thoughts on the news of the day: jack

hmmm…..

            78.3 years – that’s the length of time a baby born today has as a life expectancy.  This increased length in time is due to all sorts of improvements in medicine, public health, workplace safety and behavior habits.  Seniors, for example are enjoying far better health than in past years. 

            My dear friend Jack lived about that long, but cancer ravaged his body and eventually destroyed it.  I met Jack 6 or 7 years ago when I was looking for a new pulpit to fill.  He was the head of the team that was sent from Durant, OK to find a new Presbyterian minister for a church there. 

            Jack was the classic Gentleman Rancher.  He raised cattle out on his ranch west of town but was mostly a highly educated professor and administrator at the university in Durant.  In addition to that, he even did a little preaching from time to time.   My pastorate at the church in Durant was a difficult one, but Jack was always there for me. He encouraged me, offered wisdom and prayer when things got tough.  And after I left that dusty Oklahoma town, Jack and I remained close through phone calls. 

            Jack’s faith was an inspiration to me. He was a learned bible scholar; but more importantly, he had the simple trust in God that comes from wrestling and overcoming impossible challenges. 

            If you have someone in your life that you have learned from and will miss when they are gone, don’t hesitate to reach out to them, tomorrow may be too late.  We have so much to learn from those who have gone before us and I am proud to have known my great friend, Jack.  May he rest in peace. 

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: texting

hmmm…..

            Why all the texting?  Seems like everywhere you look these days, people are hearing a ding, looking down at their phone and punching the keypad to communicate nonverbally.  Wonder why?  Why would we write a terse text when we could actually talk to a person on the phone? 

            One reason it works for me is that my daughter is a school teacher and cannot receive phone calls during classes.  So if she needs to know something from me, she can write a phone note and I can easily reply.  I don’t like it as much as actually talking to her, but it beats not hearing from her at all.

            That is a practical reason, but I wonder if there are other reasons for texting.  As far as relationships, texting allows the sender and receiver to remain aloof.  There is no need for commitment or deep conversation because there is always instant opportunity to “get back to you later”.  Texting is one step removed from talking to a person and two steps from actual face to face communication which can be very intimidating and frightening.

            Another reason we text is because it’s cool.  Receiving a lot of texts means that lots of people like you, or at least want to “talk” to you.  So texting can be a sort of popularity contest.  One texter claims to have texted or received texts 12,000 times in one month.  Now, that’s a lot of texts. 

            A development I find disturbing is seeing parents continually texting others when they could be talking to their children.  What kind of message does this give to the child when a tiny box is more important than they are?

            So, I guess I have more questions than answers about texting – and I haven’t even gotten to the danger of texting while driving.  I know I am not going to stop because at times, it is just too convenient.  But I think I’ll slow down.  I think I will try and use the talking part of the phone more often. 

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: flowers

hmmm…..

            Valentine’s Day is just a few days away and florists are busy preparing gifts for friends and lovers.  Since roses are a favorite valentine present, I checked out the meaning of the different colors of roses.  After all, we wouldn’t want to say the wrong thing by our choice of color! 

            Red roses for example, proclaim, “I love you!” and are always appropriate for making that statement.  Yellow roses indicate friendship and freedom so they are not as popular as Valentine’s Day choices. They are appropriate for sending congratulations to newly weds, graduates and new mothers. And of course, you can never go wrong sending yellow roses to a Texan!  White roses symbolize truth and innocence and also have other meanings like “I miss you” and “You’re heavenly.”  Pink roses have many meanings depending upon the shade.  Pale pink means grace, gentleness and gratitude; light pink expresses fun and happiness; deep pink roses have now become the symbol of breast cancer awareness.

            You might not be the type of person who sends flowers on Valentine’s Day.  It may be that you don’t have a sweetheart, don’t have the money or just plain old don’t have the desire.  I admit that Valentine’s Day is kind of overrated.  It has become a commercialized bonanza for florists and card stores.

            But, no matter how you say it, no matter what day of the year, it is never a bad idea to say, “I love you”, “I appreciate you” or “I thank you.”

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: uncertainty

hmmm…..

            It’s raining today – not actually earth shattering news, but it’s different from the snow we have had in the past few weeks.  I have had a wonderful few days with my daughter in Austin, Texas where it rarely snows; but now it’s time to return home.

            Watching the weather makes travel plans difficult.  Should we stay another day or strike out to see how far north we can go before the ice overtakes us and forces us to stop.  And how long will our stop be?  Hours, days? It’s very hard living in this purgatory of uncertainty.

