I Can't Wait!

As I’m sitting here wondering what I will write (the well seems dry today), I can hear the every-second ticking of the battery-powered clock on the wall right behind me.  “Each second that goes by,” I say to myself, “Is a second I can never recapture or use again.  How did I use the seconds that have gone away just in the last minute or so?  And just what is a second, anyway?”

Now, that’s rather heady stuff for someone who is weaning himself off of caffeine this week and hasn’t a thing to write in a blog.  The notion that I can at once be empty of thought for a blog I’ve done about every week since 2005, but at the same time ponder the passage of time and the space-time relationship is actually rather stunning, in my mind.  And the fact that the second has been defined as, “the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium 133 atom (at 0°K, or absolute zero)” didn’t escape my notice either (although I haven’t the foggiest notion what that means, how they measure it, or why it’s that important).

So, in the interest of relating the space-time relationship to blog-writing in some fashion, I’ve decided to write about time, the passage of time, and how that relates to the universe, at least the universe I’m in (which is much, much smaller than the OTHER universe).

We waste a lot of time, it seems.  We stare at the computer screen for hours on end.  We watch insane, or just plain stupid TV shows all evening.  We daydream.  We procrastinate.  And we dawdle.  Oh my, how we dawdle.

We many times wish we were anywhere except where we are, and that we were doing anything except what we are currently doing.  We put weird things out on the Internet via Facebook, Twitter, or some other medium (blogging, perhaps) that no one understands and fewer care about.  And we wait.  We wait at traffic lights.  We wait at the doctor’s office.  We wait at the checkout line at WalMart or Dillons.  We wait for someone to get out of the bathroom so we can use it.  We wait at the ATM drive-up.

Then, as if to ameliorate the waiting, we hurry to the next checkout line, or the next traffic light, or the next appointment…there so we can wait yet again.  I have to wonder if Anyone is watching “out there” and is doing some serious soul-searching regarding why He made us and the rest of the creation.  And if we could see ourselves as we really are, we probably would shake our heads, do the tsk tsk thing, and write ourselves off as incorrigible.

So, having been duly prompted by the ticking of the clock behind me, I’ve managed yet again to create words that have some kind of meaning and purpose, although in re-reading them I’m not sure of that.  Hopefully you will tune in next week when I hope to have something of some importance to say.  That will be in 604,800 ticks of the clock, and 5,559,703,694,496,000 oscillations of the cesium atom at rest.  I can’t wait!

We're All Getting There

Have you noticed, when you drive on a busy road or multi-lane freeway of some kind (Kellogg Ave is a good example here in Wichita), how people behave when they drive?  And that you, if you are observant, can pretty much tell what someone will do in a given situation even though you don’t know that person?

For example, let’s suppose you are driving on a four lane road, in the left lane, and someone ahead of you slows down and signals a left turn.  They have to wait for oncoming traffic, so they stop.  Two or three people who have been in the right hand lane for some time go on around the person stopped to make a turn.  Those people probably will: (a) stay in the right hand lane after they pass the stopped car, or (b) turn into the left hand lane after they pass the stopped car.

You know the answer as well as I.  They most likely will move into the left hand lane, speed up some, and enjoy the “emptiness” of that lane, even if they have to go back to the right lane in a short time to make a turn.

Let’s try another one.  You are in the middle lane of Kellogg Avenue, a six-lane freeway.  There is moderate traffic around you, but your lane ahead of you is clear for about ¼ mile or so.  A vehicle has been behind you for some time, going about your speed.  He has had several opportunities to pass around you in another lane, but has chosen to not do that.  You assume he is happy going about the same speed you are traveling, and things are fine.
You get to the place where you need to get into the right lane to make a turn off after awhile.  You do.  What will the car behind you do?  (a) Keep going the same speed, or (b) speed up until he takes up the empty space ahead of him.

Again, you know the answer.  Most likely, he’ll speed up until he comes up behind the traffic ahead of him, then slow down again.

My guess is that 8 times out of 10, these things happen just as I described.  So why are people so predictable?  What is it about people that makes them do these things?  My guess is that when you’ve figured out why YOU like to also do these things, you will have found out why all the others like to do them as well.  Because when YOU are in these positions, you like to do the very same things in the same ways I described, don’t you.  I know I do.

My own unprofessional opinions of the situations above are of no concern, although I do think the scenarios have something to do with superiority, control, and a sense of self and entitlement.  These quirks in our driving habits betray our nastier selves, sometimes, and these situations are “acceptable” ways to do that.  Just as beating the light, racing to get ahead of someone at the “on” ramp, or changing lanes in front of someone rather than behind someone are ways we ding at and get our superiority jollies at the expense of others.

