He Can Handle It

As I answer the door tonight and hand out Halloween candy to who I presume are mostly neighbor kids (although there may be some ringers in the assorted bunches of kids that come here), I was having a great time until one boy about 7 years old asked me if he could take one of each of the three kinds of candy I had on the tray. Of course, I said he could. He smiled broadly and waved and said “Thank you,” as he left the porch.
I don’t know why, but I thought as I went down the steps to the lower level of our house that this kid could well see the twenty-second century in 91 years. I then wondered, as I have at times before, just what kind of a world we are giving to him and those others like him who came to our door tonight. More important than that, I wondered what kind of a church and faith will we leave as we bow out of the picture in a comparatively few years.
I then realized that we have a whale of a lot of work to do if we are going to leave these kids with anything even resembling what we want for them. In both the secular and religious worlds, there is a lot wrong and a lot to be done. But there is a lot right with these worlds as well; it’s not all as doom and gloom as some would have us think.
I’ll not go into detail tonight regarding why I think there is hope. In any event, I’m not certain I can articulate that as I’d like. I could say something like “God is in control,” but that smacks to me like something one would say when he doesn’t know what else to say and only half believes it anyway.
Yes, of course God is in control. He always has been and evermore will be. Regardless of what it may look like from our perspective; regardless how much real pain and suffering is going on in our world sphere; regardless how we may try and fail, God has a different viewpoint and a different agenda. That’s why the Good Book says that God’s ways are not our ways. That’s why our job is to reflect the image if Jesus Christ. That’s why we are told to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord.
We’re not to solve all the world’s problems and we’re not to worry about those things about which we have no business worrying. We are to be salt, light, and leaven. If we just do what we’re asked to do, God indeed is in control and can handle all of the rest.

Conversational Wichitalk

I suppose I should say something about the recent effort by the Wichita Police Department to enforce some of the more routine and mundane traffic laws. There is quite a bit of comment in the public comment area of the local newspaper about it, both pro and con. It is the topic of conversation in some circles at times.
Police are observing high accident intersections and streets and are writing tickets for things such as improper turns, running through a light that is turning red, speeding, etc. Drivers many times don’t even realize they’ve done something wrong until they are pulled over and ticketed.
Of course, many think the police are ticketing people in order to generate funding for the city. Others think the police have better things to do than to worry about whether one turns into the correct lane when making a left or right turn. And some believe the police are doing exactly the right thing.
I understand that it is difficult in this age to observe every single traffic regulation and law to perfection. Sometimes the streets are constructed such that it is very unwieldy or just downright impossible to change lanes the way the law says in order to get to where one is going. However, some people just don’t have a clue.
The law has always been to make a right turn from the right hand lane into the right hand lane unless traffic signs allow something different. And left turns are to be made into the lane closest to the center line unless traffic signs allow something different. If one needs to be in another lane down the road, he is to signal and change lanes one at a time, always checking each time before changing lanes to see if traffic will allow it.
I am no fan of the Wichita Police Department. They will not generally work the smaller crimes and infractions, instead using their time to investigate and prosecute the larger crimes. I happen to think that those who are victims of the more minor crimes deserve protection and satisfaction the same as someone who is the victim of a robbery or other major crime. I also think that there is a trickle-down effect in prosecuting the smaller infractions in that if those laws are enforced, it will have the beneficial effect of lowering crimes of all kinds. If, however, the smaller infractions are allowed to slide, society pays for it in more crime and more major crime as well as paying for the effects of the minor crimes that are never solved and prosecuted.
I realize that I may be tagged for a traffic infraction in one of the enforcement efforts some day. If so, that’s OK. It’s up to me to be vigilant and watch what I’m doing when driving down the road. The stakes are very high for one who doesn’t pay attention.

