thoughts on the news of the day: AAA

hmmm…..

            Standard & Poor’s index has downgraded the US credit rating from AAA to AA+.  I am not sure what this means for the United States and our economy and I don’t think anyone else really knows either.  But I don’t guess that it’s going to be real good.

            117,000 new jobs have been created which is a good sign.  The question is, can we keep it up?  And is that many jobs really only a drop in the bucket? A report by the Children’s Defense Fund declares that children were the big loser last decade and it may continue into this decade.  Food stamps for kids are higher, homeless children numbers are way higher and the cost of day care has skyrocketed.

            What are we doing here?  It’s really anybody’s guess. Seems like everyone has an opinion.   I try not to be political in this blog and I am not going to be today.  My take on it is that we are just going to have a little faith and have it a little longer.  That probably might seem like a naïve conclusion to many folks, but really what do we have left but our faith in things getting better?

            A woman in our congregation has cancer and has been told she has 45 days left to live.  Now, that’s a real AAA problem. Her faith is strong, though.   How she spends her last days is probably more important to her than whether the economy takes a turn for the better or the worse.              

            Seems to me it’s all relative.

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: relief

hmmm…..

            We have actually had some welcome relief in the form of drizzle and down right rain the last two days.  Our grass, trees and flowers have desperately needed the cool drink of water they have been given to quench their thirst.  The grass is almost turning green again, trees are holding on to their leaves and the flowers are perking up.

            What else are we thirsty for these days?  Well, first off a diet soft drink that is actually good for us would be nice.  But really, what are you thirsty for?  Maybe a decent television program in the drought of summer reruns and second tier shows.  A fresh summer novel could be just the thing to drench our curiosity.  What about a really good football game to whet our thirst?  I hear that Oklahoma in ranked number one in pre-season ratings.  Maybe they could play just one game this summer to ease our summertime longings?

            Those are just material things.  What about the things that matter?  Is your soul thirsty for a refreshing bit of kindness, patience or tolerance? Peace and gratitude could be just the reprieve you need. Could you use a drink or two of faith, hope or maybe love?   You can find them, you know, all you have to do is look around, or better yet open up that REALLY big Big Book. 

            Drench yourself in some comforting spiritual reading today.  Your thirst will be quenched and if you keep it up your well may never run dry.

            hmmm….. 

thoughts on the news of the day: old age

hmmm…..

            President Obama is turning 50.  And there are pictures all over the net of his gray hair that has changed since he took office.  We are getting older – that’s a fact.  And most of us want to live a long, long time.

            Recent research on people 95 and older has shown, though, that all the things we thought would help us to live longer turn out not to be so true.  Smoking, obesity, lack of exercise and poor eating habits didn’t seem to make much difference in the study group.  One woman who was 107 had smoked for 90 years!

            What seems to matter in the longevity curve is genes.  Those who had relatives of old age seemed to live longer lives also.  So if Aunt Helen lived to be 92, you might, too.  Or maybe not.  Disease is still a factor.  And this study is no excuse to give up your clean living.  Genetics isn’t everything.  Good diet, exercise, not smoking, etc. can still add years to your life.

            I want to live a long life.  My grandmother lived to be 94 and my Dad will celebrate his 91rst  birthday tomorrow.  So my chances are pretty good that I will be around for a long while.    But I still think I’ll eat my vegetables, walk my dog and give up sweets.  That can’t hurt and it might help.

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: back to school

hmmm…..

            Spiral notebooks. Check. Loose leaf paper.  Check.  Funny little butterfly folders. Check.   It’s time for back to school shopping and I always get in the mood for a big box of Crayola crayons.   Grade school years are gone; but some things you never forget.  I guess that today much of what I grew up with is gone.  Computers have changed almost everything; paper, pens, pencils are no longer needed.  They have been replaced with a funny little 3” stick called a flash drive.

            Flash drives are amazing things.  You can store almost everything on them, photos, notes, email addresses and phone numbers.  The only thing that’s tricky about them is if you lose one.  Then what do you do?  If losing your information isn’t bad enough, there is great potential for someone else getting your info and doing God knows what with it.

