous
18. The government is like a baby’s alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other. — Ronald Reagan
19. The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery. — Winston Churchill
20. The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin. — Mark Twain
21. The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. — Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)
22. There is no distinctly Native American criminal class, save Congress. — Mark Twain
23. What this country needs are more unemployed politicians —Edward Langley, Artist (1928-1995)
24. A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. — Thomas Jefferson
25. We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. — Aesop
FIVE BEST SENTENCES
1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity, by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work, because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation!
Dr. Bob Here 