Some Things I've Noticed

I’ve noticed a few things over the last few days. One of them is the glorious fall foliage we’ve had (and are still having) here in the central plains states. We’ve traveled to Branson and to the Kansas City area recently, and the grasses, trees, and bushes are resplendent in colors I’ve not seen in several years. I wonder if the cooler weather we’ve had the past month or so has anything to do with that.
I’ve also noticed that people seem to be ready for Daylight Saving Time to come to an end. Even city folks seem to want to go to work when the light of day is at least beginning to break. Thankfully, the time will change this coming weekend, which is about 4 weeks too late.
I’ve noticed that families are a great invention of the Almighty. I’m not sure He could have invented anything much better than people who accept you for who and what you are…just because. I am sad for those folks who either do not have families, or have them but they don’t work like the family is supposed to work.
And I’ve noticed how much I am NOT longing for winter weather this year. Used to be in times past and gone that I actually enjoyed winter. Not so much recently, and this year it seems not at all. Does that happen as we age, or is there something about THIS year and THIS winter that is a little different?
There are tons of things that I’ve not noticed, however. Of course, I can’t say what those things are because if I haven’t noticed them, I don’t know about them. I don’t even know if that makes much sense or not, but I’m not sure I’ve made much sense all day. Oh well. Another day is tomorrow, and it will arrive all too soon.

Amazing Performance

I just finished listening to the inaugural performance of the new conductor of the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra. It was presented on PBS tonight and I tuned in, unfortunately, late into the program. The new conductor, Gustavo Dudamel, comes from South America, a 28 year old genius in his craft.
I tuned in to the concert about midway through their last piece, Mahler’s Symphony #1. For those who may not know, this piece is very long, 45 to 55 minutes. I tuned in with about 25 minutes left in the number. Mr. Dudamel conducted this piece with no musical score in front of him. He never, it seemed, missed a cue, never missed an entrance, never missed a change in dynamics, never missed anything.
I was transfixed by the performance and wished that I had tuned in to the beginning of it. I am impressed to no end by people who have the capacity to perform in such a manner as this orchestra and its conductor did during this performance.
God gives his creation amazing ability and talent. How we use that ability and talent is up to us. We aren’t all musicians or conductors. We do all have a unique ability, however, that the Creator expects us to use to make the world a better place.

More Things to Ponder

Some things that I have become aware of that seems to be a function of maturity:

Obeying the speed limit and other traffic laws saves more money than the Geico Gecko ever dreamed of.
There are really very few things that are worth getting truly worked up over. Just about everything that happens at work is NOT worth that effort.
There is a reason why, if we married, that God asked us to marry one person of the opposite gender in a life-long commitment.
There is immense value in fostering good relationships with relatives and friends.
Living life isn’t rocket science. It is, however, hard work, common sense, and a good knowledge of one’s limitations.
There isn’t much point in trying out this new restaurant and that new eatery in a search for gastric nirvana. A truly “unique” or “great” restaurant will be a one-in-a-hundred shot. Besides, as we age, our sense of taste isn’t what it used to be.
One’s credit card and bank accounts are a lot less secure than the banks and card companies would have one believe.
There are truly decent people in the world. You’ll probably interact with several of them tomorrow and won’t know or realize just how decent they are.
Money is a tool, nothing more and nothing less.
There is a certain pride, of sorts, in being the one who younger family members come to when they want to know something about the “old days”.
There is great value in never making a purchase over the phone and never making a large purchase of any kind without thinking about it for 24 hours.
My time here is truly growing short.

