thoughts on the news of the day: thanksgiving

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            My daughter and I have a somewhat unusual way of celebrating Thanksgiving Day.  We don’t do all the ‘right” things – like go to relatives homes and stuff ourselves with turkey and dressing.  I wish I could say we go to homeless shelters and serve dinner to those who wouldn’t otherwise have one – but we have never gotten organized enough to do that.  And no, we aren’t a deer hunting family where the guys spend the day out in the  woods and the rest of the family stays home and pouts about it.

            For the longest time, we have not been able to be with relatives far away, so we celebrate with each other and friends who are away from family, too.  We have pumpkin pie, and dressing and mashed potatoes – and crescent rolls but we don’t have turkey.  We usually have roast or barbeque or something like that.  My daughter is not a turkey eater and I am not so great a fan, either – so turkey is out and beef is in.  But that’s just us. 

            To me the most important part of Thanksgiving is remembering that we have so many things to be thankful for.  And I could name a long list of things to be grateful for now.  But I encourage you today, to pause for a moment, between football games and shopping lists and thank someone for something.  It will make the day.

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thoughts on the news of the day: telemarketers

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            Most of us want people to know who we are.  We usually take pride in the fact that so many people might know our name.  One of the beauties of small town living is that everyone knows your name.  But what if we didn’t want people to know who we were?  What if we were disguising our name and attempting to pretend we were someone else?

            Telemarketing companies are getting more and more clever.  They now have a way of identifying themselves on your caller id as being a different name than their actual one.  For example, they identify themselves as the I.R.S. or the F.B.I.  Now, I would be immediately suspicious of that identity on my caller ID, but I guess lots of folks aren’t, because it seems to be working.  People seem to be answering those calls.  The Federal Trade Commission has filed suit against one of the telemarketers that identifies itself as a fake company and more are soon to follow.

            How sad is it that a company or organization is so ashamed of their name and their product that they have to disguise it in order to sell it?  If you weren’t proud of the company you worked for, and had to deny your own personal integrity to continue to draw a paycheck, it would be a tragic day indeed.  I guess as it draws closer to Thanksgiving, a gratitude I can have is that I am proud to say the name of the organization I work for.  And I can pray for those who don’t have that privilege.

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thoughts on the news of the day: boos

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            Not very classy, that’s what I think about the boos the First Lady and the Vice-First Lady received at the NASCAR event held yesterday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.  Supported elsewhere during the event, the boos came when they were introduced to say those famous words, “Start your engines”.  The women were at the track to promote a cause that should be dear to all of our hearts called “Joining Forces.”  The idea behind the promotion is to support military veterans and their families.  No matter what your political leanings, I think supporting our military is something we all can do.

            Class is a characteristic that you either have or you don’t.  And I don’t think it can be taught.  It is more than good taste.  Good taste has to do with things you acquire but class has nothing to do with possessions at all.  Class is opening the door for a lady.  Class is allowing a gentleman to do that.  Class is winning gracefully – or losing gracefully for that matter.  Class is about respect, graciousness and hospitality – none of which was shown by the boos at the speedway.

            I would rather have class than fame.  Fame can be taken away; class never can.  It has nothing to how wealthy you are.  For example, Mother Teresa had class and Howard Hughes did not.  Perhaps the best way we can nudge our children toward a little class is to model it for them every day.  And one way we can do that is by saying thank you to our veterans.

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thoughts on the news of the day: underdogs

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            Holy Cow!  Little bitty Baylor in Waco, Texas beat football powerhouse Oklahoma in a surprising upset last night.  The score was 38-45.  Don’t you know there is some wild celebrating going on in Waco?  I have Baylor and Oklahoma fans in my midst.  Personally, I have no great attachment to either team, but it is always interesting when the underdog prevails.

            We love sports and we love it when the David overtakes the Goliath.  The first underdog story ever is told in the Bible when young David, the shepherd, slings a shot at a huge giant named Goliath striking him dead.  Don’t you know the crowd cheered?

            I think the reason we love underdogs so much is that we identify with them.  Who hasn’t felt like someone or something was far greater a foe than we could ever win against?  We feel unprepared, unsuccessful and ineffective.  This is where God comes in.  The old Bible quote goes, “If God is with us, who can be against us?”  Now, this quote oftentimes is used as a proof text to get our own way.  But I don’t think that is what it means.  I think it means that if we are humble and put God first in a situation, then we might find a way to reach a compromise, which doesn’t happen unless the underdog has a powerhouse on their side. 

            One thing is true; God always wins.  And that’s a fact you can count on.

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