KLOE Radio

 Good morning.

As you may have heard by now, the radio transmitting tower of KLOE AM radio in Goodland, Kansas toppled over in the windy weather we’ve had over the past week or two.  Free-standing for over 75 years on four large insulators that kept the tower isolated electrically from the ground, the tower first leaned, then after a few days fell over.

Apparently, one of the insulators failed either due to age or the stress of the wind…or both…and caused the eventual demise of the tower.  Efforts were ongoing to provide temporary support and repair, but those efforts didn’t come soon enough to mark the end of a remarkable era of radio broadcasting in the Tri-state area.  The cost of replacement of the tower would be more than it would be worth to keep the station on the air.  AM Radio isn’t what it used to be, and although KLOE Radio was still an important part of the Tri-state area, other radio stations have sprung up in the past few decades to deliver continuing local news and weather.  So, the owners have decided to silence the airwaves at 730 on the AM dial.

I am well-acquainted with that tower.  I worked at KLOE from the mid 1970’s into the early 1980’s.  As an FCC-licensed broadcast engineer, my job was to maintain and service KLOE radio, and secondarily to do the same with KLOE TV channel 10.  There were three of us engineers on staff at the time, and we were each given a primary responsibility.  Mine was the radio station.  I’ve been up close and personal with the tower, the tuning shack at it’s feet, and the transmitters that sent voice and music over the airwaves though that structure.

AM Radio is a little different than television or FM radio.  Most broadcast stations utilize a tower with a broadcast antenna at the top of the tower.  The antenna is separate from the supporting tower.

With AM Radio, the tower IS the antenna.  The entire structure is a broadcast antenna.  That’s why this tower, like all AM radio towers, is insulated from the ground by large (in this case) ceramic insulators.  The broadcast signal is fed directly to the metal of the tower.

I had other responsibilities at KLOE.  I did a stint as a DJ on KLOE AM as well as doing the weather cast on KLOE TV for awhile.  The operation was one of those small-business operations where everyone pitched in and did whatever was necessary to keep things going.  That time at KLOE was one of the most enjoyable times I’ve ever had in a work setting.  The hours were long, but the work was satisfying and enjoyable.

When I heard that the tower had fallen and that KLOE would be silenced, a kind of a melancholy feeling came over me…as if mourning the passing of something that was important to me.  And, I suppose, that feeling is entirely appropriate, because several years of my working life were taken up in that place, working with the very thing…KLOE Radio…that no longer exists, represented by the now-defunct tower that broadcast the signal of KLOE AM.

However, I also think about this.  You may not realize it, but every kind of electronic signal that is put into the Earth’s air has a small part of that signal that escapes the Earth and begins a speed-of-light travel into the universe.  My voice and my picture, coded into electromagnetic radiation,  are somewhere in our galaxy, about 45 light-years away from the Earth.

You may think that strange, but the same concept of capturing stray electromagnetic radiation is what brings to us stunning images and troves of information about the universe though our telescopes and other equipment.  It’s not at all inconceivable that, should there be some kind of signal-capturing equipment “out there” somewhere, that someone may be watching or listening to my radio show or the TV weather from Earth in 1980.

And somehow, that makes things just a bit better.

Blessings,

"May You Know..."

 Today is Christmas Eve as I am writing this.  The day is foggy and warm for this time of the  year.  The sun is trying to break through the gloom, and according to the weather people will eventually do so later today.

I have come in to work today to wrap up a few things before the holiday.  The traffic on the street is much lighter this morning, and the portion of the parking lot we lease to our next door neighbor is only about one third filled.  I plan to be here for a few hours, then head on home for the rest of the day.  We are planning on Scott and family to be with us this evening, so I need to get ready for that…which means I need to nap this afternoon.  It's tough being semi-retired, but someone’s gotta do it.

When I pulled into the parking lot of the church, I parked and rather than come into the office, decided to walk to the nearby pharmacy and the downtown post office.  The wife had a prescription I needed to pick up, and we needed stamps at home for the four or five mailings a month that we normally do.

I stopped at the post office first.  It was a very slow day there…I was first in line.  I chose some stamp sheets, paid, and headed to the pharmacy a block or so farther down the street.

The pharmacy was pretty much like the post office…not very busy.  I got right to a clerk.  The medication I was getting was for the wife and was one of the more expensive medicines.  A month of this medication with insurance is almost a hundred forty dollars.

The clerk found the medication and rang up the charges.  I tapped my debit card, entered my PIN, and completed the transaction.

I didn’t think about it at the time, but after I was back on the street walking back to the church, I thought about how easy it was to pay for the medication.  I never gave it a second thought…I knew we had the money in the checking account that is attached to the debit card.  I also knew that we would not need the money for anything else right now.