Thoughts for Today

I suppose I should be eloquent on this my 60th birth anniversary day. I could talk about how blessed I am to be part of a great family, living in the United States, with a good and decent job and lots of friends and acquaintances. I could describe what it feels like to have a memory of radio serial programs, the development of the polio vaccine, and wire recorders and also be able to instantly communicate with someone on the other side of the globe via Internet. I might discuss my first awareness of the Cold War and the rise of the Eastern Bloc of nations, and how we never, ever thought that in our lifetimes we would see the tearing down of the Berlin Wall and the disintegration of the Soviet Union…yet it has been about 20 years since that has happened. Or I could talk about the extraordinary ride I’ve had with the same incredible woman for the past 35 years and some months…a ride that probably no one who truly knew how we met would have given fifteen cents as a bet that it would last.
I won’t do any of that. Instead, I want to recommend a book to you. Yes, you heard correctly. I want to recommend a book to you. It’s an easy read, but is packed with wisdom and good sense. I read this book during our stay here at Branson, and think it can easily change how you think about your job, your relationship with others, and your outlook on life. Other than the Bible, this book has provoked more thought and introspection in me than any other. I think you’ll agree that this book is well worth the money you spend on it.
Oh, the book? The title is Lunchmeat & Life Lessons. The author is Mary B. Lucas, B.D. By the way, B.D. stands for Butcher’s Daughter. You’ll get the connection rather quickly upon reading the first few words of the book.
Mary is a Kansan, and writes with a flair for putting the obvious, yet difficult, into a form that we not only can understand, but also put into practice. And although the book at times is a little “mushy” and predictable, the lessons in it are timeless.
Why, you ask, would I recommend a book on my 60th birthday? Because when I find myself at this age, I also find myself knowing that I not only don’t know it all, but know very little; that I want to make the most of the days I have left and the wisdom in this book will help me do just that. And it might just help you a little, too, in your life and your work.
So, from one who has witnessed the delivery of five-gallon cream cans full of unpasteurized, natural cream off of the farm to the train depot for eventual delivery via a literal “milk run” train to a dairy, to who-knows who, who may read these words, I commend not only God’s words, the Bible, to you as the first and prime teacher in life-living, I also commend Lunchmeat & Life Lessons to you as one of perhaps many good supplements to that Book of books.
The woman is waiting for me to end this so we can go for a walk during the halftime of the Texas Oklahoma game. I’m off.

How Good Can It Get?

I don't often blog twice in one day. I'm not sure what is prompting me to do this now, today, as I relax in a motel room miles from home. We'll see where this goes.
We are staying in a place in the Branson area where we've stayed several times before, usually with other family. It's not an elegant place by any means, and in many respects is much like a place one might have found in times past along Route 66. Green is the color scheme for all rooms, accented by brown paneling. Some walls are paneling that is painted an off white. There is a need for shaving the bottom of our entrance door so it doesn't rub on the green carpet, as well as making repairs to the window lock (it doesn't), tightening the toilet seat, cleaning up everything in general, and making the bathroom bigger than four by five feet (literally). Feminine charm is notably absent, but the rooms and the neighborhood make for a very good “nothin' box” experience for men.
There's some pretense here. The little diner down the road talks of “elegance” in dining on the front of the menu, while on the same page stating that they open at 7:30 (ish) in the morning and close at 9 (ish) in the evening. The diner really no more than a house, it seems, converted into a restaurant of sorts where they not only sell food, but also various knick knacks, glass ware, preserves and jellies, and whatever else they can put on a wall or stuff in a corner.
A sign at our motel talks of a “convention center” that consists of a metal building out back with a bare-bones open room area of about 30 by 30, a couple of restrooms and a game room that has older games in it at a quarter a whack. My guess is that some of them don't work very well. Parking is non-existent and the path back to the building is overgrown with grass and weeds...
To each his own, I guess. We see what we'd like to see. But that's part of the charm of this place. The pretense is obvious and the expectations are minimal. So is the price. A hundred bucks and change for a four day stay isn't bad at all. And we are warm, comfortable, and have the Internet. What can go wrong? Besides, Kilarney's is just down the road a piece. How much better can life be?