And I think that the older we get, for the most part, the less important those things are to us.  Which may well be why older people seem to take forever to do the things that make the rest of us nuts.  They still write checks at the supermarket, for Pete’s sake, and don’t start to make out the check until all the groceries have been rung up and totaled, and they’ve regaled the poor cashier with the story of how they found their false teeth this morning after losing them the day before.  They move very slowly when pulling into a parking space, or backing out of one.  They take up the entire width of the corridor with their canes and walkers, not thinking about the traffic jam behind them croaking from having to wait.

I’m getting there myself.  I’ve joined the International Society of Curmudgeons and have my framed certificate of membership hanging on my office wall.  It has become my pride and joy because now I can just point to the certificate when someone dings on me about being slow or disrupting the smooth flow of something.  That certificate answers all questions and brings about the silence I so much enjoy.  And they know that I’ll not change just for them, nor will I even care that they are so worked up about my impeding something they thought was so important.  It’s like they’re talking to the wall, and when they see the certificate, they know that won’t likely change any time soon.

And if you’re one of those who are put off by people driving only the speed limit or wanting to make a left turn, or someone paying by check, just remember that you’re on that march to older age too.  One day, you’ll get there and you’ll have your own curmudgeon certificate that you can use to snub your nose to the world…and that will be a wonderful day.

What Is Really Fascinating

I recently placed an order on-line from my office at work.  It was an order that was paid with my personal credit card.  I finished the order, clicked “submit”, and got the screen that says something like “Thank you for your order”, etc.  A few seconds later, my phone dinged, telling me that I received an email confirming my order.  A couple of seconds after that, it dinged again, telling me that my credit card had been billed.

I went into the church secretary’s office to retrieve a copy off of the copier, and paused to tell her that I continue to be fascinated no end by the fact that I can order something on line and just a few seconds later my phone will ding to tell me both that I have an email which confirms my order, and will ding again to tell me that I have an email telling me my credit card has been charged.

She told me I needed to get out more.

I laughed and agreed that was possibly the case.  But (and I’ve talked about this before), the technology that makes it possible for all of this to happen is to me just a wondrous, almost magical thing.  I’ll not regale you at this point with stories of the “olden days” when I would have given my right arm for a dial tone (many of us probably don’t know what that is anymore) in my car, let alone on my hip…to say nothing of instant communication via email, coordination of technologies and other modern marvels.  I’ll let that pass, for now.

Lest we think that we are the only generation with wondrous happenings, I want to remind you that every generation had it’s wondrous moments.  I am amazed, for example, that in my grandfather’s day, people loaded up everything they owned on a covered wagon, or in the box car of a train, and took off for God-knows-where in the middle of nowhere to start a new life consisting of backbreaking work, foul and dangerous weather, deprivation and totally at the mercy of the environment and elements.  Yet they persevered, built farms, factories, and cities, towns, schools, railroads, highways and byways while at the same time building families and a legacy unmatched.

I am awed by those who lived through the Great Depression, who stood in bread lines and unemployment lines; who made do by raising garden and farm produce, bartering for what they needed.  They saved literally every nickel, and considered having a dollar to be a great blessing.  They worked in WPA projects building shelter belts, highways, bridges, buildings, and public infrastructure.  They were comforted by President Roosevelt’s “fireside chats” on the radio, and knew what it meant to do without so others would have.

I marvel that men and women in my mom and dad’s day signed up by the millions for military service, willing and ready to be shipped off to North Africa, Italy, Great Britain, Guam, the Phillippines, Iwo Jima, or wherever else they were needed.  They were shot at (and shot up), shot down, drowned, tortured, murdered, sleep deprived, maimed, disfigured, and forever changed.  Yet they continued, confronting Evil itself face to face, and Evil blinked.

I remember with wonder the times of my generation in its younger days, when men and women took up causes such as segregation, war, affirmative action, voting rights, and others; when they went to the moon and came back, when they worked diligently to reverse the unbridled manufacture and deployment of nuclear weapons and promote peace.  At the same time, others fought and died in a jungle half a world away for a cause no one was certain about, but some knew better, yet continued the status quo and the carnage.  Some were imprisoned in camps of the enemy, yet persevered.  Some died there.  Some came back.  All were heroes.

So it’s not necessarily only the “gee whiz” factor in the immediate notifications and coordination of communications services I find fascinating.  It’s the human spirit and the abilities we’ve been given to create, produce, craft, and build.  It’s our ability to change and make things better.  It’s our fortitude and perseverance.  It’s the blessings of God that rain down upon us no matter whether we’re in a covered wagon or a spacecraft orbiting the moon.

That is what is fascinating.

All About Perspective

From a Facebook friend who lives in Minnesota.  I’m reprinting it with her permission in my blog just as she wrote it.  Thanks so much, Wendy, and may the words of the last paragraph come to you and your family now and in the year to come.