Then I thought of some of those who I encounter and visit with as a minister.  I do the benevolence at the church, and regularly encounter folks who need help with basic needs…food, transportation, utilities, clothing.  Sometimes, we can help.  Sometimes for whatever reason, we can’t.

I still struggle, even after doing this for more than a decade, to understand just how much as little as twenty dollars in benevolent help means to some of the people I visit with. 

A tank of fuel for a vehicle.  A sack of groceries from our food pantry.  Paying the past due part of an electric bill.  Things I take for granted.  Things I can get or do any time.  Things I don’t even have to think about whether or not I can afford them.  What a blessing it is to not have to worry about such things.

I’ve told you before, I’ve seen grown men and women just crater into an emotional puddle in my office when they were told that a utility bill would be paid, or they were handed a gift card for groceries.  In fact, that response is not at all unusual.  Actually, it’s one of the more satisfying parts of what we do here…to see some of the incredible stress and fear these people deal with pretty much constantly…melt away, even if for a short time.

I also thought about a young couple who had just had their first child.  Far from home.  Very little in resources.  No doctor.  No hospital.  No warm, comfortable place to stay.  Instead, they found refuge in a barn.  She delivered her first child there.

And had it not been, some time later on, for the generosity of strangers from a place far in the East, this young family may well have not remained intact, because they had to flee to a foreign nation to avoid the paranoia and terror of the local governor.  And they had to have resources…those gifts brought by those men from the East…to be able to do that.

So today and tomorrow, as you bask in the warmth of family, friends, and the joy of giving and receiving, remember the young couple who gave birth to God Incarnate in a barn in a backwater village in a part of the world barely tolerated by the government of the time.

May you know the joy of generosity…the blessing of giving…the beauty of kindness…the humanity of loving your neighbor…the divinity of knowing Jesus Christ.

An Office Conversation

 A couple of days ago at work, I was in my office when I heard Linda (our office manager) go to the office door and let someone in.  She visited with the guest for a moment.  I overheard part of the conversation.  The woman was there with her mother and was asking if we had any food.

Linda said something to the effect that we don't usually keep food here, but we had some snack-type food that we normally place into the Blessing Box outside.  When I heard what the conversation was about, I went out to the waiting area where the conversation took place to find a woman in her 40's along with an older lady.  Linda went back to the food storage area to prepare a sack of snack-type food for them.

In the waiting area, I began a conversation with the younger woman, as she was the one who had been speaking with Linda.  I usually begin these kinds of conversations by just asking what was going on with them or how their day is going (in a nice way, of course).

The younger woman began telling me a little about their situation.  Her face was calm and collected, and seemed to display a sign of strength, but I saw her left hand on the arm of the chair.  Her hand was shaking…tremoring.  That told me that she was barely holding it together, so I asked them both to come back to the office and we'd visit there.

They came into the office and we visited while Linda finished filling a sack.  We ended up conversing for over 30 minutes as I gently pulled more and more of their story out of them.  Their story was one I've heard many tens of times before.  Abusive situation.  Boyfriend is a knothead.  They had to get out of the domestic situation.  Have no place to go.  Have never had to access social services in the past.  Didn't seemingly have much of an idea of what to do or where to go.  Mom had transportation and was helping daughter as best she could.  Both are couch surfing.

There wasn't much we could really do here.  We gave them a sack or two of food.  I happened to have a couple of one-day bus passes that I gave them.  I gave them contact information for a couple of my social services friends who might be able to help.  I gave them a list of services available in Wichita that the Homeless Outreach Team gives to the homeless.  I told Mom that when her gas tank got more empty, to contact me and we'd fill her tank.  And, I happened to have a little cash on hand for needs like this, and gave the younger woman $20.

But mostly, I listened.  The ladies talked at least 90 percent of the time we were conversing.  I was just asking questions and getting some clarification.  And as we conversed, the stress level began to fall.  The facade of strength I saw the first couple of minutes in the waiting area was no longer visible.  And when I gave her the cash and told her I didn't care what she did with it, she totally lost it.  She couldn't talk for a good minute or so.  And THAT reaction is not unusual at all when I give a little cash.  When I once asked one of my social worker friends why these people tended to become so emotional when handed just a few dollars, she responded that it was because I trusted them with something of value to do with as they chose...not as I chose.  I have to admit I hadn't thought of it that way, but can appreciate it.  By the way, we don’t just give out cash right and left.  In fact, we seldom do so.  It has to be a special need, or someone I know well.  And we don’t always have cash to give.  We have guidelines and limits in place.  But sometimes, a little cash can go a long way to help meet a need.