            The uncertainties of life make decisions difficult.  Should I stay or should I go?  That question gets asked a lot.  Should I stay in the dead end job I have, given the uncertainty of the economy?  Should I stay in that abusive relationship hoping that he or she will change? Should I continue to rent knowing that now is a good time to buy?

            I have a few rules I use when making decisions.  One is: when in doubt, don’t.  If I am not sure about the decision I am about to make, I pause for a while and rethink it.  Another rule I have is: stick with the original plan.  It’s kind of like the old saying, “don’t change horses in the middle of the stream.”  When I start changing plans after I have set them, I seem to cause problems for myself and everyone else.  My third rule is: pray about it.  Prayer is an amazing thing.  It’s not so much that it brings answers, it’s that it brings peace.    

            Whatever decisions your day brings, I pray that you will make them in peace and in confidence.  God bless your day.

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: the joy of discovery

hmmm…..

            When is a snow day not a snow day?  Thanks to technology, educators are finding ways to teach in spite of the inability of students to attend classes because of the weather.  Web casts in many schools and colleges enable professors and teachers to send lectures, homework and other items of importance via facebook, skype or just plain old email.  On a snowy January 20th, schools in Cincinnati, Ohio met via internet as part of a pilot study. In St. Louis, one school taught math, English, Chinese and History even though they were closed due to the weather.  And in good weather or bad, it is becoming increasingly popular for schools to skype classes to students who are unable to be in class because of illness.

            On the other hand, my seminary has resisted the jump into the virtual classroom world.  You could say this is partly due to economics, but there is a more important reason for the delay.  In seminaries, one of the components to our education is learning to live in community.  We do this with study groups, chapel services and small classroom settings.  In our seminary, professors still call you by name and know your family and even your home town.

            It’s been clearly proven that online classes work for some folks some of the time.  But there is something special about sitting with a group of folks and wrestling with a problem.  Working together, in person and as a team makes learning a lot easier and a lot more fun.  I’m not sure where virtual learning is leading us, but I hope that we never lose the excitement of meeting others in the joy of discovery and enlightenment.

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: tears

hmmm…..         

            “I couldn’t do it.”  Charles Woodson, Green Bay Packer and 2009 defensive player of the year broke down in tears as he addressed his teammates in the locker room during the half time of Super Bowl XLV.  He tried to tell his fellow players how much he wanted to win and that they would have to find victory without his presence on the field. But he was too emotional.  He had broken his collarbone in the second quarter and would have to watch the game from the sidelines. Eventually, tears of victory replaced the tears of desire and the tears of passion.

            My daughter coaches a club volleyball team.  These are 12 year old girls whose parents have paid money to have their daughter’s skills honed for future years in sports.  Watching the girls yesterday, it was interesting to see that some of the girls played without emotion.  They played without passion, without heart. The result for them was lack of success.  And they didn’t cry when they didn’t win.  Maybe big girls don’t cry, but in this particular case, I think their coach would have been glad to see that emotion.

            One of the marks of a true winner is a passion for their sport, their field, their profession.  And you can’t coach that and you can’t teach it.  It is either there or it’s not.  Charles Woodson has it and with it led his team to victory even as he sat on the sidelines.

            What is your passion? What would make you cry?  Embrace it and let it bring you to tears. Let it bring you to victory; find success and joy in the passion of your life.  

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: sabbaticals

hmmm…..

            I got asked a question today by my computer: “If your company gave one year sabbaticals, what would you do with your time?”  Funny it should ask that question because in my profession, six month sabbaticals are actually given to folks who have served a church for 7 consecutive years. 

            If I were given a sabbatical tomorrow, I would probably come down to the Texas Hill country for a year and work in my daughter’s junior high public school as some sort of volunteer helping the kids there.  The first reason I would like to do this is rather selfish: I would get to spend some quality time with my daughter.  But second, I would do it because I love working with kids, something I don’t get to do that much in our retirement community.  And third, it would help the public schools of Texas right now, which are hurting because of the legislative cutbacks.

            But then, again, I am not sure I would leave my present occupation and situation at all.  I love my job, the people I work with, and I get to do lots of good anyway, so there wouldn’t be much need to change anything at all.

            What would you do if you had a year off? Would you do something good for someone else?  Would you write that book you have always wanted to write?  Would you just vacation the year away, resting and relaxing from the stress of a lifetime of work? 

            And the big question is, why aren’t you doing some of that today?

            hmmm…..