thoughts on the news of the day: shelter

hmmm…..

            So, wrap your head around this.  A homeless teenager became a semifinalist in the Intel Science Talent Search.  Her parents were severely injured in an accident; they couldn’t keep up their rent payments and so the family was evicted on New Year’s Eve.  They lived in a shelter on Long Island, NY while looking for jobs and trying  to recover.

            The young girl did research on mussels and crabs and discovered that when they were mingled together, the mussels formed harder and thicker shells because of a chemical emitted by the crabs.  This made the mussels better able to withstand danger.  Doing research in labs kept the student occupied; she spent hours and hours in school every day. 

            Not everyone who lives in a shelter is a lazy drifter.  In fact far from it; resilience and patience are necessary for the many families stuck in shelters because of loss of income.  Jobs are not that easy to come by – this young girl looked unsuccessfully for part time work that would be compatible with her school schedule.  You can’t accuse this young scientist of being lazy; she worked too hard for her science award.

            So there …. another hard luck story in a world inflicted with an economic crisis that won’t go away.   Is it time for another sermon preached on the need for public services for those down and out in our country?  Probably not.  Surely that story has been told over and over again. 

            So I guess I’m wondering, when will the story be heard?

            hmmm…..

           

           

thoughts on the news of the day: cher

hmmm…..

            An online newspaper did an article recently on the moves that Google is making to target markets for advertising.  When you log on to Google and look for information, that search is organized by Google in such a way that those interested in advertising their products to you are notified of your curiosity about a subject.  For example, if you log on to check a flight for a friend, suddenly you will notice all kinds of advertising about travel popping up on your screen, even if you, yourself have no interest in going anywhere.

            Probably seems like a benign sort of ploy.  But wait; let’s think about that for a minute.  Do we really want the whole universe (or at least Google and all its customers) to know our business?   What if we are researching a particular medication and we really don’t want the world to know we are interested? How are we protected?  I really don’t want strangers to know where I bank, what my political leanings are, or where I work.  And I really don’t want strangers to know my name, address, phone number and what my house looks like, in that order.       

Brings up a whole new set of problems and questions, I would think.  Maybe the solution to the whole dilemma is not to use the internet at all.  Bye-bye Google, bye-bye Facebook, bye-bye Twitter.  

 But gosh, then how would I know in an instant that Cher is not dead after all?

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: opinions

hmmm…..

            Like many of those in my denomination, I am trying to figure out what  the heck is going on in the Presbyterian Church these days.  There was a conference in Florida last week which attempted still again to define who we are and what we believe.  Good and honest work, I think.  We take things seriously in our denomination, we think about things before we act.  The good people at the conference in Florida mapped out a set of new ideas which actually, when you look them over are not all that much different than what we have now.

            I think everyone in our own local church would agree that the members of our own congregation have  theological and political opinions that run from the extreme left to the extreme right.  We have very conservative folks and a lot of liberal ones too.  I am not sure why or how we get along so well, but we do.  My hunch is that it is because we are very respectful of the varied opinions that layer our views.  Perhaps length of life teaches you to do that.  The average age in our congregation is 74; that means most folks have had a long time to figure out how to live peacefully together.  Our strength is in the wisdom that longevity has given to those who grace our pews. 

            Their opinions have mellowed over the years by loss of family, friends, health, homes and dreams.  My guess is that they would rather be happy than right.  Feuding focuses on differences; but they have the commonality of faith, a respect for the shortness of life, and the desire to be together rather than apart.  I still have lots to learn from my elders; look around, you might, too.

            hmmm…..

           

           

thoughts on the news of the day: compassion

hmmm…..

                The news today is that nursing homes in California are now taking convicted felons as residents.  I guess in a way that makes sense.  If a prisoner is incapacitated and the prison can’t handle his or her care, then why wouldn’t it be prudent to place them in a facility designed to give that care?

                Well, there are a few problems with that scenario.  First of all, how incapacitated are they really?  Are they still able to do physical harm to someone else?  Are they still able to plot and plan with criminals on the outside to do damage to others?  And what about the other residences of the facility, do they have a right to know that convicted felons live in the next room?