Well, we parted ways a couple of minutes after that.  I don't know where they were going.  Nor do I know where they spent the night that night or what is happening with them now.  We may never see them again.  I think about these kinds of encounters for several days following.  Wondering just where they went and were they safe.  Whether they contacted the social service contacts I gave them or were able to find other services.  Ninety nine percent of the time, I never hear from them again.  This may be an exception if the Mom contacts me when her gas tank empties.  I may be able to have some of my questions answered then.  But I'm not counting on it.  They may decide to find another town or city in which to live due to the abusive situation.

This is not an unusual occurrence at our church.  Not at all.  It's usually women who come in.  It's usually an abusive situation of some kind.  Often, it's generational in nature, but not always.  A decent share of the time it's a first timer, or newbie that comes to our door, basically lost in the maze of social service agencies, invisible to much of society, lonely, and afraid...afraid for their own safety, afraid of what that night or the next day has in store, afraid of having lost what little control they had over their lives.

Those of us with a secure safety net of family, friends, and resources haven't a clue of the stress, the disappointment, and the despair these people live with every waking moment.  The least we can do is display some compassion and empathy.

Well, thanks for listening to me, as I sometimes need a listening ear as well as those who come to the office door.  This holiday season, check up on your listening skills.  How are your compassion and empathy assets doing right now?  Have you had the opportunity to give in some way recently?  Did you act positively on that opportunity?  May God’s blessing be upon us all as we learn what it means to love our neighbor.

Being Remembered

 During this time of the year, we often begin to think about things we maybe don’t otherwise think about at other times of the year.  Gift-giving, kind gestures toward others, holiday snows, special church services, gathering with family and friends…I’m sure you can think of other things that come front and center in your thoughts during this time of the year.

I too think about several of these kinds of things.  But I also sometimes think about something perhaps not many people think about, or even like to think about.  You’ve sometimes heard, I’m sure, the question that is asked at times in conversations regarding life and living…”How do you want to be remembered?”

Now, I know that my thinking about this question at this time of the year may seem a bit unusual, but I assure you that I’m not the only one who thinks about this from time to time.  And, at the end of the year when things are “wrapping up,” so to speak, and a new slate is on the way in the coming year, it really isn’t such a weird thing at all.

I don’t obsess about it, and frankly, the thought usually only comes a very few times during the end of the year.  But I always have a difficult time in trying to come up with some kind of an answer.

I’ve heard other people answer that question, but those answers never seemed to me to be something I would say for myself.  Most, I think, would want to be remembered as someone who was kind to others, generous, loved life, and so on.  Those who are committed Christians would probably say something like that they wanted to be remembered as a child of God.

However, when I think of what I might say, it’s difficult for me to come up with anything that in any way makes me look like some kind of a saint.  You see, I know myself better than you do.  I know the things I struggle with…my failures…my trials.  I know my sins and shortcomings.  I know when I’ve said things…done things...thought things…things that are anything but kind and generous.

Yes, I know I’ve been forgiven.  I know my slate is clean from that standpoint.  But I also know of the messes I’ve left on doorsteps and in hearts.  I know not everyone is enamored with me and how I’ve sometimes behaved.  And I can’t in good conscience sugarcoat it all with words that I know are not always true.

So, how DO I want to be remembered?  I feel much better when I answer that question this way.

 

I’d rather not be remembered so much as I’d like for those I know and love and have touched in some way to move on in life and living…and live their lives in ways that promote peace, understanding, kindness, and yes…the kingdom of God.  If those I know, love, and have touched over the years would do that, I think that would constitute for me a completion of the life I was given and had lived.

I will be remembered anyway…regardless of how I might SAY I want to be remembered.  Everyone who knows me or knows of me has a mental picture in mind of who an what I am.  What I might say in answer to the question about being remembered won’t change that picture.

Additionally, I’ve always been someone who has  advocated for us to move on when something bad or unexpected has happened…to do what we can to fix it if necessary, but not dwell excessively on the past…to move forward and look ahead.  Life goes only one direction, and we need to move along with it.

I realize this may not be the kind of holiday Thursday Thought you might have wanted to see here, a mere seven days before the Christmas holiday.  But it’s my thought today.  I don’t know if I’ll have a chance to post a thought next week or the week after…we’ll just see how things go.

Now, I need to take some time to wrap the two gifts I’ve bought…I don’t do much shopping this time of the year.  I leave that to the wife, who is much more into the season and enjoys the shopping experience more than I do. 

May God bless you as we all enter into the final week before the Christmas holiday, and the New Year holiday a week after that.

Joy To the World

 Joy to the world, the Lord is come!  Let Earth receive her King;  Let every heart prepare Him room,  And heaven and nature sing, And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.