Permanent Respite

It's been a week since we've seen the sun in any way other than just for a few minutes. This stretch of clouds, drizzle, and cold reminds me of times in the winter when gloom seems to descend upon the creation and there is absolutely no way out. People get edgy, the day seems shorter, and it seems the whole environment longs for the light of the sun.
There are a few things, though, to remember during times like this. The first is that just a few thousand feet above you, the sun is shining in all its splendor and the sky is as blue and clear as can be. The second is that some day the clouds will part, the sky will be blue, and the sun again will become a fixture in the daytime sky.
The third is that once that happens, we will quickly forget the gloomy days in the past and will again take for granted the provision of the “great light” that rules the day. There may even be days in the future when we will long for clouds again because the earth has become dry and needs the benefits of rain or snow.
You see, we are a very fickle part of the creation. We humans seem to never be satisfied with the way things are and long for something different. Whether it's a new experience in food, city of residence, entertainment, relationships, transportation, or religion, we seem to always be looking for that next new thing; quickly forgetting the lessons of life learned in the past regarding the new and the old.
The wise man said that there is nothing new under the sun. He's right, of course. (The actual verbiage of the wise man is, “All things are wearisome; man is not able to tell it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear filled with hearing. That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done. So, there is nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:8-9) There is always the next curve in the road to navigate, the next hill to climb, the next city to conquer, the next battle to fight. But it becomes wearisome. We begin to long for a time when we no longer will have to worry ourselves about such things.
Good vacations provide us with a temporary respite from that kind of life and living. God's peace can provide us with a permanent respite, even in the here and now.

Amazing

Wow. What an amazing experience this thing called life is. Now, I know that this statement can mean everything from brutally awful to wonderfully grand to everything in between. Let me explain myself just a little, however.
First, I must say that we both have been wondrously blessed with loving family, gainful employment, a mind that works, a body that works, and experiences in the time dimension past that have helped make us who we are today. But, I must say that even if one or more of these would not be present in our lives, the experience of life would be (or at least could be), although different, still an amazing thing.
As I stop and look at things just now, I marvel at all of the people, places, and things that have been influenced in some way by us. Our influence is still felt in a big way in some of the places where we’ve lived we did our jobs or worked with the church family there, or raised our own kids. One example of that is the assisted living that I built while working for a hospital in southern Kansas. It’s still there…still in use…and still providing services to those who need such.
Another example is the nursing home that we opened in Western Kansas when we lived out there and worked for the local hospital. It too is still open…still in use…and still providing much-needed services to the community. The fact that the hospital is even there may well be due in part to my leadership as I struggled with finances and possible financial default on the part of the hospital when I first moved there to assume the CEO position. The hospital was, to put it mildly, broke when we moved there. When we left, it had a substantial cash reserve.
And people. We’ve some life-long friendships in each community where we’ve lived. These folks have put up with me and my family and have chosen to love us and befriend us regardless of our quirks and faults. And I believe that we have influenced at least some people we’ve met to live better lives and to seek God and His will for them. I think some people were permanently changed for the better by our example and our love and concern for them. That is comforting to me.
I’m not bragging about these things. On the contrary, I am humbled that despite our failings, bad decisions, poor example, and incompetence, somehow the Creator of all managed to use our efforts to His glory and to make things, people, and places better because of our presence.
And that, dear ones, is what is so amazing about this experience.

Why Did I Start This?

I’m not sure why I opened the word processor. I know I felt like writing something in the blog, but I’m not sure what. It’s a quiet evening here, with the wife gone to a meeting and I’m watching M.A.S.H. reruns.
I enjoy those shows, even though I’ve seen them many, many times. There’s something about those shows that I can connect with, having myself worked EMS as well as having worked in a hospital setting for many years. Many have been the times I’ve been in the middle of some kind of emergency situation, either rendering aid of some kind or supporting those who were. Life and death situations were not that unusual for me to observe and be a part of, and I am grateful for the whole hospital/EMS experience.
Even now, though the emergent situations are far fewer in my present setting, I enjoy seeing people go through therapy and improving their ability to stand, walk, eat, and get along in the world in general. Although I am not a therapist, I believe what I do provides much of the underpinning for those who work directly with residents. And at times, I interact and work with residents as they have need for my services.
I still haven’t a clue what prompted me to write this evening. I’ve had a lot on my mind…everything from the wife being gone to our church’s missions effort in Guyana (One of our members makes several trips a year there and works with an ongoing mission effort there…he and I visited this evening about that effort). The weather is turning wet and colder (there was frost on a lot of outdoor things this morning), and it’s the time of the year when things wind down and people begin to hunker down getting ready for the winter weather ahead. Thankfully, most of us have warm places to stay out of the weather and wind. We have enough to eat and wear and we have clean water. We are most blessed.

