Celebrate Family (7/21/22)

 Good morning!  Welcome to a toasty Thursday !

 I have several siblings…five to be exact.  I’m the third from the oldest, meaning I’m sort of a middle child.  I never quite fit into the world of my older two brothers, and the two immediately younger than I am are sisters, with a little brother tagging along last.  So, I didn’t quite fit in with my sisters either, and my younger brother is enough younger than I am that I didn’t relate much with him either when we were home.

But I’m not here today to talk of my trials as the middle child.  I was blessed beyond measure with the family I had and have.  I have no complaints.  And if I did have complaints, I probably wouldn’t air them in this venue.  Besides, complaining about things that were true 60 to 70 years ago isn’t productive because the past is just that…past.

No, I’m here to talk a bit about the oldest brother.  Some of you may know him…our oldest brother Max Plank.  Now, while all of us have excelled in some area of life…Dennis in real estate, myself in health care and ministry, Marianne in educational psychology, Linda in community service, and Kevin in technology, Max has spent his life in music and music education.

At Eastern Michigan University, Max held several different roles in a life-long career there.  Accomplished musician, professor, composer and director, he helped shape the lives of countless students and friends.  In retirement, he remains active in the community, his church, his family, as well as in the music field.

His career is one to be admired.  His accomplishments could fill a book.  Many of his students still maintain contact with him many years after retirement.  He is still in demand as an adjudicator for music festivals, as well as for the occasional compositions he writes and sometimes directs.

More importantly, however, he is the glue that helps to hold us all together.  As the oldest, we still respect his opinions and ideas regarding the family, and look to him for familial leadership when necessary.  We have annual reunions as a family and extended family…usually lasting three days over a long weekend at some kind of resort or encampment.  Max is an integral part of the planning and execution of many of those reunions.

I don’t know where you fall in your family and sibling dynamics.  You may have a family similar to ours…we love each other and respect & celebrate our differences as well as our commonalities.  Or you may come from a dysfunctional family.  Your memories and experiences may be anything but pleasant.  Or you may not have a family.  You may have been in the foster care system or orphaned.  We all have different experiences with family and family units.

We are grateful for our family unit.  We are grateful for Max and his leadership and example.  And we are grateful to God for preserving us until this day.  There will come a time when we will not be a complete family.  We will begin to lose family members to illness and death.  When those days come, and they certainly will come, we will celebrate life, celebrate family, and celebrate the love of God in thankful praise.

Blessings.

Think on These Things

 Most evenings at our house are occupied by relaxing in our lower level area, sometimes with the TV on, sometimes not.  We read, watch TV, do puzzles of various kinds, finish up some indoor job that we didn’t get done earlier (laundry, dishes, etc), and generally wind down, so to speak, at the end of the day.

The 10pm news is usually the last thing on the TV, unless a football or basketball game that we want to see is still going…then it is turned off.  The wife continues her reading, sewing, or puzzle-solving for awhile, and I many times will go to YouTube for a short time before retiring for the night.

“YouTube?” you say.  “What would you be watching on YouTube at 10:30 at night?”

As is with much of what one finds on the internet, there is much that is good and much that is not so good on YouTube.  I’ve chosen to absorb a sort of eccentric collection of video topics ranging from classical music to high school choirs & orchestras to courtroom videos (the Caught in Providence videos with Judge Caprio) as well as secret Santa and surprise squad videos (Google “surprise squad” if you aren’t sure what that is).

In between are Gaither homecoming videos, the occasional “On the Road with Steve Hartman” segments produced by CBS News, Bible Project videos, Sandy Patti, Statler Brothers, and other southern gospel videos, the occasional aria from Handel’s Messiah, and…well…the list could go on, but you get the idea.

I’ve chosen to watch videos at that time of day which will uplift and soothe my soul.  Music that takes me to a better spiritual place.  Events and activities which encourage and show the good sides of humanity.  Stories which demonstrate the best in the human spirit and provide a foundation for life and living.  Stories which let me know that all is not the doom and gloom as portrayed on the news; that there are things more important than politics and ideology.  Yes, I watch the news at 10 pm because I think it’s important to be aware of what’s going on in the community, the nation, and the world.  But I don’t need to retire for the night with the negative bent of the news on my mind.