 This is the first verse of a well-known Christmas hymn, Joy To the World.  The song is one of the most published hymns in the modern day, and is well-known by multitudes.  Written in the early 1700’s by Isaac Watts, the song is thought to be taken from Psalm 98 and Genesis chapter 3.

There have been several tunes matched with the lyrics; however, the modern tune is one written by Lowell Mason in the mid 1800’s, and is widely thought to be patterned at least in part by excerpts from Handel’s Messiah.  The first four notes in the present tune are identical to the notes in the movement “Glory to God” in The Messiah.  The key, D major, is also the same.  Other parts of the tune are sometimes attributed to various other parts of the oratorio.  Mason himself gave credit to Handel for parts of the modern tune.

Many have thought that rather than a song to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the song is instead a celebration of the second coming of Christ as the victorious king.  Many Christians can appreciate the lyrics of the song as applying to either the birth of Christ or his second coming.  Watts himself seems to attribute the lyrics to Psalm 98, which he describes as follows:  Psalms 96-98 refer to "Christ's Incarnation, his setting up his Gospel-Kingdom to judge or rule the Gentiles, and the Judgment and Destruction of the Heathen Idols"

Regardless of your own interpretation of the words, the song is one that raises the spirit and provides hope during a season of the year when for many, life is anything but pleasant and joyful.  It promises to be a part of the holiday season repertoire for many decades to come.

There are four verses all together in the song.  I’ll close with the reciting of the other three.

 Joy to the earth! the Savior reigns;  Let men their songs employ;  While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains  Repeat the sounding joy,  Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

 No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground;  He comes to make His blessings flow  Far as the curse is found,  Far as, far as, the curse is found.

 He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove The glories of His righteousness, And wonders of His love, And wonders, wonders, of His love.

The "In-Between" Time

 Good morning:

 This time of the year is what I think of as the “in between” time…the days between two major holidays…Thanksgiving and Christmas.  This is the time when much of the world, and especially Western cultures, bring the brightly colored ornaments and decorations out of the closet, string up lights of all kinds, decorate evergreen trees in their homes, and max out their credit cards on gifts for others.  It’s a festive time of the year, especially since the days are getting progressively shorter in daylight length, it’s getting colder, nature is brown rather than green, and we’re stuck inside much of the time.

For some, it’s also a time to recall and remember the birth of a baby boy some two thousand years ago who has, in the intervening centuries created incredible changes, for the better I would argue, in societies and nations through his teachings and example.  He has commanded untold millions of followers and disciples over the centuries, and his overall influence has not diminished over the years.

And then there’s the coming of the new year just a week after Christmas.  We collectively seek to “wipe the slate clean,” so to speak, and start anew.  The old joke about new year’s resolutions and their short lifespan in the new year is just as pertinent now as it has been for untold decades.  We try.  We really try to lose weight, stop a bad habit, be more thoughtful and generous, or any of a thousand other things that plage the human race.  And sometimes we really succeed.  But most of the time those good intentions go by the wayside somewhere around January 25^th.

There are some things, however, that cannot be covered over with bright lights, tinsel, snow, holiday music, or gifts under the tree.  Oh, they can temporarily disappear, but just like the snows that come and cover over everything in a white, glistening coat, eventually those snows melt and the brown that is underneath again comes into full view.

We all have to deal with the “browns” in our lives from time to time.  Illness and chronic health issues, financial difficulties, family problems, relationship issues, and a host of other ills and ailments are constantly attacking us, trying to get the best of us.  Sometimes the best we can do is to shove these things off to the side temporarily while we deal with more pressing things.  But sometimes these issues come front and center in our lives and demand immediate attention.  The snow has melted.  We see these things that were buried underneath now before us.  And they won’t go away on their own.  They may not ever go away, but can only be managed for a time.

I don’t mean to put a Grinch-like damper on the holiday season for you.  What I do intend to do is to possibly point you in a direction that ‘s different than the one you’re currently taking.  I said earlier that for some of us, this time of the year is a time to recall and remember the birth of a baby boy some two thousand years ago.  That baby boy, when grown, claimed to be, and I believe was indeed God in the flesh.  God incarnate.  God “pitching his tent,” so to speak, among us, as John says in the first few verses of his account of the life of Jesus.

Specifically, John says this about the man Jesus. 

In the beginning the Word already existed.  The Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He existed in the beginning with God.  God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.  The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.

He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him.  He came to his own people, and even they rejected him.  But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.  They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

So the Word became human and made his home among us.  He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.  And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

Jesus won’t take away the brown things.  But he will enable you to persevere as you walk with him through them. Paul the great Apostle tells the Corinthians that what we endure now is but a “light and momentary” thing.  Here’s specifically what he says:  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

May God bless as you continue on in this season of thanksgiving and renewal.