Only In A Small Town

I went in to the nearest branch of the banking institution where we have our checking and savings accounts today. It was payday and I was depositing our checks into the account before the overdrafts started. As I walked into the lobby, a couple of the women at desks greeted me and asked me how my day was going. Somewhat surprised, I responded that things were going well. I then went over to them and told them that I don’t often get that kind of greeting in Wichita in a business of any kind, let alone a bank.
As I got up to the teller window, the teller greeted me by name and made small talk. Continuing to be a little surprised, I finished there and left.
Now, we have been going to this same branch for about a year and a half, and I’m in there probably two or three times a month. So it’s not like I’m a stranger there. Even so, in this community, that touch of personalization goes a long way and is unusual enough that it gets attention.
I will never bank at a place again as we did twenty years ago in the small community where we raised our boys. I’ll never forget one day going to the drive-up teller, handing her a deposit, telling her that I didn’t have a deposit slip. She got her “generic” deposit slip and without looking at anything else, said to me, “Your account number is 255 36 228, isn’t it?”
About as surprised then as I was just today when a couple of the women greeted me at the branch bank, I confirmed the number and the transaction was complete. As I drove away, I thought to myself, “Only in a small town.”

A DIfferent Perspective

When someone dies, I often hear phrases that infer or even state that God somehow took this person from us. Often, I will also hear something to the effect that we can’t understand it all now, but will some day. Many times those words are uttered as an attempt to comfort, but they are little comfort to me…please don’t use them when you visit with me about someone who as died. Let me offer a perspective on this that may be a little different than what you are used to hearing.
John says that in the Word of God (the second eternal person of the Trinity, the Logos, whom we know as Jesus Christ) was life (John 1:4). John records Jesus as saying that he (Jesus) is “the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25) He also says that Jesus said that he was “the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6).
Nowhere in the Bible do we see anything about Jesus Christ being or representing death. In fact, the Bible places the responsibility for death at the feet of Satan (Hebrews 2:14). So, with that in mind, let’s pursue this a little farther down the road.
I believe that God somehow allows death and destruction in His creation without compromising his holiness, goodness, or purity. I don’t know how that works, but by faith I understand that to be true. I do not believe, however, that God necessarily likes death. Nor do I believe that God somehow enjoys death or participates in the death and decay that goes on in His creation.
Paul says in Romans 8 that the whole creation groans, anxiously awaiting and longing for release from the bondage of decay (verses 18 to 24). We too groan and long for that same release and the redemption of our bodies, Paul says. Who provides that release? God does. How can God at once embrace death and decay while also embracing life and freedom?
Could it be that one reason that Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus in John chapter 11 was that He was troubled by the death that he saw there and the effects that death had on the creation and on His people? Could it be that when John says twice in that account that Jesus was “deeply moved and troubled”, it wasn’t because He had come too late to heal Lazarus, or that He was touched (mourning) that Lazarus was dead (because He knew that in just a few short moments, Lazarus would come out of the tomb and be alive again), but rather that He was truly troubled and distressed at the havoc and pain that death causes His creation. Remember, the One who at that moment was upholding all creation by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3) and was the source of life itself was also seeing firsthand what death and decay were doing to His creation and what death was doing to the human beings whom He loved and would shortly die for.
I think God is deeply moved by death. I think death is abhorrent and repulsive to God. I think death represents and is everything that God is not. I cannot imagine this God using death in such a way that He gains any pleasure or contentment from it. I can only imagine a God that one day will, after the history of the creation has run its course, not only defeat death, but will eliminate death entirely, finally, and completely.

