The Adventure Continues

Happy LIstening!

2012-02-20T08:29:00.001-08:00

Sometimes, I get online and go to YouTube. Many times my reason for going is to hear a song that has been in my mind for awhile, and I’d like to hear it on the speakers in our home. I have my computer audio connected to our audio system, so it’s easy to do. While I sometimes listen to an older song out of the 1960’s or some such, often I turn to the masterpieces such as the Hallelujah Chorus or The Heavens are Telling (the Glory of God). When I do, I often peruse the comments that YouTube allows on the page.
I am struck by the passion with which many of those who are anti-religion talk of a non-god or doing just fine without a god, or some such. And the passion is equal on the other side, with folks glorifying God and giving praise to His glory.
I never enter into such conversations. It’s OK if others want to do so, but those kinds of interactions, it seems, never really accomplish anything and just get folks worked up. I’d much rather people saw a changed life (mine) and made the decision that it was a result of God living in me and my desire to be like Jesus.
And to me, that is much more difficult to do than writing something on YouTube. Living that changed life is impossible without God and difficult at best, at least for me, even with God. As a sort of perfectionist and as one who holds myself to high standards (impossibly high, many would say), I find the concept of grace, acceptance, and forgiveness rather difficult for me to accept when it comes to my own failings.
I’m getting there, however. It’s better than it was. As I mature in years, I think I’m maturing some in other ways as well. And the very idea of grace and forgiveness is such a freeing concept. I wonder why it wasn’t taught with more clarity and with greater emphasis in my earlier years. But the past can’t be relived. The future is uncertain. Only the present can be lived.
So, if you’re in the mood sometime, go to YouTube and take in the Hallelujah Chorus done by a flash mob at Macy’s. Or one of many other gems to be found on that site. I’ve included two or three URL’s here that you can use if you like. Happy listening!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN5BaOGTmGs&feature=related

http://www.creativeminorityreport.com/2010/11/awesome-pop-up-hallelujah-chorus-at.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2PMMBIPXEY

Hope

2012-02-15T07:50:00.000-08:00

One of the members of our church passed away yesterday. Jim had been chronically ill most of the time we have been here, and we didn’t have the chance to get to know him really well. I did have him in my classes from time to time and know that he appreciated in-depth study in the Bible and enjoyed being with his church family.
Jim passed from this life in peace, with those who loved him and those he loved around and near. The journey was made difficult by his illness, but was anticipated and embraced due to his love of God and Jesus Christ.
I have witnessed many deaths over the years I worked in EMS and in hospitals. Some were young; many were older. Death didn’t seem to care. Some were friends. Some were relatives. Some were folks I didn’t know. Many times I witnessed heroic efforts to save that person’s life. Often, I participated in that effort. Sometimes I was just there as there was no point in taking heroic action, or the person or family asked that it not be done.
Sometimes I arrived on scene after someone already had died. Perhaps it was old age; maybe it was an accident of some kind. More than once it was self-inflicted. Again, it seemed that death wasn’t partial to any one group of humans; young, old, male, female—all were equally touched.
For some folks, an old M.A.S.H. episode may describe their view of death. Major Margaret Houlihan, head nurse on the old television series M.A.S.H., is in the operating room in one episode. Someone she has been caring for has just died. She says, “It never fails to astonish me. You’re alive. You’re dead. No drums. No flashing lights. No fanfare. You’re just dead.”
For others, death is a spiritual experience on the highest order. I am one of those people. There is something about the process, about the emotion, about the finality, about the reality of the experience that is unmatched in any other venue. Something beyond what we can see or know is happening, and we know one day it will happen to us. No matter how often we witness death or how often we comfort and serve, we know no more about the process itself than we did before.
I am grateful beyond words for the hope I have that is in Jesus Christ. And I pray when my time comes I will embrace and hold to that hope as I too make the journey.

More Tidbits

2012-02-14T17:05:00.001-08:00

More tidbits on the universe we live in from the “Instant Egghead Guide…The Universe.”

Fusion in stars is the source of all elements heavier than lithium, number three on the periodic table, they say.

The large, super-cooled magnets in an MRI machine make hydrogen atoms in the body wobble, and consequently emit radio waves which the machine can detect.

A light year is the distance light can travel in one year…5.9 trillion miles. Our national debt is about three light-years-worth of miles.

An attosecond is a billionth of a billionth of a second.

Due to the quantum uncertainty principle, alpha particles are able to tunnel out of the nucleus of an atom due to radioactive decay even though they shouldn’t have the energy to break out.

According to quantum physics, a particle behaving in a certain way on one side of the universe determines the behavior of an “entangled” particle on the other side of the universe, with no communication link between them.

In a 2008 experiment, researchers found that if the entanglement principle doesn’t work instantaneously on the two entangled particles, it operates at at least 10,000 times the speed of light.

The human body can withstand inertia of about 16 g forces for about a minute.

Light has momentum. Solar sails are not science fiction.

If you could travel to the earth’s core, you would find zero gravity at the very center of the earth.

The More I See

2012-02-08T08:01:00.001-08:00

A week or so ago I ran across the name of a woman we knew while we worked at the girls’ home several years ago. She was the director of the counseling center on campus and did a good job at her profession. I was looking at something on the Internet and happened upon her name. Curious, I Googled her to see if I could find out where she was now and what she was doing, as I knew she was no longer at the girls’ home. (My spellchecker says “Googled” is not a word. I just now added it to the dictionary.)
I quickly found her. She was in the Wichita area and was the director of a maternity home not far from our church. I called the number and left a message. She returned the call a couple of days later and we made arrangements to meet.
A couple of days ago I went to the maternity home and we re-acquanted and visited for an hour or more about her work and the home. I was struck by some things she said.
Many women who come to the home are homeless. Many women who come to the home have some kind of addiction. Many women who come to the home already have one or more children. Many women who come to the home are part of a multi-generational string of such women. Many women who come to the home have no familial, church, or friend support system of any kind.
I quickly determined as I listened that I had absolutely no concept of living in the world that most of these women live in. I cannot fathom being homeless, pregnant, alone, on meth, with few positive societal life skills, and with three kids under the age of six. I found myself in much the same situation as I did several years ago when I confronted the reality of my niece’s eating disorder. I couldn’t relate to that…I cannot relate to this in any meaningful way.
As men are wont to do, I was running through my mind possible ways to “fix” the problem and immediately zoned in on breaking the cycle. I also quickly found out that the “fix” (or any fix, for that matter) isn’t nearly as easy or as black-and-white as it at first appears to be. I was, as I increasingly find myself, dumbfounded, stunned, and stumped. My friend, on the other hand said something to the effect that, “We love ‘em, provide for ‘em and model for them what life should be, and hope something sticks.” Bless you, Julie, for your love and perception.
We constantly hear thirty second sound bytes from presidential candidates, legislators, mayors, religious folks and others who spout fixes for problems such as this as if it’s blatantly obvious and simple to do. The truth is that women in the situation I’ve described above may well be in an intractable position and will never be released from it until they die regardless of the money, counseling, programs, and effort thrown their way.. And they have already assured society that it will have to deal with the situation for at least one more generation by having kids who are now growing up in this same world and will, in all likelihood, end up the same way.
The women who come to this home must agree to adopt the newborn out. The one saving grace in all of this is that the newborn will probably have the best chance possible to break out of the cycle of homelessness, poverty, and despair. Even those babies who have deficits due to Mom having smoked crack or used meth will have a better chance to succeed by being connected to a family who goes into the relationship with that baby with eyes open and decides still to love unconditionally.
The more I see, the less certain I am that I have answers. The more I see, the less I tend to believe anyone who says THEY have answers. The more I see, the more I perceive the brokenness of the creation and the desire of God to redeem it. The more I see, the more I understand that He expects me to be a part of that redemption process. The more I see, the more I can appreciate the overwhelming and all-encompassing work of the Eternal Son of God…redeeming even these pregnant moms…desiring the abundant life for both them and their offspring. Soli Deo Gloria

Universe Tidbits

2012-01-23T07:42:00.000-08:00

Interesting (at least to me) information about the universe we live in (Credit Instant Egghead Guide to the Universe by J.R. Minkel). I’ll have more of these tidbits as time goes on.

Electrons are elementary particles. They cannot be broken down into smaller particles. Protons and neutrons, on the other hand, are made up of smaller particles called quarks.

The most abundant elements in the universe are hydrogen and helium.

You can actually buy samples of most of the elements on line, even some radioactive ones. http://www.elementsales.com is just one place they can be obtained.

A single air molecule at room temperature collides with other molecules more than a billion times per second.

When helium is chilled to nearly -459 degrees F, it loses all viscosity and becomes a superfluid, capable (among other things) of climbing up the sides of a container.

When you stretch a rubber band, it heats up. You convert mechanical energy into heat, which warms the rubber band. Sometimes you can feel the heat by touching the band to your lips after you stretch it.

No one violates the second law of thermodynamics, which is the law of entropy. Simply stated, it says that entropy can never be reversed…that disorder in the universe continues to increase. Even living things don’t violate the law. They (we) are highly-ordered, but we derive our order by creating more disorder around us than we contain within us. (Right now, I’m thinking of Pigpen in the Peanuts comic strips.)

If a hydrogen atom nucleus were the size of a common marble, it’s corresponding electron (hydrogen atoms have only one electron) would lie about 100 yards away. All the rest is empty space.

Neutrons are unstable outside of the nucleus of an atom. Left to themselves, they would decay into protons in about 15 minutes average.

In nuclear fusion (that’s what powers stars), the helium atom created from the fusion of two hydrogen atoms weighs 0.7% less than the original two hydrogen atoms. The missing mass was converted into energy. Einstein was right. Mass does equal energy and energy does equal mass (E = mc2).

2012-01-11T19:21:00.001-08:00

You probably don’t know Katie Davis. If you don’t, you need to find out about her. You can find her and what she does at http://www.amazima.org/katiesstory.html
Katie is a 23 year old woman who cares for orphaned and vulnerable children in Uganda. She has created an organization, staffed it, and actively works in Uganda with those she cares for. She has adopted thirteen children of her own. She tells this story about one of her girls, an 11 year old.

“I just want to remember,” she says matter-of-factly, and she pulls the covers right back up over her head.
It is well after our 8 o’clock bed time. I have been sunk deep in the couch and in the Word knowing that 13 pairs of feet were tucked snugly in 13 beds. But as I make my way from the couch to my room, something catches my eye and I peek my head in the girls’ bedroom.
There flat on the cold, hard tile floor is my 11 year old with her blanket pulled tightly around herself. It doesn’t look as if she has rolled out of bed; it looks intentional. I nudge her awake. “Honey, what are you doing on the floor?” Why would anyone ever choose to sleep on this, the hardest of surfaces, with a comfortable bed just inches away?
“Remember,” she mumbles sleepily, “I just want to remember. Some people don’t have a bed, mom. I didn’t have a bed, mom. God gave me a bed. And I wanted to remember what it was like to not have one.”

This young girl is wise beyond her years. She has much to teach those of us who have always had a bed; always had food; always had shoes; always had clean water.
I don’t know what it will take for you to remember those who have no bed; no food; no shelter; no shoes; no clean water. Maybe it will take you sleeping on the floor. Maybe you will have to spend a night under a bridge. Or maybe you can just remember and do your part without all of that. I don’t know.
What I do know is that we can’t do everything, but we can do something. I can’t do everything, but I can do something. What will I do? What will you do?

Toys and Games

2012-01-09T17:27:00.001-08:00

Saturday we had our grandson’s fourth birthday. Of course, we had the cake, the ice cream, the candles, and the gifts. And since he’s a huge Thomas the Tank Engine fan, pretty much all of the gifts were things having to do with that toy series. He has track, cars, engines…you name it, he’s probably got it right now.
They’ve been doing toy series for many, many years. The big ones I can recall are Barbie and Tonka trucks. You might say that Tinkertoys and Erector sets were series as well since you could buy more pieces for the sets or put sets together. Later on when our boys were small, it was Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
As a kid, I remember Lincoln Logs and something called American Bricks. Both were sets one could build structures with. Lincoln Logs are with us today in some form or another, but I believe the American Bricks became Legos. I don’t know that these were toy series, but the idea is the same as Tinkertoys.
Since I’m in the reminiscing mood, I’ll remember board games…Monopoly, Sorry, and others. Many of those games are still with us in some version or another; others have disappeared. There are a slew of newer games, many of which have the participants answer questions or demonstrate some skill. Some I don’t mind; others I could never play and never miss it.
Games have been part of cultures the world over and in all times and eras. We enjoy being with each other and engaging in diversions to the mundane and routine of life. Some take games more seriously than others, but if taken in context and good spirit, games can be a source of fellowship and community.
I don’t know if you like cards, board games, games of strategy and skill, or games that are more on the mindless side. My bet is that you like something, though, and would miss it if it wasn’t available. Try something new down the road. New games can be fun and who knows? You might just find the next game you just can’t live without.

The New Year Rut

2012-01-03T08:12:00.001-08:00

The holidays are over and the grind of short daylight hours, cold weather, and holiday bills begins. Some of us will recover nicely from the holidays; some never will. For some the holidays were everything they thought they would be and more; for others, they were yet another time of unfulfilled expectations.
The year-end holiday season is a mixed blessing, it seems. Yes, I know that Christians who celebrate the birth of Jesus during this part of the year truly enjoy this time and deepen their faith and relationship with God. It’s the other part of the holiday season, though, that can be a mixed blessing. Family get-togethers and the expectations of gifting are the mixed blessings, at least in my mind.
Many families can come together and enjoy the company, the visiting and re-connecting, and the fellowship. Other families come together and fuss, fight and fly the fur. Many people give and receive gifts with thanksgiving and gratitude. Others indulge their more greedy and selfish side.
In any event, for those of us who live life in a comfortable rut, we are shaken out of that rut for a couple of weeks and now are only too happy to get back into it as soon as possible. There’s an indescribable comfort in a rut. It’s predictable. It’s satisfying. And it enables folks to tackle the things in life that come unannounced without having to also worry about the routine.
So, 2012 is here and the world gets back to work today. In many ways, things will continue as they always have. The sun will rise; the sun will set. It will rain; it will snow; it will be warm; it will be cold. Spring will come and nature will burst out in bloom and life. There is a continuity in the creation that is predictable and satisfies just as a person’s rut is predictable and is satisfying. Enjoy the year and enjoy your days.
Have a blessed new year.

The New Year

2011-12-31T08:35:00.000-08:00

I suppose it’s fitting to again write something for the end of one year and the beginning of another. On the one hand, there’s nothing magical about January 1. Our year could just as easily start on October 10 or May 22. We have chosen (or rather someone has chosen for us, and we have not changed it) the stroke of midnight between December 31 and January 1 as the beginning of the New Year.
There is something to be said for the length of the year, however. It approximates the time it takes to travel around the sun on planet earth. And the length of our day is also something that probably should remain as it is as it approximates the time it takes the earth to make one rotation on its axis. But the notion that January 1 should be the start of the new year is an entirely man-made idea.
Not that there’s something bad about that. I suppose the year has to begin some time. I’m not sure it deserves all of the attention it gets, however. It seems to me it’s an excuse for us to spend money, stay up late, and over-indulge.
I’m not really a Grinch, although I am wearing my Oscar the Grouch shirt today. And I’ll gladly be part of the Plank gathering here later tonight. There will be food and drink, games and talk. And we’ll celebrate the New Year, clean up, say good-bye, and head for bed, wondering what this next year has in store for us.
If I can be serious for a moment, I’d like to say what you already know. We haven’t a clue what the new year holds for us, or if we’ll even be around for the entire year. We don’t know what funerals will take place, who will get married, who will have a child. We don’t know the state of the economy, nor do we know what various people in power in the world will do militarily or through terrorism.
What we do know is that there will be enough evil and mayhem in the world this coming year, that we would do well to live at peace with all men insofar as it lies within us; to offer a cup of cold water; to visit those who are sick and in prison; to give a coat, a meal, and a safe place to sleep. We would do well to offer a kind word, encourage a child, pick up someone else’s trash, slow down and drive more civilly, and hold a door or an elevator for someone. We would do well to remember the God who made us; to visit the teachings of Jesus and absorb and practice them. We would do very, very well to love our neighbor as ourselves.
We can’t fix everything; neither do we have to contribute to the mayhem. We can do our part to civilize our sphere of influence. And we can work to make the lives of others better even as we ponder our own frailty and mortality. Have a blessed 2012.

End of Year Musing

2011-12-27T07:15:00.001-08:00

Today is Tuesday. Two days after Christmas Day. Hopefully, things “out there” will at least begin to become somewhat more normal so I will feel like I can venture out to the store to pick up a few things we need. I don’t participate in the frenzy of buying and shopping this time of the year, and don’t even like to go pick up the ordinary things (milk, fresh fruit, canned goods, etc) that we need from the supermarket this time of the year. However, it appears I’ll have to go shortly as we’re running low.
I did get several books for Christmas that I’ll enjoy. Also a sweater, portable clip-on light, and the unusual gift of a personal geo-cache. Haven’t found it yet, but am planning to do so later this week. I have an idea where it generally is located and am looking forward to finding it.
The weather promises to be mild and sunny for the next several days, so I’m thinking about taking down the outdoor display on Friday or maybe Saturday of this week. It was kind of fun to put up and enjoy from night to night, but even with good things, there comes a time to put it back into the boxes.
The train is up and running in the garage. Hopefully, there will be some who stop by during the mild weather and run it. The garage tends to heat up in the afternoons when the sun shines on the west doors and it’s downright pleasant in there during that time. I have a propane heater that takes the chill off, but often don’t have to run it because of the solar heating.
These days after Christmas and before the New Year seem to be similar, in many ways, to what we used to call the slow days of summer. Of course it’s cool out and not hot, but these days for those of us who don’t work over the holiday break are gifts of time that at once stretch for a couple of weeks, yet all too quickly seem to come to an end.
I hope your remaining days of 2011 are pleasant and 2012 will be kind and gentle to you and yours.

Renewal & Hope

2011-12-16T21:45:00.001-08:00

The winter solstice is hard upon us. On December 21 at 11:30pm Central Standard Time, the earth will be tilted at the maximum away from the sun in the Northern Hemisphere. That means that the days will generally become longer after that date.
I always enjoy it when the winter solstice comes because I know that there is an end to winter, cold, ice and snow. I know that spring is coming and things will again turn green and start growing. I also know that it will be a long haul from the winter solstice to the warm days of late April. There will be plenty more ice and snow storms…times of zero degrees or lower, and almost endless cloudy, dreary days and nights. But the solstice brings hope. Hope of renewal, refreshment, and the beauty of the creation as it grows and flourishes.
And isn’t that really what the hope that Peter describes in his first letter, chapter 3 and verse 15…isn’t that really kind of what that hope is? Not some kind of wishful thinking, but rather a longing and looking forward to, with the assurance of things present that what is hoped for will come to pass.
When the solstice comes this year, rejoice in the hope that is within you as you hope for the warmth and renewal of the spring to come.

Ten Reasons

2011-12-15T07:38:00.000-08:00

I’m going to share with you something written on Facebook by one of our young women at our church. She is a freshman in high school and has given me permission to use what she wrote.
I’m sharing this because all too often we look at teenagers as lazy, insolent, undisciplined, uncaring, and selfish. We know they don’t have a clue how real life is lived and have had everything handed to them on a platter. We abhor their driving habits, knowing they are out to intentionally kill and maim. We see them sag in some places and show too much everywhere. We think all they do is thumb texts all day and hook up at night. They eat too much, don’t eat vegetables, live in garbage dump rooms, and leave the bathroom such that we have to don gloves and a mask to enter.
We miss the reality…a lot. Listen to what she has to say about her day. (By the way, I know both this young woman as well as her friend Carrie (name changed), who she mentions in her writing.)

Not a very good day (or week)...at all. But here are ten reasons I'm smiling and thanking God for the blessed life I have:

1) Spanish, Literature, Music Appreciation, and Math finals are DONE. Only the first three went well though ;)

2) I got a Steelers Terrible Towel today. This alone gave me hope that maybe my week will end better than it started.

3) Yesterday I got to volunteer at Botanica!

4) After I volunteered, my girl scouts and I got to see Botanica's lights for free then grabbed some ice cream at Braums! Yum

5) I talked to one of my ex best friends earlier this week and we agreed to be friends again and out the past behind us. It feels good not to have so much tension!

6) Music. It has kept me awake when I started falling asleep doing homework

7) Kids. They make me smile in every way possible

8) My bestest friend ever (Carrie Austin) came to Wichita this past weekend!!

9) Carrie gave me "12 days before Christmas presents", so each day I open a thoughtful gift and a handwritten note reminding me why I love her and why we are best friends! ♥ you sister!

10) And my final reason I am smiling is because I know all of these things couldn't have been possible without my ever forgiving God. Thank you, God for my wonderful Terrible Towel.

Wisdom beyond her years, and far beyond anything most people may think in general about teenagers today. I’m tearing up as I write this hoping that some day I will have the maturity to write ten reasons why I should smile and thank God for the blessed life I have, even in the face of a not very good day.

A Greater Appeal

2011-12-13T08:27:00.001-08:00

I got to thinking this morning about life several years ago when our boys were still in school. We lived in a small community to the southwest of here then, in the home where I grew up. Life was certainly different from my growing-up years in many ways. We had the Internet, cell phones, and many modern conveniences that we did not have in the 1950’s and 1960’s. But some things didn’t change.
The one thing I was thinking of that hadn’t changed between the 1960’s and the 1990’s was that we never pulled the keys from our vehicles. And we left them parked outside in the drive. We never pulled the keys when we went somewhere, unless it was to Wichita or some other “foreign” place. We never were stung with a stolen vehicle, and to my knowledge, none of our vehicles was ever bothered in any way. Now the keys are pulled religiously.
As a corollary, when we lived in western Kansas a few years ago, we never locked the front door to our house, except at night when we had retired for the night. Even if we left town for a week or more, we wouldn’t lock the front door. And as far as I know, that was never a problem. Now, we keep the doors locked even in the daytime, whether we are home or not. And we live in a “safe” neighborhood in the Wichita area.
So what makes the difference? Is it that as we grow older, we grow more cautious? Is it the environment? Do larger cities mean more danger? Maybe it’s because we have more invested in our vehicles and homes than we used to have. Or maybe it’s because we don’t know our neighbors like we used to. Or is there something else at work here? I don’t really know the answer to that, but suspect it has something to do with all of the above.
Is it better? Well, in many ways it is. There is an element of risk in leaving something unlocked, whether in a small or large town, whether in the 1950’s or the 2000’s. There is an inherent safety factor that’s at play here. But in other ways, it’s a little sad that it has to come to this. It’s sad that I have to mentally note whether I’ve locked a door or not and check it to be sure. It’s unsettling to think that I feel like I have to have a loaded weapon at the ready in my home. It’s unnerving to know that not everyone who comes to the door will be coming for an innocent purpose. And although it was unthinkable some years ago, with the new concealed carry laws on the books, I’ve told more than one person who has visited with me about the subject, “If I had a concealed carry permit and a weapon on me, I wouldn’t tell you.”
I know that this blog may be troubling to some, especially for those who know this Mennonite boy who wants nothing more than to live at peace with everyone. It’s unsettling to know that I have even thought such things, let alone have written them. But that’s the world we seem to live in. And it only makes the new heavens and the new earth even more appealing.

When?