           I still remember my first day of school.  My brother and my sister were there to share the excitement but I was still anxious.  What if my teacher was mean?  What if I didn’t like it?  What if I didn’t make any friends?  As it turns out, I loved it; the teacher I had was the sweetest, kindest and most loving teacher I could ever hope for; and I made a best friend who still sends me a birthday card every year.   

            On my first day of school, I learned that learning is exciting; a notion that I carry with me to this day.  In fact, I have decided to go back to school to work on an advanced degree and I hope that the anticipation I have will thrill me as it did that first day of school many years ago.

            Yay!  And maybe I can buy a new box of crayons!

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: leadership

hmmm…..

            I am writing a paper on leadership and in my research, I dug out a book by Edwin Friedman called Failure of Nerve.  He says a well-differentiated leader is “someone who has clarity about his or her life goals, and therefore someone who is less likely to become lost in the anxious emotional processes swirling about.  … someone who can manage his or her own reactivity to the automatic reactivity of others, and therefore  be able to take stands at the risk of displeasing. “ 

            He goes on to say: “It is not as though some leaders can do this and some cannot.  No one does this easily and most leaders, I have learned can improve their capacity.”

            I wish someone would tell the members of Congress about Friedman’s book.  It seems to me that all the leaders in Congress do is react to one another.  Their goals seem to be to win at all costs, rather than slow down, listen and learn from one another.  The whole world is watching and waiting to see how well our leaders lead.  It’s not just about the money; it’s about our place in the world. 

            I like our Presbyterian model of leadership.  It encourages the servant style of the ministry of Jesus Christ.  Yes, it isn’t always followed, and it isn’t always successful in the ways we would like for it to be.  But it is calm, honest, forthright and powerful. 

            Today the debt ceiling problem may be solved.  But in the end, there may not be any winners, only sore losers; and many leaders who live to fight another day. 

            Too bad.

            hmmm…..

           

thoughts on the news of the day: words

hmmm…..

            Words are a curious thing.  We have to be careful how we use them.  Some words are automatically volatile – you know what they are – the n-word and the f-word.  Practically no one uses them in polite public, unless they want to get a lot of attention.

            But there are other words, more subtle, that have meanings that can be offensive to racial and ethnic groups.  For example, the word “niggardly”.  It means not generous or stingy.  But we all know how confusing it can be to use the word because of the connotations.  So most people will avoid using it in conversation. 

            I read a post on facebook yesterday that used the word “renege” which means to break an agreement or a promise.  It’s a commonly used word in the English language, but the person using the word spelled it “renig” which holds a completely different connotation.  Like I said we have to be careful how we use words. 

            Racism can be a subtle thing.  My daughter had three best friends in high school.  One was as white as she could be.  One was definitely Hispanic – her family came across the river on foot.  And the third was named Benjilina –   you can probably guess her ethnic origin.  I am pretty sure she would be offended by the spelling of the word, as was my daughter when she read the post. 

            So words are powerful; they can cut like a knife or soothe a weary soul.  It all depends on how we use them.

            hmmm.....

thoughts on the news of the day: advice

hmmm…..

            No doubt President Obama and all of the leaders in Congress are getting lots of advice these days on how to solve the debt ceiling problem. 

            I broke one of my personal rules yesterday. It’s an important one that I try to live by every day:  “Don’t give advice unless it is asked for.”  My daughter called yesterday to talk about a relationship problem she was having.  She just wanted to sound out on someone else.  You might say she was just thinking out loud.  Usually she can trust me to keep my mouth shut and just listen.  But not yesterday.  I was ready.  I told her what to do; and she didn’t want to hear it.  She wanted me to listen to her.

            We do that, don’t we?  We think we can solve other people’s problems with our infinite wisdom, but we cannot. 

            Other side of the coin.  I have another personal rule that I follow.  I don’t ask for advice from anyone, unless I intend to take the advice they give to me.  So I am very careful whom I ask for advice and I don’t ask for advice very often.

            Advice is cheap.  In fact, most times, short of Dr. Phil or Suze Orman, it’s free.  No, wait, it’s free on their television shows, too.  You can get advice from anyone, but you don’t have to take it.

            So, here’s my advice:  Give advice – but only if it’s asked for; and take advice --but only if you have asked for it.

            hmmm…..