Due to a kitchen and living room flooring/painting project started three weeks before Christmas, yesterday was my first opportunity to make my shopping trip to St. Cloud. Many nights we'd worked until midnight peeling wall paper border or painting, cleaning up the day's mess; whatever the task at hand was. On the 14th of December after getting off work and eating our typical fast food, I assumed my place back up on the ladder peeling minute strips of paper off the wall. I was feeling pretty frustrated and "woe is me" - I was really missing out on the "Normal Christmas Season". You know, putting the tree up, baking cookies, looking for and wrapping the gifts, going to Christmas plays and concerts. And then, it really hit me in the heart. That day in Connecticut, twenty children and six adults were taken from their families. I understood right then that those families affected had Christmas gifts under the tree for those sweet little children. Tags with their names written on, waiting for Christmas. They would never be opened by the gift's intended recipient. Those families were now contemplating having to plan funerals instead of Christmas vacation play dates.

Right then on the ladder, perspective meant EVERYTHING. I whispered a prayer for the victims' families and thanked God that my little family was alive and well, looking forward to being together over the holidays. It was humbling. Being connected to the internet or watching 5 minutes of TV makes it hard to get past "the noise" of retailers wanting you to feel as though a happy, memorable Christmas won't happen unless you buy this or that. The older I get, I realize how important people in your life are. That at any moment, for whatever reason (sickness, an accident, etc.) someone can be taken from you.

Last night as I drove home from St. Cloud listening to Garrison Keillor's Christmas show, I admired so many beautiful Christmas light displays on highway 23. Stretching out into the distance were sparkle lights on roof lines that I would never had noticed otherwise. The air was a crisp 28 degrees and the snow sparkled on the ground. The music, the lights, the snow; I felt happy, content and thankful. Still, I was very aware that Christmas is not the same experience for everyone. Many are hurting; my own brother just lost his wife of 43 years on the 20th of December. My heart is aching for him and I'm sure the joy of the holidays is eluding him as he grieves her passing.

If you have all your loved ones gathered around you this holiday season, enjoy and love them. If you know of someone who has suffered a loss or is alone, call them or visit them. We all have different experiences and realities to deal with.

To me, it's all about perspective.

May the God who created heaven and earth, who has blessed you beyond what you can imagine, be watching over you and your family. May you feel His love now and through the entire year. Serve Him by serving others and may He be glorified in your actions. Merry Christmas.

Where Do We Go?

I'm printing the same blog post in my personal and my work blogs this week.

These past several days have not been good ones for humanity.  In addition to the “normal” amount of killing and carnage that takes place, we learned of another mass shooting in Connecticut as well as the shooting of two police officers in Topeka, KS.

First, some quick statistics regarding the “normal” killing and carnage (some numbers are rounded):

1.8 million deaths from violence annually world-wide.

57,000 children die violently annually, mostly from abuse.

4,000 women in the U.S. die from domestic violence annually.

2,500 men in the U.S. die from domestic violence annually.

Someone is murdered every 60 seconds in the world.

Someone is killed in a war every 100 seconds in the world.

China accounts for 55% of all female suicides annually.

A disproportionate share of murders (18%) are committed on persons ages 10 – 29 by other young people.

For everyone killed, 15 to 20 are grievously injured as a result of violence.

So what is the response, if any, of the Christian to numbers such as this and to events such as the murders in Connecticut?  Is there a response?  Should there be a response?  Where is God in all of this?  Why is evil such a presence in this world?

I don’t have answers that are any better than the attempts by men and women much more intelligent and learned than I am to answer these questions.  Such statistics and questions haunt us as we search for meaning, purpose, and direction.  Even Christians who appear strong in their faith are caused to question and wonder if their faith really is of value and worth.  Maybe there is no God, or at least a God who cares.  Maybe we’ve been sold a bill of goods.  Maybe, just maybe, the atheist is right and there is nothing beyond this life.

Then we begin to hear trickles from the other side of the coin.  We begin to hear stories of courage, heroism, and faith.  We hear of the “good guys” who, at great risk (and sometimes great sacrifice) willingly confront and eliminate the threat of evil.  We see humanity coming together in sympathy and compassion.  We see families as they cope with the unthinkable, not only coping, but providing support and comfort to others (and to us).  We find people who are desirous (and capable) of making positive change.  We hear timeless words from Scripture.  We feel the breath of God on our souls, giving soothing healing and comfort.  And we renew our faith in those divine promises of a better place and a better life (where there are no tears, sorrow, or death) through music, the written word, communion with our Creator, and fellowship with others.

When all is said and done…when all of the hand-wringing, the tears, the calls to action, the speeches at the memorial services, the unity (even if only temporary) of society…when all of that is finished and done, where are we left?  What do we do?  And where do we go from there?  The Psalmist got it right when he wrote, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!  The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge.”

Handel also got it right in the finale of The Messiah.  The scripture he used is found in Revelation chapter 5.  “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.  Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb forever and ever.”