2011-12-11T19:09:00.001-08:00

A few days ago, we again celebrated Pearl Harbor Day. The number of veterans who were there, and the number of WWII veterans in general, are declining at a great rate. In a few short years, there will be no WWII veterans around anymore. It won’t be many more years until the Korean War veterans are gone…then Vietnam…and so on. When that happens, we tend to lose some perspective on what happened in those eras, and we also tend to forget any lessons those experiences may have tried to teach our society and the human race.
I know that all wars are messy, miserable, and result in many people being killed, societies disappearing or forever changing, and other consequences that we may or may not always see right away. The Second World War, however, seems to be a kind of watershed event for the United States, the free world, and the way we see and fight war. Hopefully, we will not as a race of people (human race) rush to forget the horrid, horrid atrocities and the extraordinary sacrifices of ordinary men and women who literally made the world safe for humanity again in WWII. And hopefully, we won't rush to forget the rebuilding of Japan, the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Air Lift, and everything else too numerous to mention here.
We didn’t deal with everything perfectly. We committed our share of atrocities and had those in our military who were not the paragons of virtue we’d like to think they were. However, we acquitted ourselves well in the 1940’s and were an example to all nations on many, many fronts. We have nothing to be ashamed of in the great scheme of things when it comes to our collective behavior in the War.
We sacrificed. We worked. We got involved. We learned. And we prevailed. We did what we had to do, and many did more than they thought they were capable of doing. We survived and thrived, and we brought the world back from the brink of total despair and destruction through our rebuilding efforts and our leadership in forming the United Nations, NATO, and other efforts.
As I look at this post, I have to wonder if Washington politics would call the nation to great and lofty expectations, we would positively respond as we did then. Instead of a call to serve, it now seems we're being relegated by Washington to the lowest common denominator of malaise and parasitic living. And that relegating has been going on for much longer than the current administration. On July 9, 2004, President Bush said, “I want the American people to live a normal life. It’s my job to worry about it. It’s your job to go about your business.” That was his call from the very beginning of the war on terror. We didn’t sacrifice as a society. We didn’t pay for the war (All major expenditures were “off-budget” and therefore we borrowed the entire amount). We didn’t have to do anything except continue about our business.
Who is bold enough to issue the call and provide the leadership? Who is brave enough to be honest with the American people? When will we be asked to give, support, and encourage? When will we be part of the solution?

Those Who Don't Know Better

2011-12-05T10:56:00.000-08:00

Richard C. Hottelet. Marvin Kalb. Robert Trout. Winston Burdett. Eric Sevareid. Charles Collingwood. Howard K. Smith. Douglas Edwards. Robert Pierpoint. Daniel Schorr. Do any of these names sound familiar? No? What about Walter Cronkite? OK, now you have an idea.
These men (yes, they’re all men) are former news correspondents who worked during television’s golden age of news reporting. Most of them worked for CBS News, but not all. Several of them were Murrow’s boys, a phrase that described those who worked for the legendary Edward R. Murrow.
There were more than these, of course. Most of these men were World War II correspondents, and stayed with news reporting into the age of television, and on through the 1960’s and 1970’s. They worked at a time when the news was expected to be a money-loser. They worked when it was thought that the news needed to be independent of the politics of the organization. They worked when news was indeed news and not someone’s opinion masquerading as legitimate news. All have passed on except, as of this writing, Hottelet, who is still active in life.
Sometimes these reporters would give a commentary. When they did, it was clearly labeled as such. Sevareid and Cronkite immediately come to mind as two whose commentary I clearly remember. I’m sure others did the same. We didn’t always agree, but I respected their opinions, and knew they came from a deep and abiding knowledge of the events of the day and a great respect for the journalism profession and the code of ethics that guided them.
It saddens me to think that the likes of some of these men may never be seen again, or that the independence of a news organization from its owner/company may never again be known. It saddens me that it takes great effort to find anything in any kind of news reporting that even comes close to pure news reporting, and not pandering to profit or politics. Those of us who have experienced the golden age of media journalism are understandably turned off by Fox, CNN and the others who have hijacked something that served well the American people and the world and have created a faux world that is nothing at all like it should be.
And what is even sadder is that those who don’t know better think this is the way it should be.

The Right Thing

2011-12-05T06:54:00.000-08:00

You’ve probably seen the ad, or seen one like it. State Farm Insurance this evening, during the OU/OSU game had a commercial where the only sound was a musical score where the singers sang “You wanna go where everybody knows your name,” several times during the 30 second spot. Of course, the song is from the TV show “Cheers.” And the theme of the commercial was that people like to do business where they are called by name.
I’ve noticed many commercials in the last couple of years that have this theme. Not the song from “Cheers” necessarily, but the general theme of the commercial is that you will be somebody besides a number if you do business with us.
It’s sad in a way that commercials even have to have this theme. I know that in this modern world, it’s a little arcane to think that the mom and pop grocery store, the local banker, the hardware store guy, the clothing store women, and the meat market butcher would all be friends and neighbors who know you and you know not only them, but also their spouses, kids, and grandkids.
However, there are ways that we can meet the need for recognition without having to patronize a particular insurance company, supermarket, or bank. A couple of ways that I can think of immediately are to volunteer your time to a worthy organization and to become connected with a loving church community.
Think about it before you dismiss these suggestions out of hand. Someone who volunteers is appreciated just for their willingness to serve. These folks fill needs, provide additional support, and generally make life better and easier for those they serve. And that service is noticed and appreciated, making the volunteer a sort of celebrity, if you will.
And to attach oneself to a loving church community is to inherit a “whole ‘nuther family,’ as it were. Folks are generally glad you are a part of the group and enjoy the time they spend with you. You have additional opportunity to volunteer through the church as well.
You don’t have to attach to a church, if that’s not your thing. Civic groups, non-profit organizations and the like many times are formed around a community structure and would welcome you to the fellowship. I would ask, though, that you seriously consider your Creator, His continuing love for you and your response to that. No, not all churches are loving. No, not all people in the church are committed to the cause. Yes, some are hypocrites. You’ll find that, however, wherever you go because people are imperfect by nature, and so are you. Don’t let those lame excuses keep you from doing the right thing.

No Easy Solution

2011-12-01T10:45:00.000-08:00

I helped our teens (church youth group) last night as they served an overflow homeless shelter by serving a hot meal to the men that came in for the night. We served sloppy joes, fruit, mac & cheese, cookies, and drinks. The men were grateful and several came to the window to thank us for what we provided for them.
As I looked over the men who were eating during a lull in the serving, I had to wonder about some of them. One of them said he had been a Marine. Another was rather young…looked like age 30 or less. Some looked as if they had been homeless for years; others looked like they came on hard times in just the last few days or weeks. I don’t know if I can rely on looks and brief conversations to draw any particular conclusions, however.
What I did think about was how these men would get out of the situation they were in. How were they going to find jobs, get to and from work, obtain a vocational education, etc?
Think about it. To get a job today requires (usually) a mailing address or permanent address, email, access to a computer, a telephone number, transportation, clean clothing, neat appearance, a way to create a resume, adequate identification, and decent health. Many employers also check one’s credit report, driver records and other such records. Enrolling in and attending school requires much the same resources in addition to a method of paying for the schooling.
So how are these guys going to make the arrangements for these things? How will they get (and pay for) transportation? Where will they wash their clothes? Where are they going to type out a decent resume? What do they do first? Where do they look? Who do they ask?
Now, I’m not turning into a flaming liberal. I know some of these guys have mental and emotional issues that may preclude them from holding down a job. But that begs the question of how they will obtain treatment for their condition, or will they just continue being unbalanced? Other guys have made poor choices in the past that have worked against them to result in their being in the overflow shelter. I get that. We’ve all made poor choices in life. But that also begs the question of how they are going to get out of the hole they’re in, and the truth that “But for the grace of God go I.”
Maybe I also look at this a little differently than some because my wife and I were homeless for a time not that long ago. Except for the generosity of family who took us in and gave us basic support (computer access, an address, washer and dryer, bathroom, warmth & comfort, and would have provided food, transportation, and clothing if needed), and for a church family who helped with continuing medical insurance and provided other support, we too would have had to go to the overflow shelter for an evening meal and place to sleep.
I am not one who thinks government has the solution to all problems of society. Nor do I think that throwing money at a problem necessarily fixes it or makes it better. I do believe, however, that in general we are woefully ignorant of not only these kinds of societal issues, but we are also woefully ignorant of the complexity of many of these issues and the difficulty in finding an adequate solution or solutions.
I don’t pretend to know the answers. I don’t even know what questions to ask. I do know that I’ll be much more cognizant of some of these issues as I go forward in life, and will continue to “do something” even if I can’t “do everything”. I hope you will too.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T17:28:00.000-08:00

I got up this morning feeling OK, but not “normal”. My gut was growling and my throat was a little ticklish. I wondered if I was coming down with something after this holiday period when I rubbed shoulders with lots of people I don’t normally see very often. Turns out I feel fine now. Maybe it was just something I ate that didn’t quite agree with me and wanted me and my gut wanted me to know it wasn’t happy.
But as I was sitting this morning before church, thinking about my situation, I heard the furnace come on. I didn’t think much about it except to think that I was glad I didn’t have to head out back to the woodpile in this wind and cold to fetch wood for the stove or fireplace…especially feeling the way I was at the time.
A few minutes later, I went into the bathroom and had the occasion to run the water there. Again, I thought that I sure was glad I didn’t have to go out to the well and lower a bucket or pump the pump jack, or walk a mile or so to the nearest stream and carry water back to the house. The thought came to me again regarding hot water. I was glad I didn’t have to heat water over the stove or fireplace to get hot water for a bath.
Then I thought, “How did people survive in the olden days when they got the flu or a serious illness, and didn’t have automatic furnaces, running water, or hot water, or had animals that needed tending to?” Can you imagine yourself with a bad case of the stomach flu and having to chop wood, pump water, or milk the cow anyway? People in those days didn’t always have other family members to help, and had no way to contact someone else (neighbor or friend) to come help them.
And I can certainly imagine someone living by himself who gets really sick, cannot do those daily things that meant survival, and died of cold or dehydration. People of not many generations ago had to do things every day to assure survival for that day.
Nowadays, we don’t have to worry that much about it. The furnace will cycle on and off without our constant attention. The water faucet will run without our having to make it do so. Our waste will be flushed down the sewer and out of sight and mind. And we probably have enough food in the house to last for many, many days. If all else fails, we can call, email, or contact someone to come help us until we can get on our feet. If we have no one else, 911 is always available.
Do we understand the blessings we enjoy and the comfort, security, and safety that comes just by having potable water come out of a faucet whenever we want it? Little House on the Prairie was a feel-good show, and in some ways we’d like to reclaim some of that innocence. But those times were also tough and hard, unforgiving and even merciless toward those who were weak, infirm, or incapacitated in some way. I don’t think we want to go back there.
You don’t have to feel guilty because you have these blessings, and you don’t have to sell everything you have and go live under a bridge somewhere. But I would ask that you stop for just a moment and look around you, and breathe a prayer of thanksgiving for those things that are so routine and part of your life; yet are so vital to your well-being and health. And then I’d like for you to consider sharing this year with some of our number who may not have running water, automatic heat, or weeks worth of groceries. You might just find that you come to appreciate these things even more.

Forever Changed

2011-11-26T09:24:00.001-08:00

Normally this time of year, I’d blog about being thankful and the family get-togethers and the food and all the blessings we enjoy each day. And that’s all true, of course, and the traditions continue this year as they have for many years past and gone. This year, however, is a little different as far as my internal thinking process goes. Now, that may sound a little strange to some, but for some reason I seem to have to process things that are internal to me, especially as they may relate to external circumstances, and especially as they may relate to things like holidays, trips, etc.
This year, while I attend family get-togethers, listen to the wife in the kitchen, hear Christmas songs on the CD player, and put the finishing touches on the outdoor display, I am thinking especially about those I’ve had in my life that are in more trying circumstances. I think especially about some of the children I see in latchkey each day (I volunteer as a tutor in an after-school latchkey program). I think especially of those in our church who have gone through and are going through tough times right now. I think of family that are having medical issues and are having to make adjustments to their lives and living because of it. And I think especially of a pastor who was at our church when I was a teen, who now is in Via Christi with cancer and may be in his last days and weeks.
I suppose I could think about the good things that are external…good health, as far as we know, with our grandkids, our kids, and most of our family. Plenty to eat and wear, and a place for everyone to be under a roof with comfortable surroundings. Good friends and neighbors who would do for me if needed, without question. But somehow, this year, I am more contemplative, more thoughtful, more reflective.
Even as I praise my God for His wonderful love, care, and compassion, I am somewhat restive knowing that there is a lot of pain and suffering in this world, and there’s not much I can do about a lot of it. I know, I know, I can’t fix everything, but I can do something. And I’m glad that I am doing something, and am looking for more somethings that I can do. Somehow, I think I won’t have to look very long or hard before another something plops into my lap.
So, as you continue to enjoy the holidays, know that I will enjoy them too. Just be aware that there are those in the world that aren’t having the same enjoyment as you, and if you’re not doing something to help, look around a little. Something will fall into your life and you’ll be forever changed and grateful for the opportunity.

Make Someone's Day

2011-11-19T18:36:00.000-08:00

We went to Pratt today to see my cousin. She’s in her 80’s and in an adult care home. She has only a son in her close family, who does not visit her or seem to care for her. So we make the trip from Wichita, my sister and I, about once a month usually on a Saturday to see her, visit a few minutes, play and sing some hymns, and come back to Wichita.
Today we took my niece with us…a nice addition and a very welcome visitor. The folks who live at the home know us by now and several gather in the sitting room when we start to play and sing and sing along with us. We enjoy these folks and would like to visit there about once a month if we can.
We visit during travel, and usually stop in Kingman for a bite to eat at about noon. Today, we stopped at the Kingman cemetery to check on the grave site for a friend of my niece. We found it after a few minutes of looking. Getting back to Wichita about 2pm, I then put the Christmas lights up outside. That took me until about dark.
As I think back to our visit in Pratt, I am reminded that there are many, many people in facilities like that, or home bound for some reason who would love to hear from someone. You may well know someone who is shut in in some way. Maybe all you can do it phone. But probably, you could visit if you really wanted to do so. Think about it, then act. You’ll be blessed, and you’ll lift the spirits of someone who may go day after day without social contact.

That Old Feeling

2011-11-16T11:38:00.000-08:00

A day or two ago, I decided to clean out the storage space we have in our basement…you know, the place with the pipes, electrical panels, etc. That’s the space where everyone stores Christmas decorations, old photos, boxes of assorted “stuff”, and whatever else that doesn’t otherwise have a place.
I came across a box that had cassette tapes in it. Now, I’m not that modern, as I have a cassette deck in my pickup (1998 model), and our stereo in the basement has a cassette deck in it, along with a CD player/changer. So cassettes are still fine with me. I looked through the tapes and threw away a lot of them, but came to a few that weren’t labeled and were homemade. So I put them into the player to see what they were, so I would know whether I wanted to save them or not.
One tape, when I hit the “play” button, sounded like some kind of “911” conversation. Not knowing what it was, I listened some more. Turns out it was a copy of the tape (they had tapes at that time, not e-storage) of an auto accident in Harper County that resulted in three injuries, one serious. Dispatch recorded (and still does) all conversations, radio traffic, etc. at all times, and this was a copy of about two hours of that traffic in the 911 center. I haven't a clue how or why I have the recording.
I happened to be on duty for EMS that day and took the first-out ambulance to the scene. I drove. I don’t recall who my crew mate was…probably someone who also worked at the hospital. We had a one-vehicle accident and three victims. We had plenty of help as the fire department’s Rescue Squad 3 and Engine 8 responded along with several bystanders, including an RN who was also an EMT.
We ended up calling for two more ambulances to help transport the wounded and called a helicopter to the hospital from Wichita to transport the serious victim. Everything is caught on the recording, and I can be clearly heard several times on the EMS radio frequency. Another man I worked with, now deceased, was on the second-out ambulance and can be heard as well.
The thing that struck me was how easily I was transported back some fifteen years ago to that time. Suddenly, Bill was our EMS director, I was on the ambulance, Terry was the sheriff, Pam was the nurse on duty, and Guy (the now-deceased) could be absolutely relied on, as usual, to fill any of a multitude of roles…this time as the second-out unit driver. The adrenaline started up again, just as it did those years ago. My 60-some year old body was again about 45 and more able to run, lift, and carry. And, that old feeling came back for a short time as I listened to the tape. There’s a certain feeling…some describe it as a rush; others as a satisfaction. Still others describe a sense of well-being and camaraderie that happens when diverse people with different abilities work together under pressure for the common good. Thinking I had gotten rid of it long ago, surprisingly, now I know I didn’t, and probably never will.
It was also good to hear, for the first time, the EMS director tell the 911 dispatcher at the conclusion of the incident that things went well; that he did not feel the need to personally go to the scene, and that it was handled well by competent volunteers and staff. As I was part of that staff, it made me feel good to receive validation, even at this late date, for a job where I know we had done our best.
There are things I’ve done in the past for which I wish I had tapes. I could easily have made a tape of my last DJ (disk jockey) broadcast back in 1981, but didn’t. I could have made a tape of one of my weathercasts on television during that same era, but didn’t. And until now, I had only some EMS pins, a nametag, and my old EMT state certification card to remind me of some of the best moments of my life…those times when I was able to make a difference in the life of someone else. I probably won’t play that tape more than one or two more times in my lifetime, assuming I live to a normal age. But it’s satisfying just to know it’s there, and to know also that our work then was truly appreciated by the Director.
I continue to try to make a difference in someone’s life, I think. My EMS and probably my healthcare days are over. In a way, I mourn that because I enjoyed it so. But I can help out in other ways. I don’t always succeed, and sometimes fail miserably, at least in my view. But as long as I’m given breath and life, it seems like it’s my responsibility to use what few abilities I have to help make someone’s corner of the world just a little better.

A Special Time

2011-11-14T18:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we had the first of several sermons on thanksgiving and giving thanks. The sermon was not a sermon; rather, it was the preacher sitting on the platform with a couple from our church who had been through a healthcare issue this past year and have so far come out on the other side.
At one point, Vernon was given a 2% chance of survival and had received something like six surgeries in about as many days. He’s been fighting cancer. He’s had most of his digestive system removed and has suffered mightily from the chemo and radiation. Yet he survives. He and his wife sat down with our preacher and talked about that time and about the things that happened, things they thought, things that have changed for them.
Without hesitation and many times through the interview, they talked about the power of prayer and the effect that prayer, encouragement, and support from the congregation had on them and their family. They are a changed family, and have changed for the better, even though Vernon walks slowly and with a cane, and is still in rehab.
They are a thankful family, and seem to appreciate every day as a gift from God. The world looks different now, and things taken for granted are given new meaning and purpose. It’s a whole new day.
I don’t know about you. I don’t know if you’ve been through the fires of trial and trouble or not. Nor do I know how you reacted or how you would react should something like that happen to you. I would hope, however, that you would rejoice with thanksgiving regardless of the circumstance because you know you are a child of the living God and that you know that regardless of the outcome, you will never be forsaken by Him, nor will you be forgotten or tossed aside.
Should God give me the breath of life these next several weeks, this promises to be a wonderful time of the year, and an even more wonderful opportunity to give thanks and rejoice in my salvation and deliverance. To God alone be the glory!

Here and There

2011-11-11T11:57:00.000-08:00

Things I’ve experienced recently:

Driving along McLean Blvd. along the Arkansas River in downtown Wichita, I noticed an older man in the riverbed, sitting on a lawn chair, with a fishing line thrown into the stream portion of the river. They’ve lowered the river’s water level in order to work on a bridge, so there are portions of the normally covered riverbed that are dry. Whether he caught anything or not was probably not his biggest issue. I rather imagine he was thoroughly enjoying the experience.
I went to a new supermarket a few days ago (Wal Mart Neighborhood Market). When I checked out, I had about a dozen items, so went to the self-checkout. I got through about three items when the checkout machine told me I had an “unknown item” in the bagging area and refused to continue. A woman came by and reset the machine. I continued and got a couple more items scanned when the machine did the same thing. This time, no one came by and I had no way to call anyone over. I threw everything I had checked out back into the cart, backed out, and went to a checkout with a person manning it. I looked at the non-working checkout as I left the store. On the screen was, “Please wait for a manager.” I didn’t bother.
At a local store today, as I completed my purchases, both clerks I dealt with said, “Thank You,” after we completed our business. My, that was refreshing…sure beats a, “There ya’ go,” or the “stare” which says, “You can leave now.” What ever happened to, “Thank you, we appreciate your business?”
The Texas Roadhouse was giving veterans a break on the noon meal today. At 11am, the line went out the door, down the sidewalk, and around the back of the building. At 12:30 it was shorter, but still out the door and down the walk. Good for Texas Roadhouse and all the others who provided some kind of “kindness” for veterans today.
I recently saw a dog being walked by a man who had his canine friend on what must have been a 40 foot leash. The dog was happy to have that much room to run around in, but I wonder what the man would do when he came near someone else.
In going to a large supermarket (Dillons) a few days ago to get a large can of ground decaf coffee, I discovered that they had none. And there was no place on the shelf for any. Dillons has lots of “stuff”, but not that much “variety” in some departments unless you’re wanting sushi, organic soy milk, or tomatoes that bounce on the floor when dropped. There are several other items Dillons does not carry, which other stores do have. I guess I’ll go to the other stores.
How difficult is it to look and see what direction everyone is walking on the walking track at the “Y”, then walk in the same direction? Besides, there is a sign on the wall that has arrows which point the right way to walk. Sheesh.
I woke up this morning, was able to get out of bed, and have enjoyed the day relatively pain free and comfortable. Thank you, Lord.

2011-11-08T19:10:00.001-08:00

One thing in this very uncertain world that is not at all uncertain is the following: Public school certainly is not the way it used to be.
I signed up to volunteer at a local public school in a lower-middle class neighborhood in Wichita. Our church partners with this school in many ways, and volunteering there is one of those ways. I was placed in the afternoon latchkey program as a tutor for any students that needed help with homework.
I knew from having family who works and has worked in the school system that things are different. And they indeed are different. My teachers of years ago wouldn’t have a clue what to do and how to teach today. Mrs. Pearl, Mrs. Drouhard, Mr. Mayberry, and all the others would have a difficult time recognizing the school of today.
When I went to school, not that many years ago:

• There was no latchkey program. We were all sent home after school and a parent or older sibling was expected to be there.
• Teachers did not hand students off to parents at the end of the day to be certain that no one “unseemly” picked up the student. We were just all sent out the door and left to fend for ourselves, so to speak.
• We had no prepared lunches. Those who ate lunch at school brought their own.
• We did not eat snacks, except for milk in Kindergarten.
• Those who ate lunches when I was in school prayed, “God is great; God is good. Let us thank Him for this food. Amen.”
• Students didn’t ask “Why?” when asked to do something by a teacher. To do so would result in an immediate punishment, followed by added unpleasantness at home that evening.
• Students didn’t have to have a “pass” to go to the bathroom when I went to school. We just went down the hall.
• When I was in school, the school doors were not locked with only one entrance open. All doors were unlocked (except those few that specifically were fire escape doors).
• When I attended school, parents or other adults could come in the building any time. They did not have to stop by the office first and register.
• Teachers ran their classrooms without much “help” from the office, administration, or “downtown” many years ago. They often had upwards of 30 kids in their classes, and managed to teach even at that. A para was unheard-of.

No, I don’t want to go back to the “good old days”. There’s much to be said for computers in the classroom, brightly-lit and pleasant rooms, and today’s teachers are some of the best. However, I wonder if there is any way we could take some of the best of the past that may still be useful and apply it today. Wouldn’t that be a novel idea!