                I am reading a book right now that focuses on the aging population.  Most folks who live in nursing homes are 65+  so challenges and problems with care of the elderly is a non-trivial issue.  Did you know that we spend about as much on Medicare each year as we do at Wal-Mart?  I can’t wrap my head around either of those figures, but they are enormous.   So, we can’t pretend that housing criminals in the same place we care for the aged is not important because it is.

                Which brings me to this point:  In the end, we all need compassion.  Whether we are being punished for our sins, punished for our age, or punished for something else, we deserve the same compassion that Jesus gave to criminals, prostitutes, and tax collectors.  We are created with the gift of compassion, and it is criminal not to use it.

                hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: words

hmmm…..

                So, my daughter gave me a kindle fire for Christmas.  I really wanted one and was excited when I opened the box.  I brought it with me to Austin and to seminary … and I hate to admit it, but the technology eluded me.  Well…. I had also just acquired a new hp computer and  was working on getting it going.  And at my class at seminary, the library was my first source for books and articles. 

                So there I was last night.  I decided that it was THE night I was going to master this new toy and finally download some books on it.  Thanks to my portable WiFi device I got on amazon and found a book I needed for my class.  I downloaded it and guess what?  There it was!!! A font that was large enough to read and a lighted page so I could read in bed instead of having to squint because of poor lighting in my bedroom.  On top of that, I could still highlight sentences and take notes.

                OK, so what is unusual about the last two paragraphs?  On the one hand, not much; in a way, kinda deadly dull.  But as I began to write, it occurred to me, if this blog (there I go again) was catapulted back even ten years, the reader would have no idea what I was talking about.  Our vocabulary has changed and it is changing more and more each day.  Guess my only hope of keeping up is to make sure my New Oxford American Dictionary is close at hand …. The one on my kindle ….  After all, the printed one in my bookcase is dismally out of date.

                hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: signs

hmmm…..

                Really?  I usually try to stay away from controversial issues, but  I could not back away from  this one.  A woman in Cincinnati, OH who owns a duplex there, posted a sign on the property’s swimming pool that said “whites only”.  Really?  Can you feel my outrage pouring out from my screen to yours?  Would that mean that President Obama and his family could not swim in the pool?  The most powerful leader in the world banned from a pool?  Really?  The rest of the story is that the courts ruled that the sign “ violated the Civil Rights Act” and it was taken down.  Thank God. 

                We think those days of discrimination are over.  And then something crazy like this happens.  Guess we were wrong.  In some parts of the country, apparently discrimination is alive and well.

                But I want to say something about other "parts of the country".  I have never been there, but I know for a fact that Ohio is not all bad.  A good friend of mine who is all about freedom for all people,  lives in Cincinnati. 

                I met two women this week at Austin Seminary who are passionate and compassionate.  They each serve as pastors of churches in tiny towns in Ohio.  My guess is that there is no way they would ever support such nonsense as allowing a “whites only” sign anywhere.   So we can’t condemn Ohio on the grounds of one woman’s stupid sign.  But we can condemn racist behavior anywhere we see it.  It’s the right thing to do.

                hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: appreciative inquiry

hmmm…..

                In our seminary classes, this week we are learning about a form of research that is called “appreciative inquiry”.  It’s actually a really good process. It encourages the researcher to focus on the positive aspects of a need, problem or concern.  In other words, instead of asking something like, “Why don’t we have children in our church?”, the researcher asks “What is wonderful about your church?”

                I like to think of myself as a positive person.  An attitude of gratitude has long been a motto of mine and I intend to practice gratitude each day.  I look for the silver lining in a dark cloud and try to trust God that everything will work out.  I think bottom line, that’s probably what most people would like to do most of the time.  Think about movies or television shows.  Virtually all of them have a happy ending.  It is very rare for a movie with a downer ending to be successful at the box office.

                Sometimes, though, putting on a fake smile is a form of denial.  And sometimes insisting that a person who is in pain feign happiness is just plain cruel.  I am not talking about wallowing in grief.  I am not talking about suspending time while you torture yourself with sorrow and sadness.  What I am talking about is honestly facing your fears and your failures, your loves and your losses with courage, bravery and strength.

                That comes from a Source that is bigger than us; if you are in pain, may you find it today.

                hmmm…..