Off to visit

Yesterday, my brother, sister and I went to Hesston to visit some relatives on our mother’s side of the family. We went because Sis had ordered some pens that our uncle makes out of various kinds of wood. While there, other family members came to their house and we had a very pleasant visit for a good share of the afternoon. I have a few observations about the day and the visit that I’d like to put “on paper”, so to speak.
The weather this time of year is just delightful. It’s pleasantly cool, yet sunny and warmish if one is inclined to spend time in a sunbeam. The smells of fall are unique and so are the sights. It is all too quickly over come November.
While beautiful, fall is also the reminder that winter isn’t far away. Everything readies for the coming onslaught of cold, wind, and sometimes nasty precipitation. Some things don’t survive the winter…some by design and some because of weakness, old age, or other malady. And that applies to people as well as plants and critters.
While visiting with the relations, I was reminded that all of us in that room have far fewer autumns ahead of us than we’ve already experienced. And while none of us knows just how many seasonal changes we have ahead of us, we do know that our time here is limited. It makes me think yet again about whether or not I’m prepared for that time.
Our past helps make us who we are today. Blood heritage is important, but so too is the heritage that comes from both knowing and hearing about those who came before us…those who had no comprehension of an Internet or a cell phone…those who loved and mentored us and served as examples of what an individual human being could and should be at his or her core. These are the people; they and their stories are the “stuff” of which we are made today. They helped mold and shape us, and we owe them a debt we’ll never repay.
The place where my uncle and aunt live seems to be a wonderful place to spend one’s remaining months and years. My brother, sister and I have talked about whether that would be a good place for us when the time comes. I would think I could do that. Whether or not they could live that close to me (or I to them) may be another matter.
Days like yesterday have immense value, even though it seems like we sometimes don’t accomplish much of any importance. Value doesn’t always equate with importance, and sometimes what seems to be relatively unimportant ends up, in the final analysis, to be of great significance and meaning. I am blessed to have made the trip.

The Rings

Did you know that although the rings of Saturn extend outward over 85,000 miles from the planet in various configurations, the average thickness of the rings is only about 30 feet? I don’t know about you, but that is a rather amazing bit of information regarding a part of our solar system.
We cannot see the rings with unaided eyes, but can easily discern them with a small telescope or good binoculars. The larger telescopes give an even better view. Right now the rings are at equinox, or are edge-on toward the earth and are virtually invisible to us. If I remember correctly, that happens about every 15 years or so.
The rings are composed, I read, of primarily water ice with a smattering of mineral matter scattered among the ice chunks. They are a very complex system with moons orbiting within them, disturbing them with their gravitational fields. They change appearance and also in distance from the planet. And I read that some of the moons and their gravitational influences seem to help hold the rings together. I suspect that if we could somehow hover over them and watch them in some kind of accelerated time mode, we would be mesmerized by the intricate dance maneuvers they perform as they orbit the planet along with their moons.
One question I’ve had for a long time is why the rings? I know that as one who believes that our continuum was created by God, I could just say that was the way He wanted to do it. And that would be sufficient for me. However, I enjoy thinking about why God might have chosen to do what He did. Did he do it for the sheer joy of doing it? Did He do it primarily so we could some day see it and wonder? Did He do it because those rings somehow have something to do with our existence? Or was there another reason?
And the time frame astounds me. I am a creationist who believes in an old earth and an old universe. I believe the universe is what it appears to be…massively old (this is not the place to debate that statement). I know there aren’t many of us old earth creationists. It seems that the two main camps are either young earth creationists or old earth evolutionists. I don’t think either are correct. One of these times, I may explain why I think that.
The rings were there long before mankind. And they may well be there long after mankind no longer exists. Were they created for us? Dare we be so bold as to suggest we are that important in the great scheme of things? I leave those questions for you.
I also know that these questions don’t really have answers we can articulate, at least in this life. But one has to admit that as unusual (and even strange) as many of the features of space are, these things tend to pique the interest of more than just a few of us.
Tens of thousands of miles wide, but only thirty feet thick. Interesting, to say the least.