Interesting Things

2011-11-03T09:39:00.001-07:00

I’ve come across some interesting (at least to me) facts about the universe in which we live. I’ve compiled several having to do with space and the elements. I’ve tried to verify the truth of what I’ve presented, not relying on Wikipedia as a sole source (although I’ve credited Wikipedia a time or two). I’ve not sourced all of what follows, as some are compilations from several sources.

Enjoy.

How much plutonium in the Fat Man bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki was converted into energy? About a gram, or a piece of plutonium about 1/3 the size of a penny, says Wikipedia.

How much hydrogen does the sun burn? According to NASA, about 600 million tons a second. Of that, 596 million tons of helium is produced, leaving 4 million tons a second that is converted to energy.

According to the Los Alamos National Laboratory, there are over 10 million distinct compounds of carbon, more than any other element.

Argon, on the other hand, along with several other gasses, is quite inert, not reacting with any other known substances and having no compounds.

A parsec is an astronomical unit of distance equal to about 19 trillion miles (3.26 lightyears). Wikipedia.

Helium is the only substance known that cannot be in solid form. Liquid helium cannot be made cold enough to solidify.

Under standard conditions, Lithium is considered to be the lightest metallic element, and is one of only two that can float on water.

When the moon is directly overhead, a person weighs slightly less on earth than when the moon is elsewhere, due to the gravitational “tug” of the moon on the human body. Moral: Always weigh yourself with an overhead moon.

Astatine is the rarest of the naturally-occurring elements, with only about an ounce naturally occurring in the entirety of the earth’s crust at any given time. It is continuously formed by the decay of heavier elements and itself decays into lighter elements, having a half-life of a little over 8 hours.

According to Roger Penrose, English physicist and Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University, the total number of atoms in the known universe is about 10 80 (10 to the 80th power).

According to the Astrophysical Journal, about 65 billion neutrinos pass through a square centimeter of space on the surface of the earth every second. Most of these particles are generated by the sun.

The coldest place in the universe is on Earth. In Wolfgang Ketterle’s lab in Massachusetts (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). 0.000000000001 degrees Kelvin.

In 1999, NASA estimated that it would cost 62.5 trillion dollars to produce one gram (about .03 ounce) of anti-matter hydrogen, making it the most costly substance known at the time.

Osmium is generally considered to be the heaviest metallic element with a density about twice that of lead.

Light coming from the sun is actually about 30,000 years old. It takes that long for it to work its way from the core, where it is formed, to the surface.

One teaspoon of matter from a neutron star would weigh more on earth than the entire human population together.

Make a Difference

2011-11-01T07:24:00.001-07:00

We had Halloween yesterday, and today is November 1. The days, it seems, just seem to be hurtling by, and with them go the last vestiges of summer warmth and color. The leaves are coming down in torrents and the out-of-doors is becoming more drab and gray. It’s time to earnestly plan for long winter nights, indoor activities, and the cold that bites.
It’s also time to remember that there will be some for whom the long winter nights are exercises in survival; that there will be no indoor activities except what can be accomplished inside a cardboard box or dumpster, and that the cold does more than bite. I am becoming more and more convinced that there is something to this “politically conservative-socially liberal” philosophy that we are hearing more and more about as the months and years go by. I don’t know if I can classify myself in that “box”, or if I want to classify myself as anything. And that is not the topic of this blog. It is, however, a sort of paradox to see such opposite terms said about one individual and tends to mess up our neat labels we put on folks.
I would ask, though, regardless of any labeling or self-assessments that may be yours politically or socially, that you consider this year how you might be able to make a difference somehow, somewhere, in some way. You won’t be able to fix the world. You may not be able to do much more than donate a coat or a few dollars to the homeless shelter. But you can, if you yourself can look forward to a roof, warm room, and clean food and toilet facilities, make someone’s struggle to survive this winter a little easier.

Dig a Ditch

2011-10-31T09:07:00.001-07:00

Yesterday our minister told us the story of the King of Israel and the King of Judah going to war together against the King of Moab. That’s found in II Kings chapter 3. Jehoram, King of Israel and Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, band together and march toward Moab. On the way they run out of water for their troops and animals.
The King of Judah asks if there is a prophet of God anywhere around who might invoke the Almighty’s help in solving this dilemma. The story is rather intricate and has the possibility of many points and lessons; however, the sum is that God tells Elisha the prophet to tell the kings that the water will come…if they dig ditches in the valley.
Our minister’s point was that God is often willing to do for us, but we must do our part as well. We must dig the ditches, so to speak. My guess is that had the kings not had the ditches dug, the water would not have appeared.
He and the story in the Bible are correct, of course. How often do we get ourselves into some kind of pickle, then ask God to magically fix it all for us? One of the examples he used to illustrate this is our getting into a financial mess through overspending, over borrowing, and greedy selfishness, then when the chickens come home to roost we ask God for a magic fix, like winning the lottery. God is more than willing to help; we must, however, dig some ditches. That is, we might develop a workable budget, find extra work, sell some things we don’t need, start giving to God’s work, start saving, etc. We then often find that God was right there all along, just waiting for us to come to our senses.
I’m not certain what your issues are for which you’ve asked God for help. I do know that most of the time He expects you to do something…to dig a ditch…in faith that deliverance will come.
Speaking of digging ditches and the example of giving to God’s work, I heard recently that the Barna Group discovered some time ago that overall church giving is about 2% of American income. And that giving to missions efforts are about 2% of that 2%, or 0.04% of total church giving. I’ll not comment on those numbers except to ask that you take them in and examine your own church giving in light of the command found in Judaism to tithe of the gross, and additional opportunities for offerings on top of that. The New Testament does not give any certain percentage for Christians to follow; however, it does talk a lot about being generous and giving joyfully. Is 2% generous in your opinion? Just asking. Would you answer with just a “yes” or “no” and not couch your answer in excuses and convoluted reasoning? Then perhaps it’s time you started digging a ditch.

Some Thoughts on Spiders and the Creation

2011-10-29T14:27:00.000-07:00

Each fall, I look forward to the orb spiders spinning great webs over a span of several feet across some opening. They catch insects in those webs, lay their eggs and die, having provided for the continuation of a cycle that has gone on for millennia.
I’ve blogged before about the engineering that goes into these webs and the massive undertaking that it is for the spider to create these marvels of nature. I even blogged one year about a spider that created a horizontal web across our little fish pond in our back yard just inches above the water…I would have given my eye teeth (one of which has a crown on it anyway) to see her do that. I still wonder how it got done.
But this year the spiders weren’t that plentiful. The wife didn’t have to leave the garage door open (or closed) in order to not disturb a web. No sidewalk was taken up with a web across it. I only saw a single web in my yard…at the southeast corner. And it was there only one day as far as I know.
I don’t know if the harsh dry summer had anything to do with the dearth of spiders, or if it was something else that kept their numbers down. I do know that I missed seeing them this year, and usually have three or four webs at any given time in the fall, even in my smallish yard.
The cycles of nature, reproduction, population, weather, and so on are continuing miracles to watch and track. Many people, I suppose, don’t care for such observations, preferring the television, the I Pad, or something else to occupy their time. And I must admit I spend my share of time on the computer and watch some TV. But there’s just something about seeing the intricacy and fragility of the natural world, right alongside the toughness and resilience of the same that causes a sort of worshipful attitude in my soul. I am at once humbled and amazed at what I see, even in today’s modern world, of the beauty and spectacular wisdom that is a part of this universe and a part of my present tense experience.

An Idiotic Response

2011-10-24T18:06:00.000-07:00

Let’s say you worked at a job where you weren’t offered health insurance as a benefit, or your portion of the monthly premium was too much for you to afford, and you went to the doctor one day because of an ache in your side. You had some cash money, so you let the doctor order a scan and some other tests. He tells you that you have cancer in one of your internal organs (just choose one…it doesn’t matter). He tells you that he wants you to schedule a consult with a cancer specialist and that you’ll have to have surgery, radiation, chemo, blood transfusions, special medications for at least a year or more, follow-ups, more scans, and many, many doctor visits.
The costs associated with these things are well into the six figures, just for the next three months of treatment. Scans are $2,000 each. Each consult or office visit is $150 or more, and there are far more office visits and consults than one can count on both hands, both feet, and using all teeth. Radiation and chemo therapy are well into the four figures each time (and there are many such therapies). Surgery costs around $1,000 a minute. Transfusions, even using Red Cross blood, are four figures each. Medications cost from $1,000 to $10,000 dollars a month or more depending on what they are.
You’ve managed to save up four or five thousand dollars for health concerns. You see the potential two to five hundred thousand dollar bill. You’re an intelligent person, worked all your life, paid your taxes, and happen to have a job that doesn’t help you with health insurance (there are millions of jobs out there like this).

To which charity or charities do you go to obtain the means to pay for the services you need for your cancer?

What, you haven’t a clue? Neither do I. Yet that is the answer given by some people running for and in national and state political office regarding health care in this nation and the fact that some people are uninsured. One former office-holder even said that they could go to the emergency room and get care. Yeah, emergency rooms are equipped to handle cancer therapy…right. They’d escort you right back out where you came from, and legally, too, I might add. All emergency rooms have to do is provide life-saving treatment for an immediate life-threatening event and an exam to determine whether or not you need immediate, life-threatening treatment.
Can your church afford a half-million dollar bill? Can your family? What about the Salvation Army? Or maybe the local United Way. Probably not.
Listen to one lady as she responds, No "charitable organization" would have helped pay for my mastectomy and the unexpected additional surgery thirteen days later, three and a half days in the hospital attached to a morphine drip, my reconstructive surgery or the Tamoxifen prescription that I need to take every day for the next five years. Nor will they pay for my follow up mammograms, Oncologist appointments, or any other necessary treatment and preventative measures. I am lucky - I have a good job and am able to afford to pay for my health insurance.
I don’t know what the answer is. I do know what it isn’t. It isn’t what it currently is, and it isn’t the idiotic response given by some in public office, and running for public office. Nuff said.

Short and Succinct

2011-10-24T17:34:00.000-07:00

I was out running some errands today and had occasion to have to cross the railroad in north Wichita. I got to the stop light on 29st Street Eastbound at Broadway and the railroad cross arms come down. Long train coming, it looks much like the one pictured, and it’s moving about 20 miles an hour.
Smugly, I make a right turn on to Broadway and head South down to 21st Street. By the time I get within about ¼ mile of that intersection, the train clears and the arms go up at 21st Street. I head on to the intersection and manage to make a left turn from Broadway onto 21st Street just as the light turns yellow. I no sooner take my first look onto 21st Street eastbound when I see the lights on and the arms about half way down again. Mindful that the police sometimes ride the rails or sit so they can see, I decide not to gun it across the tracks with the arms on their way down. I slide to a stop just before the arm comes down in front of me. As I peer to the south, I see the lights of another engine coming rather slowly, but deliberately.
Waiting what seemed like an interminable amount of time, the train finally gets to the intersection…another mile and a half long train speeds by at about 15 miles an hour, not more than a mile or so behind the last one that came through. I would have been better off waiting at 29th Street to cross!
OK, what’s the lesson here? Is it “Smugness comes back to haunt you?” What about “Those who don’t want to wait end up waiting longer?” OK, how about “Be sure your attempts to beat the system will find you out…and get back at you.” Could it have been, “If you hadn’t run that yellow light to make the turn, you could have gone down to 13th Street.” Or maybe if I’m super-spiritual, it could be, “You didn’t listen to the Spirit tell you to just wait at 29th Street.”
Would someone just let me know what I need to learn so I don’t have to go through this exercise yet again? I’m getting old enough that I may not have time for the extended lessons and need the short and succinct.

Heaven

2011-10-20T19:34:00.001-07:00

I don’t often do a religiously-oriented blog anymore. I’m not sure why not. The inspiration just doesn’t come all that often anymore. However, I’ve been reading a book, which is sometimes a somewhat dangerous thing to do. The book is an older one titled Heaven by Randy Alcorn. In the book, Alcorn makes the argument that what we think of as eternal life in heaven, or going to heaven when we die is in reality a melding of the new heavens and new earth as mentioned several times in the Bible. We will, he says, be in an eternal existence on a renewed earth that has combined with heaven, an existence much like that of Adam and Eve before the fall. We will inhabit incorruptible bodies much like the one Jesus had after his resurrection, Alcorn says, and we will be active, thinking, rational human beings…except there will be no sin to mar the perfection.
I don’t know what I think of this just yet. I’m not finished with the book. But I must say he makes a compelling argument from scripture and from what we know of God’s creation and His intent for His creation. I’ve always thought that there was something to this new heavens and new earth thing, and I’ve always thought that when Paul says we will be like Jesus in our resurrections, he means it. But I never took the time to take apart the Book to the extent Alcorn has, and develop the arguments he has developed.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t really wish to float in some ethereal, wispy-ghostly state on a cloud (or anywhere else, for that matter). And eternally having nothing to do except singing and falling down before the throne of God appeals to me not one iota. Don’t misunderstand that last statement, folks. I’ll do more than my share of praise to the God of Heaven. I think there’s more to it than that, however, and am looking forward to finding out what it is.
Whatever you think about death, heaven, hell, eternal life, etc, know that in all probability you will be in error. Eye has not seen, nor has ear heard what we have in store for us as God’s elect. Soli Deo Gloria.

The Fiftysix Star Flag

2011-10-20T19:01:00.000-07:00

I was perusing the children’s section at a local library recently. I came across a book that told a story about the liberation of a concentration camp at the end of World War II in Germany. Curious how the book was written so that children could understand, without being too graphic, I pulled the book (40 pages) from the shelf and read it.
It tells the story of the liberation of Mauthausen Concentration camp by a platoon of Americans led by Staff Sgt. Albert Kosiek. The book didn’t hide any of the atrocious and heinous acts of the Germans, but tells about them in such a way that children can at the same time understand, yet not come away from reading the book with fright or terror. The book does a great job of reminding even the children of today of such things so that we as a society may never forget—and never allow or condone such to happen again.
I checked other records for accuracy of the account in the children’s book when I came home that evening. The book, although simply written, was accurate in its account. One of the book summaries I found says this about the flag you see pictured here. “On May 6, 1945 when the 11th Armored Division of the U.S. Army marched into the Mauthausen Concentration camp, they were presented with an extraordinary gift. Despite their desperate and starving conditions, a group of prisoners had surreptitiously sewed scraps of sheets and jackets together to make a U.S. flag. Even though the inmates had added an extra row of stars (they weren’t sure how many stars the flag had…they put 56 on the flag), Colonel Richard Seibel had the flag flown over the camp as a tribute to the humanity, perseverance, and spirit of the survivors of Mauthausen.”
The name of the book is The Flag With Fiftysix Stars; A Gift From the Survivors of Mauthausen. There are a hundred lessons for humanity in this account of the liberation of Mauthausen, and there are thousands more lessons for the human race in the history of World War II. I’m not Jewish. You probably aren’t either. Nevertheless, we must never, ever forget. And we must continue to pass down the history…all of it both good and bad…untainted by political correctness, bigotry, ignorance, or narrow-mindedness.

The Farm Never Left the Boy

2011-10-15T18:01:00.001-07:00

While visiting my cousin today, who is in an adult care home in a neighboring town, we (my sister and I) had opportunity to visit some with a few of the other residents who were there and were gathered in the “visiting” room along with us. One of the ladies remarked that she liked my shirt, which had the words “Wheat Farmers” on the front of it (It’s a long story). We visited some about farming, wheat, etc.
One of the residents overheard the conversation and asked me where I farmed. I told her I haven’t farmed for years, ever since I was a teen. We visited a little about that and about her farm, and then I told the lady that the boy may have left the farm, but the farm never left the boy.
After we had left the facility, I recalled something former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said. His comment was, "I will always consider myself first and foremost a kid from Kansas who got lucky. I have now worked for eight presidents. Whatever I have accomplished I believe has been due to my Kansas roots and heritage -- a heritage of family, friends, mentors, and values. The boy left Kansas, but Kansas never left the boy."
We don’t hear that kind of thing said all that often anymore. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about the place we were raised, the work we did, the family we came from, or something else. I have to wonder just how much we appreciate our past and the things and people that were a part of it.
The newspaper where I obtained that quote (The Hays Daily News) also quoted Gates as saying this, "We must never forget the ideals and the beliefs that make us a nation; we must never forget the hopes and aspirations of our people; we must always keep the faith. In addition to a wonderful home, my youth in Kansas was rich with good and modest people. Character, and integrity, Kansas values and Kansas common sense became the bedrock of my life, a bedrock that has been my touchstone no matter how far I have traveled or how long I have been gone from Kansas."
I don’t cite this to say that Kansans are somehow better than Texans or Californians, but rather to say that who we are is more a function of our past, and who and what we interacted with as younger people than we might think (or like to think). Yes, we can change. No, I don’t want to go back to the “good old days”. And yes, we can embrace the new and different.
Some of us celebrate our history. Others of us wish to eliminate it from our memories. Still others just don’t remember much at all. But we all are affected by it regardless and in spite of it all. We live in the present, look to the future, and recall the past. Somehow, thanks to the God of heaven and earth, it all gels together and we are able to function, work, play, and live and love.

Some Politics

2011-10-11T19:17:00.000-07:00

For the Republican debate this evening, Bloomberg News ran a blog showing some of the claims made by the candidates, along with a “reality check” of the background and the facts of the matter (at least as Bloomberg sees them…I make no representation that these are “really” the facts, but it’s interesting to get another opinion.) By the way, if I find something similar for Democrats, I will do the same. I have reprinted that blog below:

The Claim: Mitt Romney said that the federal government, using its “friends” on the National Labor Relations Board, is telling Boeing Co. “you cannot build a factory in a non-union state.”
The Background: The NLRB’s acting general counsel sued Boeing in April over its decision to locate a 4,000-job factory in South Carolina, saying the move was intended to punish union activity at its base in Washington.
The Facts: The NLRB didn’t say Boeing had to close the South Carolina plant. It called for increasing production at the plane maker’s commercial hub in Washington state to an equivalent level as planned for South Carolina.

The Claim: Mitt Romney said that President Barack Obama's health-care law raised spending by $1 trillion.
The Background: The 2010 health-care law that Obama signed included a mix of pending increases and cuts.
The Facts: The law increases spending by $788 billion over 10 years, while cutting spending by $931 billion over the same time for a net deficit reduction of $143 billion, the Congressional Budget Office estimated in March 2010.

The Claim: Representative Michele Bachmann said that she was a "lone voice" in Washington urging Congress not to raise the federal debt ceiling this summer. Bachmann said she opposed giving "Barack Obama another $2.4 trillion blank check to spend."
The Background: Following a contentious and partisan debate, Congress voted to raise the federal limit on government borrowing this summer by as much as $2.4 trillion, in exchange for an agreement to find at least that much in budget savings over the next decade. Bachmann and many other Republican lawmakers opposed the agreement, saying government needed to curtail spending in order to stop borrowing.
The Facts: The debt ceiling, which stood at $14.3 trillion before being raised this summer, covered obligations and spending Congress had already authorized. If Congress hadn't raised the limit by early August, the government wouldn't have been able to meet up to 40 percent of its obligations. President Obama would have been forced to decide whom to pay -- choosing among Social Security recipients, veterans, investors in U.S. government debt and others. Although the debate has often been testy, Congress had always raised the debt ceiling.

The Claim: Herman Cain said Bloomberg News' analysis of his 9-9-9 plan is incorrect. "The reason it's incorrect is because they start with assumptions we don't make," he said.
The Background: Cain's proposal would eliminate the current U.S. Tax code and tax sales transactions and gross income for individuals and businesses at 9 percent while eliminating levies on capital gains. It also ends the payroll tax that funds Social Security and corporations wouldn't pay a tax on dividends.
The Facts: Cain said his campaign has received an independent revenue analysis of his plan, though that analysis hasn't been publicly released. He also hasn't detailed the specific assumptions his campaign is using. Working with the only data publicly available, Bloomberg News calculated that the 9-9-9 plan would have generated about $2 trillion if it were in place in 2010, compared with the $2.2 trillion the government collected that year. Cain's plan would generate $922.1 billion from the sales tax, $912 billion from the individual income tax and $127.7 billion from the tax on corporations. Cain said that his plan would win passage in Congress. Congress has been reluctant to eliminate some of the most popular tax benefits currently in the code, such as the mortgage interest deduction, which survived the 1986 tax code overhaul.

The Claim: Michele Bachmann said Obama's health-care law will be run by a board of 15 political appointees who will "make all the major health-care decisions for over 300 million Americans."
The Background: Bachmann was referring to the ``independent payment advisory board," a panel of 15 health-care authorities established by the 2010 health-care law to help curb Medicare spending. Beginning in 2015 the panel will begin proposing cuts to Medicare if yearly spending exceeds targets set by the law. Congress could overrule the panel only with a supermajority in the Senate or if it comes up with an alternate plan that saves an equivalent amount.
The Facts: The board only has authority over Medicare, in which about 48 million elderly and disabled Americans are now enrolled, not the 300 million Bachmann mentioned. The law doesn't grant the panel power to make health-care decisions and prohibits the group from cutting benefits, changing eligibility rules or increasing beneficiaries' premiums or cost-sharing. Instead, the board's main tool for cutting spending will be reducing payments to providers. Link to the law: http://docs.house.gov/energycommerce/ppacacon.pdf

The Claim: Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, said the economic meltdown "can be traced back" to federal government housing policies like the Community Reinvestment Act and the implicit backing of mortgage firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. She also said that the Dodd-Frank Act ``institutionalized all of these problems that were put into effect by the federal government.''
The Background: In 2008 the U.S. financial system was on the brink of failure in the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis. A $700 billion bank bailout was required and lawmakers, economists, academics and federal regulators spent much of the next three years attempting to identify the causes of the crisis, which accelerated in 2007 and reached its height with the September 2008 failure of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
The Facts: While Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were seized in 2008 by the federal government, played a large role in the mortgage crisis due to the volume of loans they purchased that went sour, nine of the 10 commissioners on the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission agreed that the two mortgage firms were not the cause of the crisis. The majority FCIC report, signed by six Democratic appointees, blamed banks and federal regulators for the crisis. A dissent by three Republican members blamed the crisis on 10 factors, with the inflation of the credit bubble by the Federal Reserve serving as the leading catalyst. Fannie and Freddie were not a primary cause, the three Republicans said.
Research published by the Federal Reserve Banks of San Francisco and Richmond concluded that the Community Reinvestment Act, a 1977 law aimed at increasing mortgage loans to lower-income Americans, had little to do with fueling the subprime mortgage crisis.
The Dodd-Frank Act, enacted by President Barack Obama in 2010, did nothing to institutionalize a government guarantee in the mortgage market. The law largely ignored the mortgage giants.

The Claim: Republican candidate Herman Cain pledged to present a balanced budget a year after taking office. He said the only way to bring down the national debt is ``the first year that I'm president and I oversee a fiscal-year budget, make sure that revenues equals spending. If we stop adding to the national debt, we can bring it down.''
The Background: Cain, the former chief executive of Godfather's Pizza with no experience in elective office, is seeking to demonstrate a command on the economy and fiscal issues to compete with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.
The Facts: A proposal by the heads of President Barack Obama’s debt commission to cut the budget by $4 trillion wouldn’t wipe out the deficit for more than 25 years. According to a research group, the Bipartisan Policy Center, there will be an $830 billion deficit in fiscal year 2013 assuming current policy such as the extension of tax rates. To balance the budget in fiscal year 2013 through spending cuts alone, it would require a reduction equal to 25 percent of all spending, the policy center said, citing Congressional Budget Office projections. That would be more cuts than it would take to eliminate one year's spending on Medicare and Medicaid.

