thoughts on the news of the day: wealth

hmmm…..

            There’s an article on the internet today about Russell Simmons who is worth more than $100 million as a result of success in the music, fashion and film industries.  He recently wrote a book called, “Super Rich: A Guide to Having It All”. 

            He lists five top principles to financial wealth.  The first is: Give your talent until they can’t live without it.  He says by being a good giver you become a good “getter”.  2. Relentlessly pursue your goals without appearing needy. When you chase things they will always run from you.  3. If you don’t love it, leave it alone.  You should only do things you are ethically comfortable doing.  4. Let go of the results.  He says: “You really have no control over the results, you have control over the action.  So make sure you perform your action and your duty well.”  5.  Get open.  You always want to be open, creative and fluid as possible, and never become rigid, old or tight. 

            I am not what you could describe as financially savvy. I get by, but that’s about it.  So I can’t really say whether Simmons principles work in the economic world.  But I think that financial success is not really the point.  These spiritual principles are age old; and adhering to them is part of success in life.  Simmons doesn’t really have the secret to success in his hip pocket; we all can have it, too.  We can find it in another best selling book.  All we have to do is read it and live it.

            Hmmm…..                                                                         

thoughts on the news of the day: miracles

hmmm…..

            “Is it a miracle?”  Dr. Michael Lemole was asked.  He smiled and then said, "Miracles happen everyday.  In medicine, we like to very much attribute them to either what we do or others do around us. But a lot of medicine is outside of our control and we're wise to acknowledge miracles."

            Last Friday Pope Benedict XVI approved a miracle attributed to the now deceased Pope John Paul II.  The miracle was the phenomenal healing of a French nun’s Parkinson disease.  Pope Benedict set May 1 as the date for Pope John Paul’s beatification, which is a step in the process of becoming a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.

            Do miracles still happen or are they just a part of the ancient biblical past?  I guess it all depends upon how you define the word “miracle”.  To me, it means an event where God intervenes, so I agree with Dr. Lemole that miracles happen everyday.  Hopefully, the miracle will happen and Gabrielle Giffords will return to perfect health, at least that’s what I am praying for.  But I also pray for world peace, freedom from addiction and even a win for the Razorbacks – all which at times could be considered miracles, too. 

            Sometimes what we consider coincidences are really God’s little miracles.  At least I like to think that there is still a God in the heavens who watches over us and intervenes when we pray, and even at times, when we don’t. If doctors and popes know this; perhaps we can believe it, too.

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: expectations

hmmm…..

            Can we live up to our children’s expectations? 

            Last night President Obama shared some thoughts about Christina-Taylor Green, the nine year old girl who was killed in the tragic shooting in Tucson last Saturday. Christina attended the fatal rally because she was learning about democracy and wanted to meet Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Speaking about Christina, the President said, "She saw all of this through the eyes of a child, undimmed by the cynicism or vitriol that we adults all too often take for granted.  I want us to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as she imagined it."

            "At a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized--at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who happen to think differently than we do--it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds," Obama said.

            There are no simple answers to the problems that we face as a nation.  It’s easy to look for solutions in the faults we find in others.  Let’s not do that.  Let’s try instead to look through the open and optimistic eyes of our children.  Let’s see to it that our world is a peaceful place for them.  Let’s live up to our children’s expectations.

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: fish

hmmm…..

            In “The Book of Awakening”, Mark Nepo tells the story of a man who cleaned his fish tank.  Placing the fish in his water-filled bath tub, he discovered that instead of swimming all around the large tub, the fish confined themselves to just a small space about the size of their tank.  He writes about how we, too, confine ourselves to a small space instead of breaking out and exploring what our world has to offer.  Looking outside of ourselves to see what is around us can be freeing. 

            I saw the parable in a different light.  Perhaps the fish were swimming together because they felt comfortable, secure and protected when they stayed in close proximity to one another.

            “A happy family is but an earlier heaven.” I am not sure who said that first but I love the quote.  Whether our family is a so-called nuclear family or one of our own choosing (like a church family) closeness is a good criterion for happiness in the family.  Caring about each other is a good thing; wanting to be together through good times and bad counts for a lot toward our sense of well-being.

            Being just another fish in a little pond may not be such a bad thing after all.   In the right circumstance, it might seem like heaven right here on earth.

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: grammar

hmmm…..

            Walking into the church office yesterday, I noticed something jotted on a scrap of paper stacked with the discarded bulletins from the Sunday service.  Looking closer, it read: “Never put a question mark where God has placed a period.”

            It’s a takeoff from Gracie Allen’s often quoted remark, “Never put a period where God has placed a comma.”  Gracie used this remark to give hope to her husband George Burns when Burns was beginning to despair as Gracie’s heart disease progressed.  Burns appeared to have followed her advice. After Gracie died, he went on to renew his career and starred among other things as “God” in the movie “Oh, God”.  He lived to be 100 years old.

            Now back to the quote, “Never put a question mark where God has put a period.”  I do not know who wrote it or what it means to them.  But to me, it is a statement of despair.  It closes doors.  It gives us no hope in a world that desperately needs hope. 

            Unless, of course, you are thinking about Jesus’ statement, “I am with you ALWAYS even to the end of the age.”  Or, “NOTHING can separate us from the love of God”.  Which, technically was said by St. Paul, but anyway, you get the idea. 

            When it comes to love, there are absolutes. There are periods.  Does God absolutely love us no matter what?  Yes!  PERIOD.

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: snow

hmmm…..

            Today I woke up to a world covered with a light sprinkling of snow.  For now it is beautiful to gaze at; it makes everything look clean and fresh.  But soon, the school buses and cars will be out making dirty tracks on the roads and it will become a slushy mess -- at least here in town.

            The best qualities of snow also cause us the most trouble; it covers everything making the world as white as… well … snow.  Trouble is, it covers everything – even all of our pathways.  Roads and sidewalks become slick ice rinks as the snow melts and re-freezes.

            A friend of mine says that our best qualities are the ones that usually get us in the most trouble.  Folks who always seems to know what’s going on, and will tell you about it, are also the town gossips.  People who have the gift of gab usually talk too much.  In my own case, I have a tendency to be a soft touch and usually give in when folks are in need.  But that also makes me a sucker.  So maybe our best qualities are the ones that get us in the most trouble.

            What are your best qualities, and do they get you in trouble? Today might be a good day to kick back and examine what kind of trouble we get ourselves into ..... and let the melting snow wash it all away.

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: shootings

hmmm…..

            Yesterday, Rep. Gabrielle Gifford was shot in the head at a political rally at a grocery store in Tucson, AR. The attack killed at least five other people and wounded many more. The sheriff of Pima County, Arizona said that “all this vitriol” in recent politics might be connected to the shootings.  “This may be free speech, but it’s not without consequences,” said the sheriff.

            Has politics become too personal, too nasty and even, too dangerous?  Whatever your political leanings, wouldn’t you say attempted assassinations in public places means the rhetoric has gotten a little out of hand? 

            What we say matters.  The tongue is a two edged sword. The old nursery rhyme “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” is not true when you consider what words can incite people to do.  Yes, we shouldn’t let what other people say influence our feelings about ourselves, or really, anything else. But is many cases, people are aroused by what is heard.

            Maybe it’s time to cool the hot words that politicians have for one another.  Gunshots and shootings are not the answer; inflammatory words spoken in anger are not the answer; stating your political leanings with violent actions is not the answer.  Calm, deliberate, thoughtful reasoning and peaceful debate is.

            My prayers go out to Rep. Gifflord and her family and the other victims and families of the shootings.  May they find healing and peace in the days to come.

            hmmm…..