Then, after viewing some videos, as I go upstairs I usually go outside into the front yard.  Even when it’s really cold outside in the winter, I like to step outside for just a moment, take in the atmosphere, look up at the sky, and survey the neighborhood.  The stars above let me know that there’s much, much more to life than just the day to day routine.  The neighborhood reminds me of the incredible blessings that have come our way over the years.  The air…crunchy cold, warm & sticky, or with the scent of spring or fall in it, remind me of the brief span of life and the promise of something better when this life is over.

Sometimes, if the weather is especially disagreeable, I think of those we often meet downtown at the church building who are staying outside in the weather because they have no home.  Many of them have a mental illness or some kind of disability which prevents them from doing what is necessary to live inside.  I wonder how they are getting along and whether or not they have found some temporary shelter from the rain, snow, or wind.

Following all of this, the wife is usually finished with her nightly routine, and it’s relatively easy for me to do my bedtime business, put on my CPAP, and drift off for the night.  I don’t know why I got into the routine of going outside, but it works for me.  I even try to do the “going outdoors” thing if I’m not at home, if at all possible.  I can’t always access YouTube, but I can usually get outside wherever I may be.

I don’t know what your routine is at night.  However, I am reminded of what that great apostle Paul said long ago about what should be on one’s mind.  Here’s what he said in his letter to the Philippian church long ago.  “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

You will hear all kinds of things, both uplifting and depressing.  But choose to dwell…to dwell…on the true, the noble, the pure, the admirable, the excellent.  I think you’ll find that your overall attitude will be better, your overall health will be better, and you will be more content.

 

Blessings,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Distractions

 Good morning !  Hope your Thursday is going well so far.  I know it’s hot in a lot of the country right now, and trust you are staying somewhat cool.  Today’s thought comes from some observations I’ve been making while driving in Wichita.  Yes, I know that many people in Wichita as well as elsewhere sometimes exhibit bad driving habits such as changing lanes without signaling, rushing in front of someone on a four-lane road only to slow down and turn…making the driver they pushed ahead of slow down as well, tailgating, and many other habits that aren’t in the good driving manual.

But one thing I’ve especially noticed in the past months…going on into years…is a kind of distracted driving.  I’m not necessarily referring to texting while driving; however, that is a real issue.  I’m referring to someone driving who apparently isn’t texting or talking…is looking ahead and seems to be alert, but for whatever reason doesn’t see or doesn’t perceive a potential or real threat to his well-being.

Here are a couple of examples.  How often have you been on a multi-lane road only to have someone pass you on the left, then cross multiple lanes of traffic to the right in order to exit the road at the last second?  It’s just as if they only at the last second remembered that they needed to exit, and rushed headlong across multiple lanes in order to get to the exit barely in time.

Or what about the one whose blinker is still on a half mile or more from where he last used it.  Somehow, it didn’t occur to him or her to check it and turn it off in order to avoid confusion to other drivers.

Or maybe you were in the right hand lane at a stop light waiting to turn right on the red when the coast was clear.  The car in front of you is also waiting to turn right.  There aren’t any cars coming for a half a mile, but the car in front of you just sits there.  Finally, when the light is about 3 seconds from turning green, the driver gets the message and makes the turn.

And we’ve all been behind someone who didn’t move when the green light came…and we waited a few seconds, then honked at them to get them to move.  Much of that, I think, comes from texting while sitting at the light.

And have you ever been beside someone, both of you first in line at a light…and when it went green, the other car wouldn’t move until they saw you move first?  Try it sometime if you’re in that situation.  Often, the other car will wait for you or someone else to move first before going into the intersection.

It seems to me that people are more distracted now than they were even a few years ago.  And phones aren’t the only issue.  I think people have more on their minds and are worried or concerned about more things now than they were awhile back.  They are present in body, but often absent or at least occupied in mind.  It’s like they are going through the motions of living, but aren’t into it like they should be.

Is there a cure for that?  I don’t know.  I too have at times found myself wandering away mentally while driving or doing something else.  I think it’s normal at times.  But to see so much of it during drive time is unsettling to me.  I think something’s going on here that is bigger than just someone being pre-occupied temporarily with something.

I have no answers.  I only have observations and am not even certain my observations accurately describe in increased amount of mental and emotional distractions in the past few years.  What do you think?  What are you seeing?  What are you experiencing?  I’d really like to know.  Thanks for watching these Thursday Thoughts.  See you next week.  Blessings.