The Claim: Michele Bachmann said that ``nine years from now the Medicare hospital Part B trust fund is going to be dead flat broke."
The Background: Medicare Part A pays for inpatient hospital services. Medicare Part B pays for outpatient services such as doctor visits.
The Facts: The hospital trust fund is Part A, not Part B. Part A is estimated to be exhausted in 2024, not in nine years, according to the Medicare trustees' annual report released this year. Under one set of estimates by the trustees, the Part A trust fund's expenditures begin to exceed income in nine years, but will not be ``broke.'' In the report, the trustees said the Part B trust fund is ``adequately financed over the next 10 years and beyond.''

The Claim: Texas Governor Rick Perry said he will offer a plan “for getting America independent on the domestic energy side.”
The Background: Presidents since Richard Nixon in 1973 have set a goal of U.S. energy independence. Oil imports have risen since then and accounted for 49 percent of U.S. consumption last year.
The Facts: The U.S. had proven reserves of 19.12 billion barrels of oil, compared with 1.33 trillion barrels in global reserves as of 2008, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The agency forecast in April that the U.S. will rely on imported fuels for 42 percent of consumption in 2035.

The Claim: Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the House, said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has ``in secret spent hundreds of billions of dollars'' on bailouts of financial institutions and that nobody in the news media has demanded transparency from the central bank.
The Background: The Fed stretched its emergency powers during the financial panic of 2008 to rescue Bear Stearns Cos. and American International Group Inc. It also created unprecedented lending tools to provide funds to banks, mutual funds and large corporations.
The Facts: The Fed made loans to financial institutions -- it didn't spend any money, and has said it has incurred no losses. While the central bank kept much of the information on the identity of borrowers confidential at the time, the Dodd-Frank Act and lawsuits by Bloomberg News and Fox News resulted in disclosure of the recipients in late 2010 and early 2011. The Fed has separately spent $2.3 trillion purchasing housing and government debt as part of monetary policy.

2011-10-04T17:35:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but I have seen these codes, called QR codes, in many places. They are, as one descriptor says, two dimensional analog equivalents to bar codes. I don't have a phone (or anything else) that can scan or utilize these codes...yet.
As an older person, I'm always a little skeptical of things like this, fearing that somehow I'll be carried somewhere I don't want to go or that someone will find out something about me that I don't want them to know. Yes, I know they are, for the most part, innocuous. But one never knows, and maturity also carries with it a sort of built-in skepticism meter that tends to go off when things like this present.
I wasn't aware until not long ago that there are free URL's where one can make his own QR code. That's what I did here...it's my own.
I don't know if you'll want to scan it to see what it is or not. I won't tell you, though, just in case.

The Test of Time

2011-10-03T07:58:00.001-07:00

James Dobson, in an old video called “A Father Looks Back”, tells of one time when he was playing Monopoly with his family. As the game progressed, he became more and more wealthy and successful in the pursuit of the game. He talks of having hundred-dollar bills tucked away here and there…of his opponents landing on his properties with hotels and houses on them, and generally being quite the bragging winner.
Then the game was over. He had won handily, and by this time the rest of his family wasn’t too interested in helping him put the game away, so he began to do it himself. As he began to dismantle the game and put the pieces back into the box, he was struck by the similarity to real life.
We work hard. We accumulate much. We win at the game of life in terms of what most people would call win. Then one day it’s over. We die. And it all has to go back into the box. We take nothing with us. We use none of our accumulation of things to pay our way anywhere. Our money, houses, automobiles, jewelry, and all the rest are useless to us. Someone packs it up and puts it all back into the box.
Dr. Dobson ends this segment of the video with these words, “The conclusion that I’ve drawn that outranks all others is, ‘Nothing in life matters except love for God and His Son Jesus Christ, and love for mankind, beginning with my own family.’”
I don’t know about you, but in my view, the lesson here is crucial and the message here is timeless. And it applies not only to fathers, but to all who live in this creation. Yes, it is important for us to care for ourselves and our families as God blesses us. Yes, it is important to be good stewards of what God gives us. And yes, it is important to work and be productive.
But when all is said and done; when I enter into eternity on the other side of death, what will matter is not whether I have accumulated a certain amount of material possessions or whether I have a great retirement plan. What will matter is my relationship with the One who made me and has my eternal destiny in His hands. “Well done, good and faithful servant,” is the one thing I want to hear. Nothing else really matters and nothing else can stand the test of time or of eternity.

Are We Listening?

2011-09-24T15:17:00.000-07:00

The monarch butterfly migration has been in full swing for a few weeks now. It will continue on until about the end of October, or the first freeze, whichever comes first. I was interested in the migration cycle of the butterfly as I knew that most butterflies only live a few weeks at the most in the adult stage. What I found was incredible.
Monarchs winter in either central Mexico or, for those west of the Rockies, in southern California. Those butterflies start northward in the spring, and while on the way lay eggs and die. The eggs hatch and form butterflies in three stages (caterpillar, pupae, and adult) in about a month. Those butterflies continue on their northward migration.
Those adults live just a few weeks (six to eight), mate, lay eggs, and die. That cycle repeats itself at least three times during the summer months. The fourth generation of monarchs is somewhat different from the other three in that the adults of that generation have the ability to live as adults for six to seven months.
They do that because they are the ones that begin the migration south, winter over, and start back north. They lay eggs and die sometime after they start back northward and the generations and the cycle continues.
It is not known how the butterflies that are born in the north know where to migrate to, when to leave, or how the fourth generation knows it is different than the others and will live for several months rather than just a few weeks. It is known that the butterflies can possibly utilize the earth’s magnetic field, although they cannot tell the north magnetic pole from the south. It is also thought that they can utilize ultraviolet light in some way.
I don’t know about you, but this is another one of those “gee whiz” scientific truths that just boggle the mind. Oh, we mostly just shrug off these things, but I think they are in our universe for a reason. You may disagree with me, but it seems that Someone is trying to tell us mortal humans something. I wonder if we are listening?

Down By the Riverside

2011-09-20T15:25:00.001-07:00

I had to take a book and some papers in to our church office today. In case you don’t know, our church abuts the Arkansas River in downtown Wichita. They have put walking paths, etc. along the river behind our building and it’s a rather nice place.
After I finished my business, I went back to the river and sat on a rock and just enjoyed the cool breeze. It was a little after the noon hour and there were several folks using the facilities at the river.
There were all kinds of folks there. Some were walking solo. Others were in groups of two or three. Some jogged. One or two were pushing baby carriages as they walked or jogged. One stopped across the river and rested for a short time. Some acknowledged me as they went by with a smile or a turn of the head. Others pretended I didn’t exist.
One old man shuffled very slowly up the walk. He was carrying a bucket in one hand and dragging something on the sidewalk with the other. I thought at first he might be homeless, as we have some of those in that area of town. As he went past, however, I noticed that the bucket had fishing stuff in it and he was dragging a couple of fish behind him. They were 15 or more inches in length, and appeared to be some kind of carp, although they didn’t look quite like the carp I’m familiar with. They weren’t catfish; they were scaly.
I sort of wondered where he was shuffling off to. I watched. In what seemed like an eternity, he got to the end of the walk and went to an old car that was parked in the back corner of our church lot. He put his stuff in the car, but stuck around doing not much of anything.
I enjoyed the time outside. I enjoyed as much (or more) being able to watch people as they exercised on their lunch hour, walked from this place to that, or dragged fish to their car. It didn’t really bother me that some didn’t acknowledge me. That happens in a larger urban area.
As it cools more on into the fall, the number of walkers/joggers will diminish, but not completely go away. The river is used a lot, it seems, and I’m glad I have a place I can easily access it.

Do Something

2011-09-13T14:48:00.001-07:00

I got tired of not feeling like my voice was being heard when I contacted my congressional representatives (Senators Roberts and Moran, and Rep. Pompeo) with some comment on an issue. I wondered what I could possibly do to at least feel like someone was listening. It seemed that when I sent an email I would get a letter or email back that was canned and not really on topic.
I looked up the local offices of each of the representatives, (they all have offices in Wichita) and decided to make a personal visit to each of them. I had called an office once in a while in the past and knew that there were people there whose job it was to visit with constituents and answer questions and pass along concerns.
My first stop was Senator Roberts’ office downtown. I told the woman at the first desk that I had a question or two and would like to visit with someone. She was that someone. I found her to be engaging, knowledgeable, and interested in what I had to say. She said that they talk with the Washington office a couple times a week and she would summarize our conversation and send it on.
Next, I found Senator Moran’s office on the far east side. It wasn’t nearly as easy to find, and when I asked the young man if I could visit, he was somewhat tentative as if he thought I would yell at him (can’t understand why he would have thought that). We too had an engaging and beneficial conversation regarding the issues I brought up and digressed more than once to other issues.
Today I went to Rep. Pompeo’s office. The young man there was not nearly as knowledgeable regarding the opinions and positions of his employer, but readily visited and hopefully took some notes. He said he appreciated my stopping in and would pass along my comments.
I asked the same questions of all representatives. Responses varied, but I came away from each encounter with the belief (albeit perhaps false belief) that I had at least been heard and that I engaged with someone who had the ear of the representative.
It took some time and energy for me to find the offices, and a little nerve to walk in and ask for an immediate audience. I was well-received, however, and was able to immediately visit with someone. I think it pays to have some factual information (info from Fox News doesn’t count, folks) in mind and a pleasant attitude. It also helps to be able to converse with someone you don’t know well, and listen engagingly to responses. Those I visited with were refreshingly candid and did not often spout the party line or the same tired catch phrases one hears on news sound bites.
I know some are not close to a congressman’s office. I know it would be quite a trip to go to the nearest one. But some day when you are close, stop in and pleasantly engage the person there. You might come away surprised and a little better informed, besides feeling like someone really does listen.

My Heroes

2011-09-11T11:13:00.000-07:00

Major Heather Penney. Colonel Marc Sasseville. Do you know either of these people? You should if you don’t. These were the two fighter pilots who took off from Andrews Air Force Base on September 11, 2001 to find and if necessary take down what later would be known as Flight 93, the other airliner that was still in the air and heading for Washington D.C. that day.
The only thing is, they took off in jets that were unarmed. They didn’t have time to arm them, and didn’t have any that were already armed at the time. So the two pilots made the decision that one would ram the cockpit and the other would ram the tail section in order to assure the flight did not complete its mission.
Major Penney stated that she would essentially be a Kamikaze pilot in order to complete her mission. The interviewer pressed her and asked her specifically if she was prepared to sacrifice her life in order to take down the plane. She looked at him and only said, “Of course.” Nothing else.
She’s not the only hero of that day, or of other days for that matter. The world is filled with heroes that never make it to C Span, MSNBC, or the New York Times. She, however, epitomizes the concept of hero.
There are knuckleheads on the Internet that are downplaying or discounting her story. Let them. Feel sorry for them. They need to get a life and get a grasp on reality. People really do things that are sacrificial and beneficial to society. People really consider others more important than themselves. People really know what it means to be a human being.
Ms. Penney said her daughters do not yet know her story. They are relatively young, and I understand why they don’t fully know yet. But one day, they should know. They should hear of their mother’s sacrifices, her willingness to go all the way, to assure the safety of hundreds of people at the risk of her own life. They need to know what their mother is made of and that they too have within them what it takes to follow in her footsteps.
This is for all of the Heather Penneys and Mark Sassevilles. Thank you so much. You are my heroes.

(By the way, if you want to see the entire interview, go to C Span's website and download it.)

The Adventure Continues...(It Never Ends)

2011-09-07T07:12:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I wonder why I say “yes”. Let me explain. A few weeks ago, one of the church staff asked if I would be interested in starting a new life group for our church. Now, for those who don’t know, a life group is a small group. Our church has a small group ministry where groups of folks get together regularly, usually Sunday evenings. The agenda can be Bible study, a service project, food and fun, or whatever the group would decide to do. The group usually consists of eight to fifteen people.
Of course, I said yes. I’ve been part of a small group for several years, and we enjoy the time we spend with our groups. This group, however, will be a little different in that it will consist primarily of families with teens. The object will be to involve all members of the family in group activities and study. That is going to be the hard part, I think. And it’s just a little bit scary.
We’ve raised our family. Our boys haven’t been teens for over a decade. Things change. I’m not real certain just what this is going to look like or what we will be doing. We will have to have a lot of help from the rest of the members of the group, and I hope and trust that will come about.
On the one hand, I am somewhat nervous about this; on the other, it is an opportunity to be involved in an aspect of life I am no longer used to, and a chance to stretch a lot of things that have not seen much exercise lately. Being in a rut is comfortable, but tends to lead to isolation, stagnation, and inner rot, in my view. I’m not ready to rot (not just yet), and am looking forward to the possibility of this relationship with the small group to keep me energized and active.
Our first meeting will be this coming Sunday. We’ll have burgers and fixins. I plan to visit with the group to see what they might like for us to look like as we forge ahead with this. Hopefully we all will be able to put something together that glorifies our God and at the same time edify and encourage us.
The Adventure Continues!

No Complaints

2011-09-04T20:42:00.001-07:00

It has been a tough summer. For some, that could mean they were unemployed, lost jobs, or are under-employed. For others, that could mean they lost a friend or loved one. Still others may relate to loss of health, wealth, or some other asset. While I readily agree that these are all relevant to the statement, my intent is to talk about the weather.
Yes, the weather. Many places set records this year for the highest temperatures, the most temperatures above a certain level, the highest average temperature, or some other heat-related record. Air conditioners ran at peak capacities, electric utilities were strained, budgets were strained, and everything seems to be exhausted from battling the heat of the summer.
Trees don’t look good. Grass is dry. Animals are stressed. It seems that the whole creation outside has aged several years in just a few months. Many areas are short of rainfall. What rain that fell was quickly evaporated or absorbed by the thirsty environment.
Humans too had to fight. Yes, many of us have air conditioning nowadays. Many of us spend thirty seconds in the Dillons parking lot walking from our air conditioned auto to the air conditioned store and complain about the heat. I know many of us have it a lot nicer and better than even a generation or two ago. Yet not all people had the advantage of air conditioning. Not all were able to hibernate in cool lower levels of nice homes while the heat raged outside. Not all could avoid excessive sweating and the general wearing-down of the elements. Some had to work outside in the daytime. Others lived outside all hours of the day and night. And some, although they had a home, did not have air conditioning. It happens…regularly.
Today was beautiful. The front came through during the evening past. Today was dry, not a cloud in the sky, and cool. Refreshingly cool. I wasn’t even certain that these kinds of days existed anymore. And it looks as if it will last awhile.
“Thank you, God,” seems to be so little and so trite. Yet that’s all I can think of to express my gratitude that perhaps the 100 degree days are over for this year. Yes, it will get warm again before it gets colder. No, the weather won’t be ideal very often the rest of the year. Yes, I’ll complain again. But today, there are no complaints. Only gratitude.

Sick Again

2011-08-29T07:34:00.001-07:00

I was reading the Monday edition of the Wichita Eagle today and noticed an article regarding FEMA diverting funds originally set aside for the Joplin tornado over to the East Coast hurricane relief. As I read through the article, it was apparent that FEMA funds for disasters were beginning to run low.
This past Saturday, according to the article, House Appropriations Committee Chair Harold Rogers of Kentucky said this of the Obama administration: He said that the Administration “has let the fund reach critically low levels, putting continued recovery at risk, without a plan for the future or a clear method for dealing with new disasters.” Mr. Rogers is, it seems, lambasting the Executive for not having more funds in the FEMA account.
OK. Let’s have a Civics lesson here. Last time I knew anything, it was the Congress that authorizes expenditures, appropriates money, and lays and collects taxes in order to fund those appropriations. The Executive branch, to my knowledge, although it may request funding, does not have the authority to provide that funding. The job of the Executive is (in a perfect world) to see that the laws of the United States are “faithfully executed”. The Executive doesn’t make laws; it enforces them.
“Well,” you might say. “If the Congress doesn’t know that the Executive needs more money, how can it appropriate more?” Good question. Except the article goes on with these words: “In anticipation of a shortfall, FEMA began providing congressional appropriators with weekly updates on funding levels in May; daily updates began this month.”
So, if the article is to be believed, Mr. Rogers has known since May on a weekly, and now daily basis, that FEMA funding is running low; yet he blames the Administration for allowing the account to go under the recommended amount (one billion dollars). Business as usual.
This is what I talk about when I say I am sick to death of the politics going on right now. I don’t care if Mr. Rogers is a Republican or Democrat; nor do I care if the Administration is Democrat or Republican. This kind of talk serves no useful purpose. It only inflames. It is counter-productive. It does not provide more funding for disasters. It only tells part of the truth. It is deceptive.
The more truthful comment from Mr. Rogers would have been something like this: “Although the Administration has provided weekly, and now daily updates on the status of FEMA disaster funding, Congress has not yet acted to fill that gap. I call on the Congress to shorten their month-long congressional vacation, and provide funding for the natural disasters that have plagued our nation this year, and do so as quickly as possible.”
No wonder the congressional approval rating is sitting at 13%.

The War of all Wars

2011-08-26T08:11:00.001-07:00

I was talking with Scott, our minister to adults at our church recently. Our conversation got off-track, and we started conversing about the unseen world that is described in places in the Bible. A little background is in order here.
Paul and Peter both talk about God delivering his people out of darkness and from the power of evil (I Peter 2:9 and Acts 26:18). This occurs when we become Christians, followers of Christ by the power and grace of God.
Paul in Ephesians chapter 6 talks of putting on the armor of God so that we may stand against the principalities and powers (world forces) of darkness (Ephesians 6:11-12). Other places in the Bible also allude to or talk about this unseen spiritual world in which there is great struggle between good and evil. It is this unseen world of the principalities and forces of darkness and the struggles that go on there that we were discussing.
It is interesting to note that R. C. H. Lenski in his commentary on Ephesians 6 says this about this struggle: “The darkness is not merely the absence of light; it is the absolute antagonism to light and thus denotes the fearful power that is hostile to god who is ‘the light’ and whose are the ‘children of light’ (Ephesians 5:8). From ‘this darkness’ and the dominion of these ‘world tyrants’ Christ has delivered us; hence their war is waged in order again to subjugate us under their tyranny.”
Scott and I were talking specifically about a passage in Daniel 10 where Daniel had received a vision, but didn’t understand it. He prayed, asking God for understanding (10:12). The entity that came to Daniel (evidently an angel of God) told Daniel that from the first day, he had been sent by God to Daniel, but had been delayed 21 days in coming because “the prince of the kingdom of Persia” was withstanding him. Although we don’t know exactly what was going on here, most scholars agree that what was being described by the angel of God here was a conflict in the unseen spiritual realm that prevented him from completing his mission as sent by God until Michael, another angel of God, came to his aid.
Just think of that for a minute. If the scholars are correct, here is an angel of God, given a mission by God Himself, yet was unable to fulfill it until given help by another angel of God. Can you imagine what kind of conflict that must have been to have prevented this angel from completing his mission for three weeks until someone came to help?
Scott and I also talked of Paul saying in the first Thessalonian letter (2:18) that he wanted to come to see the Thessalonians, but “Satan thwarted us.” What that consisted of we don’t know with certainty. But we do know that Paul wouldn’t have written this had it not been true…evidently, Satan somehow kept Paul from going back to these people. You may be able to think of other places in the Bible where the “principalities and powers, rulers of the darkness,” and so on, are mentioned.
I don’t know what you think, but there is enough in scripture, including the armor of God passage in Ephesians 6, that tell me that there is one hellish war going on in a realm we only glimpse faintly through the words of the inspired writers. I have to wonder if one reason we see things happen in our reality that seem to defy logic or explanation (mass killings, abuse, torture, etc) is that these are times when that war breaks through the barrier, so to speak, between the spiritual and the material worlds, and we see the results.
I don’t have the answers, and working with topics like this brings more questions than I originally had before I started. Yet, it is worth a look from time to time; if for no other reason than to understand that we don’t understand...we don’t know. We do know, however, that God loves us passionately, intensely, and forever. Ours is to return that love as best we can and know how, and to work just as passionately and intensely to bring God’s kingdom to every place we go and to every person we meet. For when we do that, we help in the great battle going on in the unseen realms…the war of all wars.

Time for a Brain Change

2011-08-23T16:04:00.000-07:00

I am posting this because of a comment made by my sister on FB regarding her brain being full and it's only Tuesday. Several years ago, I wrote a column for the Hays Daily News when we lived out that way. What is below is one of those columns. It uses an email my sister mailed to some of us regarding a "brain change." Read and enjoy.

We are turning into a nation of old people. Life expectancy is as high as it's ever been (except in the Garden of Eden), people are healthier, and life is generally good, or at least tolerable for most of us who are over 50. The one thing that there seems to still be a problem with is the capacity of the human brain to keep up, at times, with life and the culture around us older folks. So we tend to make our own lives and culture in which there is a palpable deliberation in our lives. We take more time to go to the store, go to the bathroom, go to the church…just about everything we do takes awhile. And while the youngsters around us become frustrated at our deliberate pace, we tend to dig in our heels even more.
We can transplant hearts, livers, teeth, lungs, and who knows what else. We can fix our eyes, ears, and other assorted parts of our bodies with assorted parts gleaned from laboratories, pigs, and organ donors. One area, however, has remained rather off-limits. We still have no clue how to transplant a brain or get new memory.
I have two sisters. One lives in Michigan and the other lives in the other end of Kansas. (I also have three brothers, but that is beside the point for this column.) We all communicate rather frequently by means of email and an internet messenger service.
Not long ago, my sister in Michigan discovered that her computer needed more memory in order to operate a genealogy program she wanted to use. Her old PC, which runs Windows95, needed an update in the RAM memory area. Yes, I know. They don't support the 95 version any more and she needs a new computer. They are raising small children and just can't quite afford that right now, so she opted for the memory upgrade.
She removed her one memory stick, took it to the Office Max place nearby, and asked for more memory similar to what she brought in. After some conversation with the nice computer teenager at the store, in which there was evidently mention made of "old" and "outdated", the nice computer teenager found a memory stick that would work in her machine. She took it home, installed it without incident, and now has an old PC running on a WIN95 platform that does everything she wishes to do. The stick cost her $10.
She wrote to my sister in Kansas by email, explaining the process of opening up the PC and removing and installing the stick, a first for her. My sister in Kansas, bless her soul, is always quick of wit and penned the following response to Sister Linda in Michigan. And since there's no way on God's green earth I can improve on what she wrote, I'll sign off and let you read it for yourself without further comment from me.

And Linda, heavens. Installing memory! Wish we humans could do that…can you imagine taking your spouse in to the "Human Max" store:
"Can I help you?"
"Yes, I need some new memory here for this brain." (Opens skull, removes corroded memory stick.)
"Hmmm. That's an old one there! They don't even make those anymore! Frank! Come and look at this!"
"Wow, Mr. Bass, you've got a real antique there!"
"Well, she quit working a week ago, just sputtered and konked out as she was trying to remember the recipe for biscuits and gravy. What can you fix me up with? I'm starving!"
(Checking parts list...) "Looks like we can fix you up with a Super Duper Memory Capacity Chip-it'll run you about $300.00. You want us to install it?"
"Yeah, and can you also install the backup files? I need her to remember that I got her flowers for our anniversary 53 years ago."
"No problem. Can you leave her with us for a couple of hours?"
"Yeah, but I'm getting an entire brain replacement myself in a couple of weeks. Call me if I don't show up to get her in a few days!"

A Little Catching Up

2011-08-22T14:18:00.000-07:00

I haven’t written in awhile. My, has it been since 5 August? Sometimes feelings get in the way of the catharsis of doing something one enjoys. And that seems to be what’s happened here. Although I can’t explain it, and am not sure I want to try, it seems that I just haven’t been worth much lately. However, it’s time to get out of that mode and into a mode that is more attuned to life and living than being and existing.
One thing that has helped that considerably was being at the last performance of our church’s black light puppet troupe last night. For some reason, and somehow, I knew that there was no better place for me to be and nothing better for me to experience than what was going on there at that time. Although I have some difficulty with some of the music and lyrics (understanding them…didn’t they say the same thing about us back in the 1960’s?), the energy was palpable, the crowd was delighted (and delightful), and the environment was electric.
The new troupe needs to get organized and have a show ready for Oklahoma by October 2. That’s only about 6 weeks, and will involve some intensive planning and practice. And with the flooding in our church basement ruining some of the puppet props, there is an urgency that wasn’t there before to make sure everything is ready to go.
Everyone involved has a lot of other things to do besides puppet shows. The kids are starting school; parents are working and maintaining a family; staff has other duties including a new Sunday School year, and everyone seems to be going 3 miles a minute. Somehow, though, in all of this, I suspect that the new show will be a hit and folks will come through in spades.
I am excited about the new church year (although our fiscal year starts February 1, I think of our church year starting when school starts), and am looking forward to watching and participating in God’s working in the lives of His people. The Kingdom of God is, I believe, wherever God is, and He is alive and well in His Kingdom in Wichita, Kansas.
So, come with me this next year. I can’t promise I’ll write twice a week, or that I’ll tell you all that is happening. But this promises to be the “day the Lord has made.” We will indeed “rejoice and be glad in it.”

An Adventure

2011-08-05T16:31:00.001-07:00

OK, I need to tell. We went to a reunion in Kentucky this week. I didn’t want to say anything on line, and didn’t have the means to get on line at the resort. I think I’ll do a little mulling over some things I saw and experienced in this adventure.
First, it is also hot in places other than Kansas. Western Kentucky actually has Kansas beat in terms of the “feels like” temperatures because the humidity is even higher there than it has been here. Temps were 100 or better and the humidity made the feels like temps close to 120 degrees. Humidity stayed high overnight, too. Windows in the cabins fogged over due to the humidity and temperature differentials.
There were no mosquitoes, however. Oh, once in a while we’d get one buzzing around, but for the most part, damp as it was and close to a lake as we were, it was really pleasant outdoors, except for the heat. I’m not sure why the bugs weren’t there, but it was really kind of weird.
Parts of Kentucky (and Illinois and Missouri) are pretty, to be sure, but places where the forest is thick don’t lend themselves to beauty, in my view. After all, if you’ve seen one tree, you’ve seen ‘em all, so to speak. I longed for the plains of Kansas where I could see more than just a few feet away from the asphalt of the roadway.
I did wonder how the explorers and settlers blazed through the thickness, swampiness, and steaminess of the land. No wonder they used the rivers to a great extent. There’s no way a person could go more than a mile or so in a day in that forest. And there were swamps that were so large I wondered it they might actually be lakes of some kind.
I don’t like to run down a place of business, but when one finds a salamander in the room where we were staying, the place automatically obtains the designation of “rustic” in my view. Additionally, we had burned out light bulbs, a pull-out bed that was broken down (we also found a pair of handcuffs in that pull-out bed…hmmm), and carpet that could definitely use a steam-cleaning. It certainly wasn’t worth the price we paid.
High temperatures and high humidity make for an interesting reunion. We couldn’t do much outside because of the heat and humidity, and there wasn’t much of a place for thirty five people to gather in the cool. We had to visit and catch up with one-another as we could during the time we had.
They trim the grass very short there. Seems like it’s cut no more than an inch or so high. I also don’t know what kind of grass or grasses grow there. It was different, to say the least.
Our old car made it just fine. It has about 200K on it, and with the work we had done on it, we were hoping it would work well, and it did. We need to get several more months (or a year or two) out of it before we do anything rash. Cheap insurance, cheap taxes, and not that much in maintenance. I like it.
Traveling with a family that has three pre-school kids makes for more stops and longer stops. ‘Nuff said.

Wonderful World

2011-07-24T18:26:00.000-07:00

My sixteen year old nephew has entered the wonderful world of politics. We've been sparring back and forth on Facebook. As his comments are on the web, he won't mind, I'm sure, my posting one of his postings here and my response to it. I think you'll find his thinking rather mature for a sixteen year old.

John, my nephew:

Garrett, I think government could get rid of the defecit pretty easily if it diverted unnecessary spending to paying off the defecit. However, I don't think Obama has any intention of doing that. He's added I don't know how many trillion to it and i think all he's gonna do is say "that's not my problem" and then pass on the defecit to the next guy, and whether or not anything gets done about it will depend on whether the next guy is a republican.

Jay, ultimately it is Obama spending the money, though, right? He's the one who makes the budget.

i apologize for the misinformation (i didn't know the dates cuz i was 13 back then and didn't give a hoot about politics), however i'm pretty sure republicans would not do anything so obviously harmful and unrealistic/idealistic as telling mortgage companies they can't deny anyone.

the way i see it, democrats don't want to cut anything, because they think spending is the purpose of government and that somehow, the economy will be fixed if government spends enough money. also, i think that democrats are more emotional and ideological than republicans. i think more often than not republicans have economical benefit in mind as reasons for there viewpoint, whereas democrats (my friends and family who are participating in this debate seem to be in the smarter portion of democrats when they want to be) try to reason with emotions or divert attention by saying "look at that heartless republican trying to kill grandma!" or whatever.

There is more than enough money to pay the pledged money without raising the debt ceiling if, for example, government cut spending on shrimp treadmills.

we agree on one thing, politics is a very complex game, and its easy to sit on the sideline and yell at the players.

Also, nobody has commented on the fact that there is no recovery like the liberal media is trying to tell everybody, so I'm assuming that you guys agree on that one, right?

My response:

Yes, John, Mr. Obama spends the money, but he does so because Congress passes a law that tells him that he must do it. They tell him sometimes in broad terms how to spend it, and sometimes very specifically. Sometimes the law says that (and this is only an example) the Department of Fish Security (hopefully there is no such thing ) is to spend two million dollars this year. Mr. Obama, or his subordinates, then decide how many employees this department will have, how much office space to rent, how many fish to secure, etc.
Other times the Congress writes into the law specific items, such as nine million dollars to build a new six lane bridge that is 1,200 feet long and 65 feet high over the Missouri River on Interstate 70 in Kansas City, or two million dollars to fund shrimp treadmills. Sometimes the law is permissive…you can spend up to this amount…sometimes it is specific…you have to spend this amount. But it’s the Congress that writes all of that and passes it. The President then either signs the laws or vetoes them.
The point is that ALL spending is authorized and funded in some way (taxes or raising the debt) by the Congress. Mr. Obama’s job is to “faithfully execute” the laws that are passed. He can suggest laws. He can suggest spending or cutting. He can submit a suggested budget to Congress. But he cannot unilaterally make those decisions without the Congress. And if he spends money the Congress has authorized, but now doesn’t like, they can always cut funding for that specific item or items. And they have done that from time to time.
Yes, there is more than enough money to pay the pledges. But the Congress has to pass a law that nullifies previous laws that have been passed to spend money. Mr. Obama cannot just unilaterally cut those things out; otherwise he would be violating the law.
You are correct in your assessment that Democrats are more “touchy-feely” and tend to want to “make investments” in this or that, which in plain English is “spend money.” You are correct also in your assessment that Republicans in general wish to hold the line on spending and taxes. There are all kinds of exceptions, however, and the lines that used to define Republicans and Democrats are becoming more blurred all the time. Both Democrats and Republicans are ideological; however Democrats are generally more willing to compromise, in my view, because of their more liberal leanings.
Yes, Republicans have economical benefit in mind; but their idea of that, in my view, is to allow the wealthy to keep more of their wealth in the prospect that they will spend it and so power our economy. Democrats also have economical benefit in mind, but they tend to want to tax the wealthy and redistribute those funds to the poorer and middle classes. Which is right? It all depends on which class you are in.
Although Mr. Obama seems to want to do so, neither party in the Congress seems to be interested in funding the IRS, CMS, and other agencies with enough money to catch those who cheat on taxes, submit fraudulent billing to Medicare, or otherwise scam the government. It has been said that for every dollar the IRS would spend on finding tax cheats, they could take in an additional ten dollars (source: The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/01/AR2011030106451.html) Also, Wiki has an article titled “Medicare Fraud”. You might want to read it.
Liberal media, conservative media. Listen to them all, then make up your own mind. Thanks for your reasoned response, John. It is discussions like this that enable all of us to learn more. It’s videos like what were posted a day or two ago that only inflame and divide, in my mind. See you Sunday.

Stretch

2011-07-23T20:23:00.001-07:00

I attended a funeral today. It was for one of the members of the church where I too am a member. It was actually a memorial service as the graveside was first and had already been completed. The folks who conducted the service did very well and I learned a lot about the deceased that I had not previously known. That’s not really unusual in a larger church. Many times we don’t know much about someone else in the church except for their name, and perhaps something of their family.
Funerals aren’t my favorite cup of tea (or is it coffee…). I normally don’t like to sit through them, and suspect that many people feel as I do. However, it is good to do from time to time, because funerals tend to make us think of our own mortality and the legacy we leave when we leave this life.
There are other things we don’t normally like to do that are actually good for us. One is to visit someone in a nursing or care facility. Another is to do something for someone who is “down and out” that involves direct contact of some kind. Still another would be to volunteer at some kind of service or charitable organization.
Now, I know that for some folks those things are not an issue. But for most of us, those kinds of things are things that we feel a little “uncomfortable” doing. And that’s really the good thing. It’s good for us to stretch our comfort zones and take on something that we are not used to doing.
So next time there is an opportunity to do something you don’t normally do or maybe don’t particularly like to do, remember that you can usually be of service to someone else in times like these, and stretch yourself a little. You’ll be glad you did.

An Answer?

2011-07-21T10:41:00.000-07:00

Let’s see. Three people plunge to their deaths over a waterfall at Yosemite National Park. They went into the river above the falls to have, we think, their pictures taken. There are warning signs and barriers to warn people not to go into the river. However, when one person slipped on a rock in the river and began to be pulled away, another in the river tried to get him and a third then tried to rescue the second. All three perished. Their bodies have yet to be recovered because the river is flowing too swiftly for the safety of rescuers.
I have yet to develop the ability to fathom such a scenario as the above; yet it happened in just the last day or so. And it happens regularly, all too often. And people die. And people’s lives are changed forever.
It just saddens me to hear about such things. And yet I know that I’ve done boneheaded things in my life. I’ve just not been caught as these people were, and paid for my deeds with my life. I cannot cast stones at these folks because I’ve been there, done that.
What makes people like this? Why do we think we can get away with things like this? What are we thinking? Or are we thinking? Someone have an answer?

Economics 101

2011-07-18T07:20:00.001-07:00

The specific information that follows is courtesy of the Wichita Eagle Sunday, July 17, 2011. The commentary is mine.

We Kansans as well as virtually everyone else on earth, think Kansas is an agricultural state, and so it is. However, there is a wide range of manufacturing that goes on here that is really unnoticed by most except those who work in those sectors.
The following is a sample of things manufactured in Kansas and the companies that have located here. I have omitted the obvious…aircraft plants and most agriculture.

Chance Manufacturing—world’s leading manufacturer of amusement rides.
Pioneer Balloon Co.—nation’s largest manufacturer of latex & foil balloons.
Celestaire—Leading exporter of sextants for air & sea navigation.
Russell Stover—Boxed chocolates and other products.
Miller’s Professional Color (film developing)—Largest professional lab in the U.S.
Siemens—Wind turbine nacelles.
Flint Hills Solutions—Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS)
Tramco, Inc. —Conveyor systems
Aerosol Co. —Original packager of aerosol products. Now makes aerosol cans.
Dessin Foumir—Top manufacturer of furniture.
Brookover Feed Yards—Has fed more cattle than any other yard in U.S.
Cobalt Boats—Leading manufacturer of luxury power boats.
Grasshopper Co. —First viable zero-turn-radius mower.
Moon Marble Co. —Marbles of all sizes and kinds.
Sonoco—Recycled paper products.
Krause Corp. —Top manufacturer of tillage equipment.
Titan Trailer Mfg. —Distinctive trailers.
Stafford Co. Flour Mills—One of the last independent flour mills in the nation.
Hospira—Leading pharmaceutical manufacturer of pain management medicines.
Ferguson Production—Hummingbird feeders (made 10 million in 2010)
Bradbery Co. —Roll-forming and steel coil processing machines.
Tony’s Pizza—What else…pizza.
Philips Lighting—Light bulbs.
ElDorado National—Largest manufacturer of small to midsize transit busses.

This isn’t a full list, but demonstrates the diversity of our economy and the resourcefulness of our residents. I hope this has been as enlightening for you as it has for me.

A Great Adventure

2011-07-16T08:28:00.001-07:00

We got back last evening from a quick trip to Colorado Springs to see our niece retire after a great career with the Air Force. Stationed at the Academy these last several years, the ceremony was an appropriate and dignified way to close out her career. I am grateful we were able to go. The weather was, of course, cooler and nicer there than here. It was enjoyable to be able to take in some cooler temperatures and drier air.
On the trip out and back, we noticed that several areas that normally are very dry this time of the year (Northwest Kansas, Eastern Colorado) have had at least some good moisture. The grass is still green and the dryland crops seem to be doing OK (not great, but OK). Central Kansas, however, is very, very dry and in the midst of a severe drought, as are many other parts of the country right now.
We stopped to visit a friend in Oakley for a few minutes over lunch. The Colonial was about as it always has been, with pretty much the same menu on the buffet as always. For less than nine dollars, however, and just off the Interstate, it was a good deal. I am glad we were able to make that connection with Kathy. She has been, and continues to be a true friend and fellow servant of God.
On the way back, we stopped, as we usually do, at Vernie’s Hamburger House in Hays. Our relationship with that place goes way back to the 1970’s when Vernie himself would make the chili and cook the burgers. Having passed away several years ago, his widow and daughter now are at the helm and have kept things pretty much as Vernie had them many years ago. It was good to re-make that connection as well.
Things do change, however, even when they seem to stand still in time. People get older, buildings get creakier, and prices get higher. Businesses close, people move, and some folks just aren’t with us any more. I was reminded at the retirement ceremony that Angie’s Grandad would loved to have been there…a wounded WWII Marine vet; he would have been, no doubt, the guest of honor. He passed on awhile back.
Life goes on. And as we get back into the thick of it, I am filled with gratitude for the privilege I have of seeing life from my perspective and for those who are going through time and space with me. It’s a great adventure; one that is unique and awesome. Thank you, Lord, for your love.

Full Volume

2011-07-12T17:53:00.001-07:00

Today as I was running errands, I had the radio in the pickup on PBS (as usual). The piece that came on when I turned on the ignition one time was obviously the 1812 Overture by Tchaicovsky, formally known as The Year 1812, Festival Overture in E flat major, Op. 49. The overture does not celebrate the War of 1812; rather, it commemorates Russia defending Moscow against Napoleon’s advancing armies in 1812.
The music is familiar to most of us, even if we don’t know for sure what it is called or who wrote it. Some truly appreciate music like this; others tolerate it. It all depends upon one’s taste in the arts and music in particular.
When I heard what was playing on the radio, I immediately turned the volume up full. My speakers can handle that volume without distortion, and it isn’t loud enough to cause ear damage. However, one can more fully appreciate some of the more obscure runs and instrumentation that comes out more audibly when the total volume is high.
I know some who might ride with me might not appreciate the volume, but no one was with me today, except a fly that was clinging for dear life to a window. I truly enjoyed the performance, as I do many of the classics at that volume level, performed by those who are the ultimate professionals.
Thank you, PBS, for providing people like me with the music I like, and a variety that expands my horizons.

If You Haven't Done the Research...

2011-07-11T10:30:00.001-07:00

If, for some reason, you doubt that there is any redeeming value in young people today, I urge you to check it out for yourself and not just take someone’s word for it. Check out an upper level, college prep class at the public school. Volunteer at a high school cross country meet this fall (or just attend one). Check out a JROTC program. Ask someone in scouting about the latest Eagle Scout and his project.
And check out this URL http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/fromthetop/pages/ sometime. PBS has a show called “From the Top at Carnegie Hall” that features young people performing a wide variety of music on a wide variety of instruments. Watch any episode and you’ll be amazed, gratified, and pleased with how these young people have ordered themselves with discipline, grace, and use of ability and talent. You may not appreciate music as some do, but you’ll certainly appreciate the message of the show.
My wife and I had the privilege of chaperoning a part of our youth group on two trips to help other churches conduct a vacation Bible school. There were fourteen or fifteen youth and several of us sponsors who traveled to Minnesota and also to Central Kansas for these projects. The young people overall behaved quite well and worked hard to see that the experience of those attending was as it should be and we reached our goal of providing good religious education to the kids.
No, not all youth are of this caliber. But then, not all adults are of a high caliber either. All too often we hear the bad news and haven’t a clue what is happening that is good and decent and right. And all too often it is due to our own laziness in accepting what someone else (FOX, MSNBC) wants us to know rather than finding out for ourselves. If you haven’t done the research (Listening to cable news is NOT doing research), don’t express the opinion.

Independence Day

2011-07-04T09:32:00.001-07:00

Well, it’s Independence Day. Once a year we especially remember the beginnings of this nation and what it has meant for not only us, but for the human race. This year, comments on Facebook run the gamut from ours being the greatest nation on earth to ours being the last hurrah before the unwashed hordes overrun us and we drown in debt, immorality, and corruption.
I admit that I readily do not know which way we are headed. Nor does anyone else, for that matter. We are all entitled to our opinions; however, rather than being orators of doom or paradise, maybe it would behoove us to do the things in our corner of the world to make the world a better place for our having been here.
Even that sounds like something from a fairy tale fantasy at times. But the reality is that we all have ways that we can influence not only our environment, but also those we contact in our everyday lives. Whether family, friends, retail sales people, classmates, the taxi driver, or someone else, virtually all of us have some kind of contact with the environment and with other people on a daily basis. It’s what we do with those routine contacts and interaction that collectively make the difference.
Life is seldom glamorous and glitzy. Routine, boring, and ordinary are all good words to describe what most of us experience on a daily basis. Many times, life seems to be patently unfair. Yet it is the possibility of the future, including the hope of a life that is eternal, that makes it all worthwhile.
The signers of the Declaration of Independence, “with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence”, made the decision to “mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.” They saw the possibility of the future. Many of them also knew the hope of a life that is eternal. That, friend, is what made it worthwhile for them, and even today calls us to service and sacrifice.

Quite Inert

2011-06-30T06:50:00.001-07:00

I started thinking today about a new Christian I had heard about via email. I began to wonder what this woman has already learned about the Christian faith and what traditions and dogmas she has been taught. Now, don’t misunderstand. A tradition or a dogma is not necessarily a bad thing. A dogma is simply a belief that a religion holds to be true. And without tradition, we often feel ungrounded and blown about in the sea of life.
There is, however, a tendency for us to allow tradition and dogma to take on roles not suited. And we sometimes mix up dogma and tradition, making dogma tradition and making tradition dogma. We should have at least some idea of the difference in the two and know within ourselves which we hold to be truth and which we merely practice as tradition. In the world of faith, tradition should never be held to the same standard that dogma should be held. We err greatly, I think, when we allow that to happen.
The higher reaches of the particular “brand” of religion we practice should also hold those two separate and truthfully tell its adherents which it believes to be what, and why. All too often, I fear, we who teach others fail to grasp the significance of failure to do this, and the effect it has on those who are being taught. For if we teach tradition as dogma, we then are at some point compelled to explain why. That tends to force us to use the standard by which we measure dogma (for most of Christendom, that is the Bible) to measure tradition and make the standard “fit” our argument that our tradition is really dogma. This, of course, necessitates either changing the standard (New World Translation of the Watchtower Society, for example), or interpreting the existing standard in such a way as to make it work with our teaching. Either way causes the standard to cease to be the true standard and become merely our tool to persuade, control, and manage those we teach.
The Christian faith should be a faith of child-like wonder and a never-ending curiosity that is never quite fulfilled; never quite satisfied. It doesn’t matter if I am 16 or 96, my faith should continue to spark new questions, new thoughts and ideas, and new notions about the God who created us all. If I ever become comfortable in my faith to the point that I ask no questions, think no new thoughts, or never re-examine what I believe and why, then my faith has died within me. I’ve become quite inert and probably odious to my God as well.

Glitz and Glamour

2011-06-26T15:13:00.000-07:00

We talked some in class this morning of God working in us through the routine and mundane of our lives. In other words, most of the time God works in us as we go about our normal, ordinary routines of life, work, and relaxation. I’ve taught this before, but it’s always kind of an eye-opener to understand yet again that God often doesn’t come to His people in flashes of brilliance and extraordinary accomplishment (although that certainly happens, I think), but rather in the ordinary things of raising a family, working, going to school, and even more specific things like driving kids to a ball game, fixing lunch, or talking on the phone (that betrays my age…no one actually TALKS anymore).
We many times think of our lives as a boring monotony, broken by the only occasional laughter, fear, or apprehension. I think God may see our lives as anything but boring monotony. And we would do well to understand that as God opens doors for us to walk through, we can always have in the back of our minds the sense of adventure and the promise that our faith, in taking that step through the open door will somehow result in glory coming to the God of all gods.
God gave the promised land to Israel, but He didn’t do it in just a few days or even a few months. The text says that Israel fought “a long time,” and God himself said that it wouldn’t be a quick thing, but it would be a sure thing. I’m sure Israel grew tired of the “routine” of battle and the fact that they couldn’t settle down in the promised land for many years following the beginning of the conquest. Eventually, however, Joshua dismissed the tribes to the land that he apportioned to them and as the text says, “The land had rest from war.”
We want things done now, right away. We want things done in a flashy, almost magical time frame and with all the glitz and glamour that even Vegas would be proud of. Yes, God can be glitzy. God can do glamorous things. Most of the time, though, He does things in His own time and in His own way, with people whose lives are spent in the routine and ordinary…yet doing extraordinary things by the power of God.

Some Visiting

2011-06-24T08:06:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, we went to Pratt, then to Hesston to visit relatives. Our first stop was in Pratt at the local care home where our first cousin, once removed, was living. Now, you might ask why we went all that way to see a cousin that is “once removed”. We do things a little differently in our family. Folks who are related to us are important to us. They are our connection with our ancestors, our heritage, and our upbringing, all of which we value very highly. We also know that she has no other close relatives besides a son who has not visited her in many years. And we know she provides a valuable link to a part of our family that we know very little about.
We then went to Hesston and saw several relatives…an uncle by marriage, a blood uncle and his wife (our aunt as certainly as if she was a blood relative), and a first cousin. We also happened upon a woman in the hall of the assisted living complex who was our first cousin once removed from the other side of our family. She was someone we previously had not known, and know very little about her parents…her mom being our great aunt. She was very willing to visit and invited us back for another visit and look through some of her old photos, etc.
We seldom go as far as third cousins or some such, as that gets rather far afield, although we certainly recognize them and their lineage as it relates to our common ancestor(s). We have a genealogy person in our family who likes this kind of thing, and we sometimes are able to gather bits of data for her. All in all, it was a good day and very satisfying for us. I trust it was for the folks we visited as well.
Each time we visit, I am struck yet again by the stories we tell of those relatives now gone. They lived good lives, but life was in many cases hard and sometimes seemingly cruel. Survival during the Great Depression often meant gathering berries from the roadside in order to have something to eat, or frying a flour and oil concoction in a pan and calling it a meal. Medicine was primitive by today’s standards and quarantines were not unusual. Nor were illnesses like scarlet fever, mumps, measles, or tetanus. Running water and indoor plumbing were not always available and starting over in life was an all-too-routine thing to do. Medicare and Medicaid were but a dream in a progressive’s eye.
These people lived, in good part, with reliance on and faith in Someone greater than themselves. They knew they were at the mercy of the elements, the depression, and the illnesses that plagued them. Yet they persisted, they persevered, they finished the course in this race called life. And for that example, we “moderns” owe them a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid.

Just A Short Time

2011-06-22T10:44:00.001-07:00

Sometime soon, my sister and I will make a trip to Pratt to visit a cousin who is in the nursing home there. From there we’ll go to Hesston and visit a couple of uncles, an aunt, and cousin. I have somewhat mixed feelings about these visits and I’ll tell you why.
On the one hand, I am eager to see these folks. They have been part of my life for as long as I can remember. For them to honor me with their time is a blessing almost beyond words. But on the other hand, visits like this remind all of us of the inexorable march of time and the toll it takes on the creation and the created.
Our cousin in Pratt is from a branch of the family that we don’t have much contact with anymore, and I haven’t seen her for well over 10 years. Now, that’s my fault, not hers. She has always been in the Pratt area and I just haven’t taken the time to make the trip until now.
The family in Hesston we see more often. We last visited there just a few months ago, it seems, and we enjoy the time we have together, even if its just a short time with lunch thrown in.
Of course, on the way to and from, sis and I will talk of times gone by and reminisce about what we remember (or don’t remember) about these family members. I’m sure they do the same with us when we’re not there…conjuring up what now may be fuzzy images of times long ago gone.
Already, those younger ones in our family are starting to reminisce and remember things that happened with us…can it be that it will be just a short time until we too wait for the visits by the younger ones to brighten our days?

A Bad Day

2011-06-20T14:29:00.001-07:00

I went in to my local doctor’s office today to pay a bill that has been outstanding for a month or so. When I went in, I went to the receptionist for my doctor. She was on the phone with someone, so I waited. She mouthed to me during the call that she would be “right with me”. The call took a couple of minutes, but it ended.
I said to her, “Ma’am, I’m John Plank (my legal name), and I’m wondering if I have a balance due on my account, and I know there is a balance on my wife’s account. I’d like to pay anything I owe.”
She starts digging in a drawer beside her that has file folders in it. I’m thinking the drawer contains account information, although I wonder about that since the office is modern and computerized. She can’t seem to find what she’s looking for, turns to me and says, “Do you have an appointment?”
Now I realize that the drawer had all of the day’s patient records in it and she was searching for mine. I said, “No, ma’am. I’m just here to pay my bill.” I’m just a little puzzled by now, thinking I may not be dealing with the brightest bulb on the shelf.
The phone rings again. She asks if the caller could hold. Evidently not, because she listened for a minute or so, then they talked some. During this call, the second line began ringing, but someone else answered it. She hung up her call, and started typing on her keyboard. The first line rang again and she again asked if the caller could hold. This time the caller held.
She punched the keyboard for a good period of time while trying to talk to another staffer about the prior call. She finally told me that I owed $20 on my account, and also told me that my wife owed $134.05. I reminded her of her caller on hold and told her she could go ahead and take the call since I wasn’t going anywhere. I figured that no faster than we were going anyway, it wouldn’t matter much. She looked at me quizzically, then at the phone, saw the blinking button, and answered the call.
Following the call, she went to the back and asked a woman how she should process the payment since I was paying on two bills at once. They wanted to know how I was paying. I held up my credit card and they talked some more. The woman told her to run the card for the total and note the separate numbers on the receipt that they would keep.
I gave her my card after she came back to the desk. She turned toward her calculator and started punching in numbers. I wondered what she was doing, since the two numbers were $134.05 and $20.00. That easily totals in one’s head to $154.05. I thought she might have found some other charges. No, she turns to me after at least 30 seconds at the calculator and says, “The total is $154.05.”
The rest of the interaction was relatively uneventful and I left, thanking God for the ability to add in my head and multi-task. I would never disparage or make fun of anyone who does not have those abilities (although I admit to having done so in the past), but I have to wonder why someone like that is working in a position that requires some proficiency in those areas. Hopefully, she was just having a bad day, and it got better…quickly.

We Go On

2011-06-19T11:34:00.001-07:00

Wow! Has it really been since the fourth of June that I’ve written? Well, now that I’m retired and have nothing to do (cough cough), I should right every day, huh.
So much water under the bridge (so to speak) that I won’t bother to summarize, except to say that Minnesota was much, much cooler and more pleasant than the weather currently in effect in Southern Kansas. We even slept with the windows open, and were very comfortable there.
One would think that with retirement would come hours and days of nothing to do. Nothing could be further from the truth. Already my social and work calendar is being filled with this place to go, that thing to do, etc. The honey-do list has started (replacing the kitchen sink and faucet) and I am struggling to find time to do some of the things I wanted to get started on right away.
Of course, the heat outdoors is keeping some of the outdoor work and activity at bay. The mosquitoes are also bad now, with the big black ones attacking, not even circling, but zeroing in on exposed flesh like a dive bomber. Thankfully, they are large enough that I normally can feel them land and have a chance to swat at ‘em before they take a liquid meal. And they strike even in the heat of the day, to say nothing of early morning and evening.
So we go on. Mosquitoes and heat notwithstanding, we trundle on in life, only somewhat cognizant of what lies ahead, or what we’d like to lie ahead. We hurtle on into the great abyss of the future in faith that it will all work out OK; that things will make themselves known at the right time; that our faith will carry us through to the end.
To borrow a phrase from Linda Ellerbee, “And so it goes.”

I Know

2011-06-04T06:34:00.001-07:00

I had opportunity today to think back over my work career. I don’t know if you’ve ever done something like that or not, but it might be worth the effort. I must say that my career has been varied, both in location and vocation, and I’ve had wonderful opportunities to do things and touch the lives of others in ways I would never have imagined at the start of my vocational endeavors.
I learned customer service early on through work with one of the corporate giants, the 3M Company. I learned that I had the capability to take on projects and be successful in what I did through my work at a radio and television station where I was responsible for the physical re-location of the studios of the radio station in an overnight move. I also had responsibility for all remote broadcasts (which were done frequently back then) and had that procedure down to a science.
Other jobs taught me that life wasn’t always fair; that superiors don’t always appreciate competence, and that people can be difficult to work with and are surely illogical and unpredictable. I also learned that I wasn’t perfect; that I didn’t have all the answers, and that I sometimes was just flat wrong in my assumptions about some thing or some one.
I learned the value of developing relationships with vendors, consultants, and people in other professions who could be helpful, and the knack of calling on those folks at the right time for the right reasons. And I learned that it can be a lonely experience at the top, and that “been there, done that” isn’t such a bad thing to say after all.
I know that I can do almost anything I set myself to do. I have the capability to learn on the fly, and can be quite successful when I decide to do so. I can also slough off and get by, and have managed to become quite good at that as well.
I am becoming aware that I have a life of experience and living that many people do not have, and am willing to share that wisdom with others who ask for it. I’ve learned that some people actually do ask that I share what I know, and seem to be grateful for the advice and counsel.
It’s been a great ride. Most of my experiences I wouldn’t trade for a hundred million dollars, but I have no desire to ever do them again. As I go into the next phase of life and living, I hold to the past in some ways, but look forward to what lies ahead in other ways. And whether that future is one day or one decade long, I know I have been blessed.

Just Take Me To the Home...

2011-05-28T07:59:00.001-07:00

OK, P.J. Just take me to the home now. I don’t want to pass go. I don’t want to collect two hundred dollars.
I went to Wal Mart this morning to pick up an item or two before we went to central Kansas for a memorial weekend lunch with relatives. When I came out of the Wal, I couldn’t find my pickup anywhere. I knew where I had parked it, as I parked right next to a handicapped stall.
I went up and down the line and even over a line or two just to make sure. I then called Pat and told her. She said she’d come down my way to get me. Meanwhile, I called 911. The nice woman took my information, then transferred me to the place where those reports are taken. I must have been waiting for ten minutes or so for someone to pick up the phone to take my report, all the while thinking about my red pickup going off to God only knows where with God only knows who in it.
Having a vehicle stolen is not a good feeling. I can testify by firsthand experience.
While I was waiting for whoever to answer to take my report (only after I give the report will they broadcast the information to the beat officers…by now it could be in Newton), I looked one more time at the stall which now had another vehicle in it.
I glanced at the tag number of that vehicle and it seemed familiar to me. “Oh, it’s a silver car just like ours. It IS ours!” I had forgotten that I took the car instead of the pickup and had red pickup on the brain instead of silver car.
So I called the nice woman at 911 (after I called Pat and told her to not come…she already knew what had happened because when she went to the garage to come get me, lo and behold, there was the pickup) and just told her that I had found my vehicle. I did not tell her that I forgot which one I was driving.
So, just come visit me in the memory care section of the nursing home. I’ll be there watching reruns of “Rio Bravo”, cheering when the Duke blasts some bad guy because it’ll all be fresh…every time.

Shrimp on a Treadmill

2011-05-27T20:04:00.001-07:00

A friend of mine suggested that I could comment on the “shrimp on a treadmill” video on YouTube. I dunno. Is that worth a comment? Let’s see. Even that shrimp on a treadmill has political overtones because it’s done by the National Science Foundation and is part of a research project costing half a million dollars. At least one Senator thinks it’s dumb.
I don’t know if it’s dumb or not. What I do know is that sometimes the unusual, or to us the very incongruous can reveal knowledge that is inestimable.
Now, I don’t know about this specific experiment, nor do I know anything about the research project. I’m not qualified to comment on any of this either yes or no. Besides, my opinion doesn’t matter in the great scheme of things anyhow.
But, the sight of a shrimp on a treadmill does bring a smile and a kind of “who would have thought” notion. I mean, come on. Have you ever in your life thought that you’d like to see a shrimp on a treadmill, or that such a thing could reveal some scientific fact that could benefit the human race? I’d guess not.
I also suspect that if you could look long enough on YouTube, you’d find just about anything you could (or could not) think of, including shrimp on a treadmill. I don’t pretend to know much about what’s on YouTube. I do confess to checking out some things, usually old television shows or entertainers now long gone. It’s a great part of the Internet, but like everything, it has its bad side as well as its good side.
So, shrimp on a treadmill? Bring it on. And while we’re at it, let’s see a fly on a ladder, a roach driving a snowmobile, and a mouse giving a cat a bath.

When They Handed Out Brains...

2011-05-20T21:30:00.001-07:00

I dunno. This latest craziness going around is all the hullabaloo over the supposed end of the world that will happen tomorrow (if it really happens, you probably won't be reading this, but that's another story...) and all the things that go along with it. I could probably go into a long litany of why I think the guy's a freak show, but won't. What I am wondering is why anyone cares.
Think about it for a few seconds. If the end of everything comes, it'll truly all be over. You won't be able to do anything about the coming of the end; nor will you be able to change anything once it starts. Everything will be "scripted", so to speak. You don't have to know anything, do anything, or be anything...you will be given to know what to say, do, etc. as the need arises. And if the end never comes, you'll be dead and not able to change anything either.
YOU CAN'T CHANGE ANYTHING. Why worry about it? Why even think about it? And for heaven's sake, why send money to some quack? Even if he's correct, for what does he need money? If the end is coming, why is he asking for donations?
The reason we're told to be ready at any time is so when it does happen, we will be ready. Seems to me that's a logical and fair way to live life. Make plans, buy and sell, have a family, etc. If the end comes at some time during that time, it won't matter anyway. What will matter is whether or not you are ready.
When they handed out brains, some people didn't get a full load. Either that or they put 'em some place besides in their heads. And sometimes I think modern journalism is short some neurons as well. What's the deal with covering this like it's the first manned Mars launch? Let the guy wallow in his own little group of followers. Don't encourage him. Geez.

No Man Is An Island

2011-05-14T17:02:00.001-07:00

I don’t write in this venue as often as I used to write. I don’t know why not. Much is happening in life and living, and I often find myself as somewhat of an observer of my own life and reality, wondering why this is happening or marveling at that happening. I try, I think, to keep a “low profile” and not cause too much of a ruckus in the realities of other people (and myself), but I sometimes have to wonder how successful I am at that.
Have you ever thought just how much influence you have on the realities of others? In the course of everyday life and living, do you have any idea how many people you touch in some way? Do you know even a small part of the situations in which you have changed what someone else was about to say or do by virtue of some interaction you may have had with that person (either direct or indirect)?
Our existences are so intertwined, so co-mingled that it is very difficult to truly be an island. A guy by the name of John Donne, who lived long ago, is thought to have said it first and best: "All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated...As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness....No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."
Of course, Simon and Garfunkel’s “I Am A Rock” says just the opposite; “I am a rock; I am an island, go the refrain.” However, the last two lines of that song are, “And a rock feels no pain; And an island never cries.” We might long and try to be closed off from everyone else, but we also close off our humanity.
The world is full of lonely people, even people who are in the midst of millions of others. We were created for meaningful interaction with both the creation and the humans who inhabit it. We are less than complete when we isolate ourselves, and we are less than human when we isolate others.

We'll Go Back

2011-05-08T13:21:00.001-07:00

For Mother’s Day, we went to a Japanese restaurant in East Wichita. We had never been there before, and I wanted to go to a place that wasn’t crowded or noisy. We found this restaurant in a strip mall and went in.
We appeared to be their first customers (they opened at noon). They asked us if we wanted traditional dining or hibachi. I opted for the traditional. As we sat, we received menus. We looked over the menus and discovered that we had no clue what most of the items were. Pat looked at the first page of the menu, not knowing there was a second page, and wondered if she wanted anything at all.
Deciding that I didn’t want the eel entrée or one of the meals that I had not a clue what I was getting, I opted instead for the salmon teriyaki, which I did know, and Pat opted for the chicken teriyaki.
We were pleasantly surprised that the meal was great, the atmosphere was calming, and the presentation was in keeping with the restaurant theme. As garnish, among other things, I had a carrot slice that was carved to look like a crab. Pat had one on her plate that looked like a rooster. The soup was good as was the salad.
By the time we left, there were more people there, but the place was still virtually empty. The only thing I wasn’t sure of was whether there would be a fork available or not. The napkin had only chopsticks rolled up in it. The waiter asked if we wanted forks, however, and we readily agreed.
No hamburgers. No steaks. No baked potatoes. No green beans or corn. We’ll have to go back there again.

A Good Performance

2011-05-06T21:04:00.000-07:00

We went out this evening and saw “To Kill A Mockingbird” at the Wichita Community Theater. I must say that I wasn’t really all that enthused about going, as I have trouble hearing in a theater setting. I can hear the noise of the dialog, but many times there is an echo or the actors speak too quickly, or for some other reason I cannot understand what is being said. I am pleased to say that is not the case at this venue.
The theater is housed in what appears to be an old church building in a residential neighborhood in East Wichita. The entire building is probably no more than 3,000 to 4,000 square feet. The stage is actually at and below audience level and is about 30 feet by 20 feet. The audience sits “in the round” and no seat is more than about 25 feet away from the stage.
The performers as well as the director, lighting, props, etc. are all volunteers. Cost is $12 per ticket. Seating is extremely limited. The theater can hold no more than about 110 people.
I was impressed with the acting, the props, the lighting, and in general the whole experience. I’m not a theater critic and don’t pretend to know the nuances of what constitutes a good performance. I do know what I like and I liked this performance.
Awhile back they did “Driving Miss Daisy”. I missed that and am not happy that I didn’t know about it, or would have seen it. There is a comedy playing in June. I’d like to go back.
If you have a chance, take in a performance at the Wichita Community Theater.

The Adventure Continues

2011-05-04T18:51:00.001-07:00

Well, I did it. I turned in my resignation a couple of days ago. I am entering a new chapter of life…one without a full time job to identify me. It’s kind of scary, yet at the same time a rather freeing thing. The final day will be June 10. As I hurtle toward that day, I am reminded of times past when uncertainty reigned in my life.
Uncertainty. Now, that’s a rather unsettling word. We humans like to have things under control. We like to know what’s coming around the corner. We have a need to have routine and order in our lives. But when things happen like job changes, moves to a different house, taking in a new family member, or one of hundreds of other scenarios, that word (uncertainty) creeps into our thoughts if not our conversations.
We sometimes lay awake nights in the dark and quiet thinking about the ramifications of it. We ponder it over lunch or a cup of coffee. And we do everything we can to NOT think about it during most of our waking time. Yet there it is, the elephant in the room.
No, I don’t have a job. Yes, we have some money. Yes, we have a plan. No, that plan is not laid out in certainty. Yes, it is subject to change. And no, I really don’t have a plan B. I think we do, however, have a lot of options open to us as we go along.
We’ll see how this all shakes out. We may have to make some lifestyle changes. We may have to change our direction. We may even have to move to a less expensive home. But I am ready for this. I am willing to do what I need to do to make this work.
Oh, I left out one important thing. I believe this change is something that is a God thing in my life. I think He is behind all of this. Now, I may be wrong. I may have let my emotions and selfish desires get a hold on my thought processes and distort my perceptions of what God is and isn’t doing in my life.
But I don’t think so. I’ve been working with this for many months. The culmination came just a couple of days ago when I actually submitted my resignation to my supervisor. This wasn’t a knee-jerk decision. I sought counsel from people whose opinions I value. And I’ve talked with God regarding what I need to do.
So we’ll see in the coming months. As the blog says, “The Adventure Continues”.

What Will You Do?

2011-04-21T17:17:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is Good Friday for the Christian world. My guess is that it’s just another day for the rest of humanity. That’s not a condemnation of that segment of the human race…it’s just the way it is. But for those of us who profess, in some way, Christian beliefs, tomorrow is second only to the Sunday following Good Friday in importance.
You see, all of the Christian faith hinges on the belief that Jesus died a certain death at the hands of the Romans, and by the power of God was resurrected from the grave. Without the death and resurrection of Jesus, who is, we believe, the Christ of God, Christianity would be just another religion.
However, Christianity is singularly unique among the world’s major religions in that its crux is the death and resurrection of a man who is not that only, but also is fully God on earth. Just the thought of the truth of that founding principle is astounding, and to wrap one’s mind around it fully is impossible for the mortal. To truly believe it is indeed an act of faith supported by the evidence of the changed lives of those who personally knew him, the written words of some of those same people along with others of that time attesting to the truth of the claim, the archeology of the Holy Land and key finds, and the simple, yet profound logic of the premise itself.
And the age-old question still must be answered by all who breathe…”What will you do with Jesus?” Will you think him a bald-faced liar who’s claim to be God is a pipe dream? Will you laugh him off as a crazy man who didn’t know what he was saying when he made those claims of divinity? Or will you believe him to be what he says he is?
There are no other options. You cannot state that he was a good man and teacher, but only a human. If you do that, you ignore his bald-faced claims to be divine…good men and good teachers don’t lie. You cannot state that he never existed, because there is too much secular evidence to the contrary. Nor can you truthfully say that he was the greatest perpetrator of fraud of his time. The evidence just won’t allow that.
So where do we go from here? Back to the question. “What will you do with Jesus?” You have to make a decision. Even if you ignore him, you’ve made a decision. I challenge you to look at the evidence. Look at the facts. Make up your own mind as clearly and in as much of an unbiased manner as you can muster. Millions of honest, intelligent people have done just that. And they have found something that for them is their reason for living and their hope for all eternity. What about you?

Today

2011-04-09T08:22:00.001-07:00

I’m sitting here at the computer desk on Saturday morning with an empty coffee cup (just a sec…I’m gonna fill it), the washer and dryer going, music from channel 940 on digital cable (Classical Masterpieces) on the stereo (does saying “stereo” date me to the 1960’s?), having cleaned up from last night’s birthday bash for my niece (it really was in pretty good shape…just needed some touching up), and no one on FB or Messenger (at least no one I care to interact with right now).
I sent off an email this morning to my insurance agent asking about the 18% increase in our homeowners insurance and am THINKING about going outside to do some lawn and yard work so desperately needed.
Oh, and I have the ruglets (I don’t know what you call those little carpets in the bathrooms on the floors in front of the toilet/shower) picked up and ready to go in the washer…and am washing the bed linens as well, including the blanket.
Am I a busy boy, or what? Probably more like “or what”. I need to work on my Sunday school lesson for tomorrow and would like to peruse the hardware store for one of those little tillers that are good for small areas. And I’d like to clean out the garage and cut down the dead pampas grass out by the fish pond. Before you say it, I’ll say it; “I’ll let you know how this all works out for me.”
We had some storms rumble by us last night, but they didn’t drop any rain. So I’m also watering part of my yard that looks especially parched. Yes, we have a sprinkler system and yes, it seems to work fine, but I think that area has some very tough soil and it gets dry rather quickly there. I will make adjustments to my sprinklers later on when it’s warmer, because one always gets soaked when doing that.
We’re looking forward to summer and a little slower pace. The wife doesn’t have as much going on in her work and that’s going to be a nice thing. We plan to go to our family reunion in Kentucky this summer and we also plan to help our church teen group with one or possibly two trips to other communities to help with VBS. One will be in Minnesota and the other in Colorado.
All in all, much to look forward to, both today and in the future. God is good. His mercy endures forever.

We Are Who We Are

2011-04-04T18:58:00.001-07:00

It’s interesting to me to see the dynamics of families where I work. I know that most families are (and have been) under stress when they arrive and as they work with their loved one who is there for recovery of some kind. Different people tend to deal with that stress in different ways.
Some work very hard, going beyond what is asked of them regarding exercise, strengthening, conditioning, etc. It’s as if they are saying, “If a little does some good, then a lot will do a lot of good.” These people are relatively small in number, however.
Other residents and families are in some kind of denial. They don’t like to (or refuse to) take part in therapies, question why they are there, and generally are uncooperative. What they don’t always realize is that their insurance will not continue to pay for them to be there if they refuse properly-ordered therapies.
Some residents and families are angry at the world. Everyone is out to get them, and they appear to be alone against all odds. These people struggle mightily, and expend a lot of time and energy in behaviors that are unproductive at best.
There are those who are the manipulative ones. They play one staffer against another or one medical provider against another. They stir up other families and residents with half-truths. And they work the system as much and as long as they can.
And then there are those residents and families who take their situation in relative stride. Or at least they appear to do so. They are mostly cooperative, and seldom gripe or complain. These are the compliant ones and usually cause the least issues.
Come to think of it, as I look at the above, that’s a good description of humanity, isn’t it. Whether we’re in a job situation, a medical crisis, have a family problem, or are in some other environment, these emotions and behaviors tend to come forward and have to be dealt with by the others who are involved. And we all at times exhibit these behaviors in some way, shape, or form as we hurtle through life and living.
People are people. Being human is being human. And although some of the behaviors I’ve listed above are not good, and although we constantly try to eliminate these behaviors from our lives, it is comforting in a way to know that the human race is still human…we are who we are.

Time

2011-03-25T19:16:00.001-07:00

I seem to have gained, it seems, some followers of the blog. So I’ll just come out and say, “Has it really been two weeks since I’ve written?”
“Well, yes it has,” if I can answer my own question. So here we are two weeks later than before. Spring is definitely in the air; March Madness (basketball) is well under way; I am already behind in my spring yard work; life seems to hurtle ever more quickly down the line of time.
Time.
Sometimes, I feel like I’m at the side of the time stream, looking on as a bystander. Other times, it feels like I’m right in the middle of it and it is carrying me downstream more quickly than I ever wanted to go. And there are a few times when the stream seems to be thick as molasses and I’m stuck in it and can’t get out.
This thing called time is an ever-changing chameleon, never predictable, always going somewhere. It is at once a friend and an enemy. It soothes and gives peace, and it grates and makes life miserable. It is cussed and praised. It is real, yet not tangible. We don’t know what it is or how it works, but we live with it, see the results of it, and keep track of it with clocks and watches.
Einstein proved that time is (or appears to be) a variable. He also showed that we should think of space-time…not space and time. Yet we calculate to the nth degree the span of a second.
We compensate for variations in the span of time in our satellite communications networks (GPS, for one). Yet we all age at the same rate and are all similarly affected by the passage of time.
We don’t know the future, try to forget the past, and don’t appreciate enough the present. We waste time, kill time, pass time, and mark time. We all have the same amount of time in a day. Yet some of us are much more productive than others of us and some of us seem to have an endless source of time to accomplish what others could only imagine.

It’s a great gift, this gift of time.

Carry Yourself Back

2011-03-10T18:12:00.001-08:00

I don’t know about you, but there are certain sounds and songs that bring various memories and incidents to my mind. I think most people react this way to, say, a love song or the song of a certain species of bird, etc. Then there are songs that tend to take one way back to simpler times in childhood.
One such song for me is the Captain Kangaroo theme song. As many of you know, Captain Kangaroo was a children’s show that ran on CBS for many, many years in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s. I don’t know how long…you can Google it if you like.
The Captain was always polite…always entertaining…always even somewhat predictable. He taught manners and proper behavior and enlightened us with various animals, special guests, and by other means. His Treasure House was filled with wonderful, wondrous things, both living and inanimate. Bunny Rabbit, Mr. Moose, Dancing Bear, Grandfather Clock (To wake Grandfather Clock, he would always say, “On the count of three, I want you to say ‘Grandfather’, but say it softly so as not to startle him.”), Mr. Green Jeans, Dennis, Tom Terrific, and many others.
The theme music for the show, if you recall, always played when the house keys were off of the hook, and stopped when the keys were put back on the hook. Most of the time, one heard only a portion of the theme music, but once in a while, for some reason, much of the theme was allowed to play.
I recently found the theme as I remember it on the show. The song is entitled “Puffin’ Billy” and can be found at http://www.gocek.org/sounds/captain-kangaroo.mp3
Go ahead and take a listen. Carry yourself back to the simpler time.

Mish Mash

2011-03-06T15:04:00.001-08:00

I think I saw a "first" today. Our guest speaker at church used an electronic gadget (I don't know what it was) to store and retrieve his lesson notes. Instead of shuffling cards or papers, he poked on the screen from time to time to bring up new pages. I wonder how much longer it will be until I have something like that for the lessons I teach.
Other things I've recently seen/heard/found out:
The downtown Topeka business district has many closed storefronts. I don't know if it was the recent recession or not, but Kansas Avenue between 5th Street and 10th Street has probably 20 or more storefronts that are empty. It makes the downtown area rather dreary compared to what it was a few years ago.
On a related note...the restaurant that was on 6th Street downtown also has closed. That's the place I talked about in one of my earlier blogs...http://hubblefan.blogspot.com/2006/06/downtowner.html That's kind of a sad thing. I had wanted to eat there yesterday while we were in town.
I did eat at the Hanover Pancake House on Kansas Avenue. It's been there for years. I ordered bacon and three eggs with pancakes. Oh, my goodness! Four large slices of bacon, three eggs cooked in butter over medium well, hashbrowns also fried in butter that were crispy just right, and two of the largest pancakes, yet so very good pancakes with warm syrup and more butter. It was every breakfast junkie's dream.
There is value in bookstores one can go into and touch the merchandise. Online is fine, but sometimes I need to peruse a book before buying. I'm glad the Christan bookstore in West Topeka is still open. Got a Joshua commentary there that I can use in my next adult class.
The Topeka library has restricted computer access to patrons with library cards. So much for being able to stop there and check email, etc. Non card-holders can still peruse periodicals, though, and they have IRS forms and booklets there yet.
I wonder how many toll roads and turnpikes have an exit called "cattle pens". The Kansas Turnpike does. And the exit is exactly what it says it is, in the middle of the Flint Hills. If you Google "cattle pens kansas" you'll find three or four short articles about that exit and the pronghorn antelope heard that is being re-introduced into that area. Makes a good short read.
The Supreme Court upheld freedom of speech this past week. You know the group, which hails from Topeka. For what it's worth, that decision was a foregone (and correct) decision. I don't like their speech any more than you do. But I want that freedom there, intact, when I have something to say that someone else doesn't like. If they are ignored long enough, they'll go away. Really.
A good friend and former co-worker passed away suddenly yesterday. Makes one aware that no one knows "the time".

Potpourri

2011-03-01T16:27:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure how March is supposed to look, but March 2011 looks great, at least the first day of it. Warm, gentle breeze, sunny, puffy clouds...it has the feel of a perfect day. There's a gorgeous sunset going on outside as I type this and the day is about the best that it can possibly be.
I'm sure it won't always be this way. March is also the beginning of severe weather season in our neck of the woods. We've already had a round of thunder boomers a few days ago, and over the next three or four months, we'll experience more of the same.
There will be wind. There will be rain. There will be hail. There will be tornadoes. That's part of living in this part of the world. And it makes things interesting, to say the least. I don't necessarily like the severe weather, but I do like to hear the thunder, see and hear the rain, and enjoy the cleansing of the earth and atmosphere.
I am also looking forward to see how the year 2011 turns out. There are several things going on in our family, our church, and in work that will have some sort of resolution or advancement. And, of course, there will be new ideas, new thoughts, and new things coming along in life.
I know I'm getting older, but I continue to enjoy seeing some things in new and different ways. I hope that doesn't change as I continue to age for as long as the Good Lord allows.
We are richly blessed in life. God has provided us with an existence that 98 percent of the world's population can only dream about. Along with that comes a responsibility to partner with God where He is working. And that is where life's real challenges, joys, and satisfactions come. There's nothing quite like being the instrument of the God of the universe and seeing how He uses one's efforts in His work of redemption.
Thank you for your continued participation in my writing. I know I've slowed down some, and I know blogs can be rather passe, but I plan to continue with this for the time being. So check in from time to time and we'll continue down life's path together.

One Perspective

2011-02-23T18:55:00.000-08:00

I wrote a letter to my state senator and emailed it last night. It says a lot about what I don't like about the political system...the deception and outright falsehoods. I thought I'd let you read what I wrote. The liquor issue is only a vehicle for me to tell the senator that I don't appreciate being misled...in the end, I don't care who sells strong liquor.

Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 10:58 PM
To: Dick Kelsey
Subject: Liquor Debate

Dear Senator Kelsey,

I am interested in the ongoing debate over allowing grocery and convenience stores to sell "strong" beer, wine, etc. The prevailing statistics for those wanting the change come from a study done by Arthur P. Hall, PhD, of the University of Kansas School of Business. Those statistics, as you well know, show an economic impact of more than 15,000 new jobs and 340 million dollars created in the state.
I have wondered for as long as I've been aware of this debate just where that money is coming from and how those jobs would be funded. It would seem to me that there would need to be increased liquor sales sufficient to generate at least 340 million dollars in new cash in the state.
Silly me. The report does not talk of generating new cash or creating new wealth. In fact, the summary clearly says that there will not necessarily be any creation of wealth...only the redistribution of existing resources. I quote the summary: "There is no evidence to suggest that deregulation of beer, wine and spirits sales will change prevailing alcohol consumption patterns, only shopping patterns."
In other words, consumption will not necessarily increase...meaning no new wealth is created. However, the places where people spend their existing money will change. How that will result in 15,000 new jobs and creation of a third of a billion dollars in wealth is far beyond me. Where is that money coming from? Where was it before the new law? Where is it after the new law? Where is that money going? To out of state corporations (Kroger [Ohio], Quik Trip [Oklahoma])?
According to USDA statistics (http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2007/Full_Report/Volume_1,_Chapter_2_County_Level/Kansas/st20_2_001_001.pdf), in 2007 only 8 counties in Kansas had total gross farm commodity sales greater than the 340 million dollar number being used by the pro grocery/convenience liquor sales folks. Does it make sense to you, Senator, that this change in the law will bring in more money than the total gross farm commodity sales of 97 of our 105 counties in 2007? It doesn't make sense to me, either.
Someone, it seems, is playing fast and loose with the numbers. It matters not to me who sells what strength liquor. What does matter to me is that it appears that we are being misled and deceived. I'm tired of that kind of politics. I hope you are as well.

Thanks much for listening,

The good senator responded promptly, which I've always appreciated. He "got" my point. He wrote, "I agree with your perspective. I do not believe this bill will move forward or be approved by the Senate or House."

Senator Dick Kelsey

Nothing Short of Astounding

2011-02-16T15:31:00.000-08:00

Today I got up early and went in to work. I said that I would do an early transport. I needed to take a resident to a surgical center for a minor procedure. Foggy as all get out, I made my way to the home and got the van started. I loaded the woman in it, grabbed the paperwork, and headed out.
Almost missing the turn in the thick fog, I did manage to find the place after all. I was told that the woman’s daughter in law would meet us there to sign papers, etc. However, when we arrived, she was nowhere to be found. The staff was getting a little antsy, so I called the nurses station at the home and asked for the phone number of the daughter in law. They gave me a local, Wichita number.
I called that number on my cell. The ring sounded a little funny to me. After about four rings, a man answered the phone and identified himself as the son of the woman I had at the surgical center. I asked him if he or his wife were about at the surgery center so they could sign papers, thinking that the foggy weather may have caused them to be late.
He said he was nowhere close to the center and couldn’t help me. “I’m in the U K,” he said. Of course, he meant that he was in Great Britain. Hence the funny-sounding ring.
I processed that information as quickly as my too-early-to-get-up brain could, and while I was speechlessly processing, I managed to ask him if I could get his wife’s phone number and call her to ask where she might be. He said he would call her for me, and let me know what was going on.
A couple of minutes later, my phone rang. It was him. He said she was late, but would be there in a few minutes. I thanked him profusely and we hung up. She indeed showed up a few minutes later.
Now, you may ask me why I’m writing this. I’ve blogged about telephones and technology before. I grew up in the era of dialing “0” and getting a local operator in the same community as where I was living and having her make a long distance call for me. Sometimes we had the phone number…sometimes we only had a name and city. And the cost of the call was enough that we watched the minutes on a clock and didn’t talk too long. Local numbers were only four digits in length. Party lines were commmonplace. Area codes were not invented yet (nor were zip codes).
This is pure magic to me…this idea that I can have a dial tone on my hip, access it, dial a local number, and find that other telephone across an ocean in a foreign country. I can ring that phone and carry on a conversation with that person. And he can do the same with me. Do you have a clue of the technology and gee-whiz gadgets that must all work just right in order for this to happen? It’s nothing short of an incredible, astounding feat.
I normally don’t need international calling. But I have a newly-found appreciation for the fee I pay each month to help maintain this technological marvel we call the telephone. I know I gripe and complain when it drops calls or I’m in a dead zone. And that, I think, is something that needs to be addressed. “We can go to the moon…why can’t I have a phone conversation without it dropping my call?”
Next time you use your phone to talk, text, tweet, or browse, appreciate what you are holding in hour hand. I will.

This & That

2011-02-14T19:21:00.000-08:00

These last few weeks have been kind of a blur. The cold weather, the snow, the work, and the fact that it’s January and February all kind of combine to make this a time when people just hold on and hope better days come soon. And they will come. It will get warm. We will begin to have thunderstorms and severe weather. Things outside will green up. The earth will come to life again.
Meanwhile, what’s up? Oh, no, I shouldn’t be asking you that question. This is where I tell you what’s up with me. Of course, I assume you have at least some passing interest in knowing what’s up with me. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be on this web page, now, would you?
I find myself settling deeper and deeper into a kind of rut. That can be good, because I don’t have to worry too much about what to do. But it can also be kind of a bummer since I don’t have a lot of choice or change in what I do.
This has been a winter of, for lack of a better term, reflection. I’ve done a lot of thinking this winter, and am still in that process. Thinking about work, about life, about eternity, and about the future all have occupied my time lately. I’ve not arrived at any stupendous answers or marvelous insights…I didn’t expect to do so.
But I do expect to untangle, at least partially, some of the web of thought that I’ve allowed to interweave over the past few years. I don’t know how to explain it any better than that. I just sometimes feel like there are thoughts and ideas up there (or in there) that are all tangled up and need to be unwound, untangled, and brought out into the light of day. Does that make any sense to you? It does to me.
Thanks for taking the time to listen.

Happy Birthday

2011-02-05T18:50:00.001-08:00

I wrote a letter today. No, I didn’t do it long hand, although I thought about it. My hands are beginning to be affected by arthritis and I just can’t hold a pen like I used to be able to do. So I typed it. I wrote the letter to my uncle who will be 92 on Tuesday. He enjoys receiving letters and, at least until recently, wrote in long hand and mailed letters to friends and relatives.
He doesn’t do Facebook or Twitter, and isn’t even on the Internet, as far as I know. He lives in a retirement community in central Kansas and seems to enjoy being there. Age has crept up on him and he isn’t as spry as he once was. Recently moved into assisted living, he kept up an apartment there until just a year or two ago.
Just because Mervin isn’t on the Internet, though, doesn’t mean that he is somehow not relevant or “with it” (to borrow a 1960’s expression) any more. I suspect that he is very much in tune with the goings-on of the retirement community where he lives as well as the greater community (the town) and with the world. He is able to talk intelligently about a lot of things including current events and current happenings. He is a joy to visit with and always appreciates company.
I also suspect that Mervin is just biding his time here and is ready to go whenever he is called by his God. His wife (my aunt) preceded him, having been ravaged by dementia for the last years of her life. I rather imagine he’s ready to have a good conversation with her once again.
Mervin has, and continues to be a shining example of Christian faith, love, and compassion. He has influenced for the good more lives than he will ever know or realize on this side of eternity. A farmer by vocation, he also drove a school bus, taught Sunday School, raised a family, volunteered for countless good works, and did some taxidermy. In addition, he did all of the normal things that good citizens do…pay taxes, work hard, and give back to his family, his neighbors and his community.
He would be the first to tell you that he never did anything special; that he just did the best he could with what he knew. But his is a great example of God taking what Mervin offered and multiplying it in ways unimaginable, even now. His influence, wisdom, work, and example will live on far beyond his earthly years.
Happy birthday, Mervin.

Here's to Diversity

2011-01-29T15:30:00.001-08:00

"This is America, where a white Catholic male Republican judge was murdered on his way to greet a Democratic Jewish woman member of Congress, who was his friend. Her life was saved initially by a 20-year old Mexican-American gay college student, and eventually by a Korean-American combat surgeon, all eulogized by our African American President." ~Mark Shields, quoting Allen Ginsberg on PBS News Hour January 14, 2011
Lynn said that a blog might be coming on as a result of my having read this on her FB. It took a few days for me to process the above and its significance. I don’t pretend to write the definitive prose regarding the quote. I will, however, comment on it.
As I commented on FB, I think this is often the case in our everyday lives and we just don’t realize or appreciate it. Think of the people that serve you in some capacity. Those who work in a restaurant, the doctor’s office or dental clinic. Maybe you could think of those who provide you with food stocked on the shelves of your favorite grocery store as well as those who grow and process it.
What about those in the banking system or the mechanic shop where you get your car fixed? Or maybe in City Hall and those who provide decent water, sewer services, and of course police, fire, and EMS protection.
This nation is still built on the diversity of its population and the fact that, by and large, people work together for a common good and for the welfare of others. Whatever their religion, nationality, race, or political leaning, most people desire only to do their job and make the world a better place.
Look at it this way. Think of a world where you interacted with and were economically and environmentally connected only with people who were your own race, nationality, religion and color. What would you NOT have that you now have? Could you live even close to how you are living now were it not for people who are different from you who provide for you in some way? Could you adequately do your job without people who were different from you?
Pure Christianity is much the same way. People from all walks of life, from all nationalities, economic classes, races, and yes, even people with different religious viewpoints all band together under the banner of Jesus Christ as risen Lord and Savior and together make something that as a whole is much, much greater than the sum of its parts.
I am reminded of what John said in the Revelation: “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes…” (Rev. 7:9) You may disagree with me on the specific interpretation of this verse, but I think it’s clearly apparent that not everyone who is a child of God is a white, middle class male (or whatever you may be).
So here’s to diversity. May it ever be a part of who we are and how we think. May it always come through in times both good and bad. And may we ever celebrate the beauty and diversity of God’s creation and honor both it and Him.

Success

2011-01-22T18:28:00.001-08:00

This past week, one of the residents of our adult care home passed away. Gina (not her real name) had many serious medical issues. Her stage four metestatic cancer was one of the lesser of her issues. We brought her in for rehab about three months ago in the hopes that she would become strong enough to weather a round of chemo and radiation, but in spite of all of our, and her efforts, that didn't happen.
She had no family that I know of. She did have a friend who was her power of attorney and handled her affairs. She was bed-bound for most of her stay with us due to other medical issues, but managed to be in a chair and get out of her room for the last couple of weeks before she passed.
This woman had lots to complain about. She had lots to be angry about. And she had lots to attribute to an unfair deal. But I never, ever, ever saw her that way. She was always pleasant, positive, and upbeat, at least on the outside. She conversed readily and seemed to be genuinely interested in the problems of others.
I don't know her religious background or her life history. But one thing I do know is that she had every right to be mad at the world and at life for the hand that was dealt to her. She chose to not play that hand; rather, to make that hand into something that was decent and honorable and good.
She succeeded.

Riverside

2011-01-21T12:17:00.000-08:00

I got off work early today (very early) before lunch, so I went over to the Minisa Barbershop and got a haircut (actually, hairs-cut). It was close to lunch by then so I walked around the corner to the Riverside Café.
They weren’t all that busy, but busy enough. No one was at the counter, so I sat at the second chair from the left (There is a “protocol” for where to sit at a lunch counter, just as there is a “protocol” for which urinal to use when in a multi-urinal bathroom). The waitress was prompt, giving me water and asking for my drink order. By the time she had my diet Coke, I knew I wanted the catfish filet lunch.
Now, I’ve blogged before about the Riverside Café. Today, I noticed especially the way the wait people worked. They moved quickly, yet there was virtually no wasted motion or step. Each movement seemed to be an exercise in multi-tasking, planned out long in advance.
Of course, it wasn’t planned out. The wait staff just had worked there long enough to know how to work efficiently. They also were able to work around each other, not running in to someone else. There was only one slip up…a loud noise in the kitchen and shards of glass sliding out of the doorway told me that someone had dropped something back there. Luckily, I already had my lunch in front of me.
I have to wonder what that place sounds like in the middle of the night. By day it’s very noisy, almost raucous. The old-time juke box is constantly blaring with 50’s and 60’s music. The wait people are talking to each other and greeting customers. Customers are carrying on conversations with one-another, and occasionally from table to table. Dishes are clanging. Doors are closing. The cash register is ringing up something. The din is sometimes in the upper end of the decibel scale, it seems. So at night, it would be eerily silent, except for the refrigeration units and occasionally the furnace, I would think. Hopefully, there aren’t many mice in there that would make noise.
I don’t get over there often. I’m glad I stopped in today.

Can You Imagine?

2011-01-15T18:47:00.001-08:00

In the spiritual, “Ain’t Got Time to Die”, the song talks of serving God and praising God through service to our fellow-man...helping the sick, feeding the poor, serving the Master.
Then the song says this: “If I don’t praise Him, the rocks are gonter (going to) cry out, ‘Glory and Honor!’ ‘Glory and Honor!’ Ain’t got time to die!”
I don’t know about you, but I’m kind of a literalist. And I may well not be understanding this song the way those who created it meant it to be. But I believe, really believe, that some how, some way, God will be given glory and honor; whether by my praise of Him or whether the rocks themselves will be called to cry out praise to God.
I can’t imagine answering to God for why the rocks had to cry out because I didn’t give Him praise. Can you?

Arizona Tragedy

2011-01-13T20:55:00.000-08:00

I wasn’t able to hear the President’s address to the people last night in Arizona. I called it up on the Internet tonight and listened to the entire speech. This may have been his best speech. Twice, he invoked the Christian scriptures. Several times, he mentioned those who had died in the shooting tragedy. And he continually called for us to present the best that is within us, to love one-another, and to honor those with whom we differ.
He did all of this without getting caught in the notion that somehow those whose words recently have been filled with vitriol prompted this tragedy. He plainly took the high road and challenged each of us to do the same.
I had to wonder as I listened to that speech whether anything even close to the thoughts that were in that speech has come out of the mouths of those radio and cable hacks on either end of the political spectrum. You know…those who spew their garbage to the ones of our number who don’t wish to exercise their brains by thinking for themselves. They’d much rather a talking head do their talking for them. My guess is that no one of the political/cable/radio hack club has said anything even remotely close to the thoughts and words of our President.
I am truly troubled by the events in Arizona. I am truly troubled by the evil that is in the world. And I am truly troubled by those who would, for their own gain, capitalize on such an event. I guess it takes all kinds, but this is not only ridiculous, but is behavior of the basest sort.
Even the Topeka church clan stayed away (You know who I’m talking about). I applaud them for their restraint, although I suspect that there wasn’t much about their decision not to picket that was altruistic or compassionate. My guess is that they (correctly) figured that if they went and protested, they would have been universally assigned, even by those few who agree with them, to the trash heap of irrelevance, insignificance, and worthlessness. They would finally, fully, and certainly have been exposed for the kind of people they really are…uncouth, vulgar, and gauche. They don’t have the stomach to stand up to that kind of universal judgment and condemnation from their peers.
I wish well those who are recovering. I pray healing for those who have lost loved ones. And I trust we will have learned something positive from the evil that manifested on that day.

Crack of Doom

2011-01-06T20:49:00.001-08:00

I’m staying up late tonight. We have a resident who is receiving a blood transfusion at a local hospital this evening. When they are finishing, they will call and I will take the home’s transportation van there and pick her up and take her back to the home. She went in about 4pm today. It takes several hours to infuse blood products, and if there are any glitches, it takes even longer.
I’ve done this a few times before, but never quite this late. My guess is that I won’t get to bed until after midnight. That always seems to befuddle me some the next day. I’m never quite rested, it seems, and don’t feel “normal” (whatever that is nowadays).
Normally my bedtime is about 10:30. I know that seems early for many of you, and it may be late for some who have to get up (as my cousin used to say) “at the crack of doom.” I always liked that better than the “crack of dawn.” Gave it a little more class, in my book.
Hopefully, they will call shortly and I can begin the trip. If not, I may be up later tonight than I thought.

Back to Work

2011-01-02T14:11:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow, I go back to work. I’ve been off since Friday afternoon a week ago. I think I’m ready to go. Hopefully, my mental and emotional condition will allow me to go back to work with joy and purpose, even in the face of things at work that aren’t always the way (I think) they should be.
Of course, no work place is perfect. Everyone who interacts with the outside world in any form has to work with imperfection, incompetence, and sometimes sheer stupidity from time to time. The question is not whether one will encounter these things (the Dilbert syndrome), but rather how one responds to these things.
The Dilbert syndrome is alive and well, no doubt. Things happen that shouldn’t; people make bad decisions; words are spoken that are better left unsaid. Sometimes one has to take a breather from that environment to see the larger picture and the true blessings that are a part of life, living, and yes, work.
And the key that I’ve yet to learn is this: Do I trust that God will take me where I need to go, even though I may have no control over where that is or don’t have a clue where we’re going? He still says to me, “Do you trust me?” I’m not sure I have the answer yet.
I’ve written each day this week I’ve been off. I’ve opened my heart at times, and let you know what was inside. I don’t mind doing that in this venue, and trust that you will understand.
For those of you who know me, thank you for your love and prayers. For those who may read this who don’t know me, thank you for stopping by. I am wonderfully, wonderfully blessed.

A Challlenge

2011-01-01T13:38:00.001-08:00

I’m sure I’m not the first one who has thought of this, but it came as a kind of an epiphany to me this week as I did some meditation and study during my time at home on a staycation. I blogged about it earlier this week. The thought was that perhaps someone, sometime in the distant past has prayed for me in some way and God is now fulfilling that prayer request in my life. The person who prayed may well never have known me or about me, but prayed anyway. The thought that what God is doing with me now may well be a promise God made in answer to prayer that may have occurred 100, 200, or 500 years ago is mind-boggling.
I then asked in that same blog if you have prayed for those who come after you, whether your blood descendents, fellow Christians, or leaders of some kind. That seems to me to be even more mind-boggling as I think of those possibilities and what it may mean for not only me, but for those for whom I am praying.
We seem so focused on the here and now. We seem to be so tuned in to our own lives and our immediate issues and problems. We think little about others even in our time frame, let alone those who will come after us 50, 100,or 500 years from now. It makes me think differently about prayer and how it “availeth much” as the King James Version of the Bible says in the New Testament book of James.
Some how, some way, I have to get out of the present time and the momentary problems I have now and focus more on others, their issues, and the greater vision of God’s plan for His creation and for its salvation. This kind of prayer may well be one of the keys to help me do that.
This also brings to mind my brother’s thoughts about praying for things that in our existence have already happened. It tends to lend a new credibility to his thought that maybe, just maybe it is acceptable to pray for something that has already happened, as if it hasn’t happened yet. He tempers this thought with the idea that in order for this to be effective, we must not know the conclusion of the event or incident…it is enough to know that something was to have happened or might have happened.
Of course, we quickly get into the notion of time and what it is; how it interacts with our existence and how God relates to time, if at all. We quickly develop many more questions than we have answers for, Einstein’s equations notwithstanding. And we can quickly get caught up in the nuances of such ideas to the exclusion of our mission as people of God…to live and love in such a way that others will know that we are children of God.
I challenge you, though, to give serious thought to who and what you pray for, and to use prayer not so much as a vehicle for your own comfort and satisfaction as a means to talk with the Timeless One about your thoughts, feelings, and concerns for others yet to come (or who have already gone, if you think there may be something to the notion of “praying in the past”). If nothing else, I think you will appreciate and enjoy your prayer life much more than you now do.

A Need to Start

2010-12-31T07:58:00.001-08:00

Today marks, for those of us who are bound by time, the end of yet another year. I think I say something like this just about every time I write on the last day of the year. It is remarkable, however, to think that we have actually arrived at this point in the continuum that is the life of the universe.
If you have some age on you, can you remember what you thought life would be like now when you were but a youngster? I remember trying to visualize the turn of the century and beyond when I was a kid in the 1950’s and later a teen in the 1960’s. Science magazines and articles helped that thinking by talking of levitating automobiles, space colonies on Mars and beyond, and pills one could take which would provide all needed nutrition for the day.
The Apollo space program sort of pushed that thinking along with its can-do attitude and whiz-bang technical prowess. Movies (1984 and others) carried our thoughts (and fears) even farther down the path of the future.
So where are we compared with where we thought we were? In some respects, we are much farther than we ever thought possible. In others, it’s the same song, 145th verse. JFK rolled out the first 100 billion dollar federal budget for 1962, and LBJ imposed a 10% income tax surtax to help pay for the Vietnam War. Now look at where we are.
On the other hand, who would have thought that we have more computing power in our telephones than IBM had in all of its research and development centers back in those days? And who would have thought about that phone being attached to our hips and that it could literally access the world through the Internet?
But where are we in the things that really matter? Doing unto others as we would have them do unto us? Bearing one another’s burdens? Helping those in need? Loving God with all of our hearts? Have we learned anything in the last 40 or so years? Have we matured and grown? Have we come to realize our responsibilities as human beings?
Don’t generalize these questions for the nation as a whole or the world as a whole. Make them personal. You can’t change the world, but you can change yourself. And that’s where I need to start.

Day Trip

2010-12-30T17:05:00.000-08:00

This afternoon we got in the trusty Buick and took a three hour or so trip down some back roads and past some places I hadn’t seen for awhile. Leaving Wichita on K 42, I turned west on 71st Street South and went all the way over to Kingman County. On the way, I stopped and checked the moisture level (scientifically, of course…I dug down a few inches with the heel of my shoe!) in a wheat field. That particular place was damp enough 3 to 4 inches down that the dirt could be mad into a ball and would hold together.
We went on to Norwich over the county roads and drove in town a few minutes. We talked a little about the church where I preached some in the 1980’s, and the nursing home building that didn’t make it as a nursing home, but now is, we think, a place for troubled girls. There was no sign out front, so we don’t know for sure.
Going west on 42, we passed through what is left of Adams (look that one up on your Google maps) and turned south on Murdock Road. Coming to the Harper County line road, we turned west again and went to Duquoin.
The little church there seems to be kept up, although I haven’t a clue if anyone is meeting there or not. There isn’t much else. I remember a small strip of old buildings on one street from my youth. Those buildings are no longer there.
We went west on what the locals sometimes call Ridge Road (not to be confused with the Ridge Road in Sedgwick County) until we got to the Attica turn off. We went down to Attica and drove around there some, commenting on the health center and a couple of other places we saw.
We then ventured eastward toward Crystal Springs. We stopped at the church there and used the restrooms (the building is always unlocked), and I did some walking in the cemetery. There were a lot of people and names in there that I knew. I remember thinking that the people in this area, and those in the cemetery, are and were good, solid people with traditional values, good work ethic, and a way of life that many people secretly covet, yet are not willing to make the changes necessary to experience it. Some of those changes would have to be the giving up of high-salary jobs, relocation to a rural area, taking on work that could well be hard, physical labor, displaying the virtues of honesty, trust, and friendliness, and willingness to do without Wal Mart, the Mall, the Warren Theater, and Old Town. To me, the fact of the unlocked door on a church on a dirt road across from a pasture in virtually the middle of nowhere is a huge indication of the kind of people who live, love, work, and die there.
From there we went to Harper and saw the new school construction, the new hospital addition, and noticed that some businesses and the library moved. We stopped in at a downtown business (one of just a few left downtown) and talked with Ron for a bit.
Getting gas, we headed back to Wichita and the civilization that we now know. Somehow, though, even though we no longer own any property in that area, and even though we have no close relatives in that area, I felt like some of me is still there. Although I have no plans to ever move back, there is admittedly a certain draw to what for years has been home. I’m not sure that feeling will ever quite go away. Nor am I sure I want it to.

Strangely Comforting

2010-12-30T08:17:00.001-08:00

There is something strangely comforting about the last two chapters of Joshua. As I read those chapters, I wondered again about Israel and their propensity to fall into idolatry. I wondered why, when they had experienced the majestic power of God in so many diverse ways, and experienced the good life that God had given them in the promised land, that they worshipped articles of metal and stone.
But given all of that, God was faithful to them. He kept all of his promises…even the ones regarding punishment for idolatry. Not only that, but God continued to love them as a father loves a son or daughter. He continued to work with them…to counsel them…to foster a sweet relationship with them.
Yes, he said on more than one occasion that they wearied him, or that he was through with them, or would no longer save them. But that didn’t mean that he no longer loved them or no longer was concerned about them.
We have, I think, a warped sense of what love is. We try very hard to please, mistaking that for love. We become enablers of bad behavior. We don’t allow the natural consequences of behavior to do what they were intended to do…teach and admonish. Then we wonder what is wrong with us, with others, with the world.
God must be rather put off with how we have perverted his notion of love and have made it something that is cheap, selfish, and self-destructive. Yet he continues to love us just as he did Israel when they sinned. He continues to work with us, counsel us, and foster a sweet relationship with us.
There’s something strangely comforting in that.

Promises Kept

2010-12-29T15:49:00.001-08:00

As I read through the middle part of Joshua, where the conquered land was divided among the tribes of Israel, I am struck by the detail and preciseness of the descriptions of the borders of each tribe. The descriptions are not at all generalized, but refer to specific cities, landmarks, and places where the border could easily be found.
It’s not an easy read. The names of the cities and landmarks have been translated into English from Hebrew. And although many of the names probably have some kind of meaning attached to them, I haven’t a clue what that might be and so don’t relate well to the names.
But it’s worth it to work through those middle chapters. The writer and compiler(s) thought it important to outline very specifically what the borders were for each tribe, which cities were given to the Levites, and which cities became cities of refuge. The fact that these writings are included in the Jewish canon, and by extension the Christian canon, causes us to stop and think about the relevance of these chapters to us. We did not inherit any of the land. The names have little meaning to us. What could possibly be so important to Christians in these several chapters?
The beginning of this saga rested with Abraham and God’s promise to him that his descendants would be blessed and that they would be given “the promised land”. We fast-forward several hundred years to the time of Joshua and see that indeed those promises of God were kept, and we see in great detail the evidence of the keeping of those promises. In fact, Joshua himself says in his farewell speech to the people that “Not one of the good promises of God has failed.” They all have been fulfilled.
Therein, I think, is a lesson for us. Every single word in those chapters screams to anyone who will listen the promise-keeping nature of Jehovah. Every detailed description, every boundary description, every city name tell of the provision of the God of the universe for His people. It becomes personal when land boundaries are described. It becomes intimate when specific cities are named and when specific families are given specific places in fulfillment of promises made long ago to an ancestor.
Stay with me here. How do we know but what some portion of our lives right here, right now, are the fulfillment of a promise God made to one of our ancestors? How do we know but what one of our great-great-grandparents (or some such ancestor) prayed for us and that God has honored (and is honoring) that prayer in our lives right now? I know that the descendants of Abraham knew well the promises Jehovah made to their father Abraham. We don’t know who has prayed for us in the past, or present, or even the future (time is irrelevant to God) and has “availeth much” according to James in the New Testament.
Have you seriously considered praying for your descendants? Have you asked God to intervene in the lives of those to come after us so that they may live in peace and follow the way of God fully? I admit that I have never thought of such a thing, although I’ve done plenty of thinking and even some mild worrying about my children, grandchildren, and those who will come after them. Why not give those thoughts and worries to the One who will be there and can (and will) fulfill the fervent prayers of an ancestor.

"There's a Stirring"

2010-12-28T08:44:00.000-08:00

God, you’ve not promised us a life of ease. You have made it such that we can be content, however. Our work may be difficult. Our lives may not be easy. We may (and do) have what seem to be roadblocks in our way. You, though, make us successful if we persevere, are diligent, develop resolve, display patience, practice industriousness, and maintain tenacity. And you make our service joyful and satisfying.
Israel’s conquest of the promised land was a long, hard row to hoe. Although it’s covered in just a few chapters in Joshua, it took several years, much planning, hard fighting, and a lot of work.
“Do not fear. I will give them into your hand.” So says the One who is the same today as He was then, and forever will be. He was also up front with them and told them that they would not cleanse the land quickly…that it would take time and effort.
Living life takes time and effort. Things won’t come quickly, easily, or without difficulty. Perseverance, diligence, resolve, patience, industriousness, and tenacity are words easier written than done. Israel was not always patient. Israel was not always diligent. Israel did not always persevere. And they ended up paying the price…and did not receive the full measure of the promise of God.
I believe I am being called to continue my service, but in a different venue, on a different stage. How do I know that call is real, and not my longstanding impatience and desire for the greener grass I see on the other side? How do I know I’m not taking a shortcut and trying once again to make things work out the way I want them to work out? How do I know but what I am to continue in the service I am now in?
And how do I know but what I have been brought to this place (to quote Mordecai in the Book of Esther) “for such a time as this”? Why do I feel guilty about the prospect of service that is joyful and satisfying? What is it about my current service that is neither joyful nor satisfying? Shouldn’t I be content with what I am doing?
Borrowing a couple of lines from a song I know, I feel exactly like it says when it comes to my service as a Christian (I know the theme of the song is different). “There’s a stirring deep within me. Could it be my time has come? Is He calling me? Is He calling me?”

When the Night is Falling

2010-12-27T07:55:00.000-08:00

God, you were right there with Joshua and all of Israel as they crossed the Jordan and conquered the land you promised to give them. Even though they told Joshua that you were his God (and by implication not theirs), you were faithful and saw them through to the end.
You then remained with the nation through their many ups and downs…through the period of the judges, the kings, the captivity…until the Offspring of David came and fulfilled your plan.
You weren’t distant. You weren’t aloof. You weren’t uncaring. You weren’t nonchalant. You were intimately involved with the everyday life of each individual, each family, each tribe, and the nation. You completed (or perfected) that intimate involvement with the advent of the Eternal Son on earth.
And that involvement didn't stop there.
So why would I think of you any differently when it comes to your relationship with me? Sometimes (actually, more than sometimes…often) I think you are distant. Aloof. Uncaring. Nonchalant. Sometimes (Often) I think you watch from a distance, and that you have more important things to do than work with me and be concerned about the things I’m concerned about.
Am I being selfish to want you for myself? Is it only a human thing to want a father to revel in his children? Should I be willing to “share” you, even if it means that I feel left out? Is there really enough of you to go around?
Then you put to my thoughts the song “When the Night is Falling”. Oh if I could only make the words live and not just be words on a screen.

Listen on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKSyFOsAp6c&playnext=1&list=PL95C856F854F05B52&index=34

When the night is falling,
And the day is done,
I can hear You calling, “Come.”
I will come while You sing over me.
When the night surrounds me,
All my dreams undone,
I can hear You calling, “Come.”
I will come while You sing over me.
When the night would hide my way,
I will listen until I hear You say…
How I love you, child, I love you.
How I love you, child, I love you.
How I love you.
How I love you, child, I love you.
How I love you, child, I love you.
How I love you.
When this life is over,
And the race is run,
I will hear You calling, “Come.”
I will come while You sing over me,
How I love you, child, I love you.
How I love you, child, I love you.
How I love you.
How I love you, child, I love you.
How I love you, child, I love you.
How I love you.
–Dennis Jernigan

Remembering the Choirs

2010-12-24T21:05:00.001-08:00

I get a little teary-eyed at times, especially this time of year. Oh, there are several things that can set me off; one of them especially. Tonight, I turned on the public station and they had some “long-haired” Christmas music being performed by an orchestra and chorus. They were singing some of the more conventional songs. Among them were the Hallelujah Chorus and O Holy Night.
I used to sing in a choir that met beginning in September and performed a Christmas concert for the community. I also sang in choirs in high school many years ago. We performed many of these “warhorse” pieces, and some others that are lesser known.
I always recall with fondness my participation in those choirs and the joy I had singing some of these songs along with others. We didn’t sound as good as the professionals, but we did our best, and did a pretty good job overall. I even recall my bass part on many of the songs and sing along at times with the pros.
My voice isn’t what it used to be, and I don’t know if I would even qualify for a choir spot, even if it was a smaller community choir. Many people can sing better than I can, and I know that. But it was always a thrill to work with and then perform music such as O Holy Night or some other piece like it, and I relish the memories of those times.
I don’t know what you have been part of over the years that you enjoy recalling, but I hope that you have the same kinds of memories you can tap at times. These tend to keep one grounded and provide perspective and experience. And those things aid us as we tumble through the present tense and these uncertain times.
May the Holy Night and the peace that comes from knowing the Eternal Son and the love of the Father abide with you this holiday season.

Doesn't Make Sense

2010-12-21T20:24:00.000-08:00

The last couple of evenings when I came home from work, I noticed the neighbor kids a couple of doors down outside, playing. Monday, they were in back playing on their rope swing they have in a large tree at the edge of the park. They were doing something else on the ground, but I couldn't tell what. This evening, they were out front, just being kids.
Now, you may not think much of this, and certainly you may think it isn't worth writing about. But it is. Far too many kids spend all of their time indoors with their games/phones/computers. Far too few spend quality time outside interacting with other kids and nature, exercising their imaginations through unstructured play, unimpeded by adults smothering and hovering.
I know times have changed. I know there are bad things that can happen to kids. But I also know that the risk many times is minimal, and the rewards are great. I don't have a lot of sympathy for parents who think nothing of risking their kids in the car as they speed, change lanes, and cut off others just to get to the restaurant/grocery store/church a minute before someone else. Yet these same parents refuse to allow their kids to play outside because a kidnapper might come around. Doesn't make much sense to me.

The Solstice

2010-12-21T07:56:00.001-08:00

OK, so today is the winter solstice. I really look forward to this day, because as I get older, winter, darkness, and cold seem to me to be more and more depressing. I'm much more in tune with growing plants, chirping birds, and lengthening days. And now, for the next six months, the days will be getting longer and the nights shorter. The air will begin to be warmed and the earth, at least in my temperate zone, will awaken from sleep.
Having said that, there is also something to be said for the change of season. I'm not sure what it would be like to live in Hawaii or Equador or on a tropical Pacific island. I understand the weather never varies all that much in some of those places. I'm not certain I wouldn't welcome just a few days of zero-degree weather or strong northerly winds or freezing rain or snow. Yes, we have to cope with temperature extremes in our part of the globe, but there are, I am sure, things to cope with in those parts of the world that don't change.
But when it's all said and done, although the Pacific island might be a good place to visit, or even live, for me the place to be is right here, right now. First, because I believe I was brought here for a reason and a purpose, and I'm where I'm supposed to be. Second, because family and friends are here in abundance and home is (or should be) where loved ones are.
This holiday season, I hope you are able to be with family and friends. I hope that you enjoy the time you spend with others. And I hope that you will always understand that God loves you and that you respond positively to that love in service and devotion to Him.

Gifts

2010-12-19T17:57:00.001-08:00

I just saw a “60 Minutes” piece on people who have the ability to remember every day of their lives (at least from about age 12 on up) and recite the events of that day as if they happened just yesterday. They interviewed five people, along with a scientist and a researcher. They also went through testing of these people, checking their memories against events of the day to be certain they were correct in their memories. The scientist stated that these people were correct at least 99% of the time, and many times were 100% correct in their recollections.
Imagine being able to recall what you ate for dinner on January 19, 1992. Or who won the World Series in 1977 and several of the plays in that game, along with names of those who participated. Your first date would be as fresh as yesterday.
Of course, bad memories would be just as fresh. A bad accident you may have had. Your breakup with your mate or your stint in the hospital would be fresh as yesterday. Obviously, these people have to cope with some challenging things as they deal with life on a daily basis, yet are able to have near total recall of every day for the past 30 or 40 years.
They are not savants, it is said. They are more “normal” than not, with normal lives and normal behaviors. Science is studying these people to see what indeed is different and whether we can learn anything from their biology.
These people say that they “see” the day in question. Given a date without a year, they say they “scan” through all of those dates and can see snippets of each of those days. Given the year, they zero in on that “playback” and recall based on that. There is no mathematical contortion, they say, and no tricks to memory. It just sort of “plays” in their minds and they see the happenings of those days.
Nor do they think it’s necessarily a big deal for them. And it isn’t, for them. It’s a normal thing they live with all the time. Of course, it IS a big deal for the rest of us. And it provokes more questions than we have answers for very, very quickly.
Although I do not claim to be in the same league with these people, I was reminded when watching this piece of how I discern tones on the musical scale. I have at least a form of absolute pitch. The best way I can describe what I experience is that I “feel” the notes. Each note “feels” different. As I think about the C scale, there is a certain feel that comes to me when I think of C, D, E, and so on. I have attached qualities like soft, hard, warm, cool, etc. to each tone. When I hear a specific tone, I recall the feel and can name the note.
Of course, such a gift has its crosses to bear as well. If I am singing a song in key, I do just fine. But if it’s pitched high or low, many times I have to transpose notes as I go…for example, if the note is B flat and the pitch is a step and a half low, I have to mentally convert that B flat that I see on the music to G (1 ½ steps lower), recall the “feel” for G, then I can sing the proper pitch.
Over the years, I have taught myself to sing much as many others do, with the do re me method, and find myself having to transpose much less now, although when I read music for the first time, I still have to have the right pitch (or within a half step or so of the right pitch); else I get lost easily. Gifts usually come with two sides to them.
Others have other gifts. But all gifts ultimately come from the God who created us all and who wants us to use our gifts wisely and for the glory of God.

Traditions

2010-12-18T15:36:00.001-08:00

We will shortly be leaving to go to my sister’s church building where my family will play and sing Christmas-themed songs, and will conduct a “skit” involving candles and the Christmas story as found in the Bible. We’ve done this in some form or another for several years, now. Sis invites those from her church to come as well. This year, we’ll eat a “crock pot” supper before the services.
Also, this year, Sis has a broken rib due to a fall in a parking lot. She stepped in a hole in the asphalt and tumbled over. I don’t know if the Lortab will allow her to come tonight or not. Initially, she wasn’t going to come, but since most doctors (and this one was no exception) say that you can do about whatever you feel like doing with a cracked or broken rib, if the medicine deals with the pain, she may be there.
This has become a tradition…one of many that we have. Surely, you have them too, and not just at Christmas. There are traditions wrapped around many of the holidays, and other events and times in the life of an individual. Some traditions are shared…others are personal. Sometimes others know about the tradition…sometimes no one knows except the one carrying on the tradition.
Traditions are good. They provide a sense of normalcy. They tend to ground a person and keep them from flying off, so to speak, aimlessly. They bring family and friends together. They promote a sense of belonging and camaraderie. And they many times bring good and altruistic things to pass.
Traditions can hinder as well, if one is inclined to allow them to stifle and quench new ideas and ways of doing things. Not everything new is good, but we won’t know, many times, until we’ve tried them. We can become so bound up in our traditions (Fiddler on the Roof) that we can’t see where reality is taking us.
But today, here’s to a tradition that is good and deserves yet another year of carrying out. There will come a time when I and many others in the family will no longer be able to carry out this or other traditions. The younger family members will carry on, and may well discard some of our traditions in favor of newer ones. So be it. It’s all good.

Good For Her

2010-12-15T19:21:00.000-08:00

An unidentified Dayton, Ohio area woman came to the aid of a police officer along the side of a highway as he was wrestling with the driver of a vehicle he had pulled over because of a broken headlight. The officer asked the man to step out of the car. The man stepped out, then began fighting with the officer. He began to reach for the officer’s pistol when a woman came from nowhere and started beating the man on the head, making it possible for the officer to gain the upper hand in the fight.
About that time, police help arrived, and they were able to subdue the man, who was wanted on several warrants. The police do not know the name of the woman, where she came from, or why she helped.

Good for her.