thoughts on the news of the day: employment

hmmm…..

            A friend of mine recently went back to work for a call center.  For those of you who don’t know what a “call center” is, it is the place where the live person works that you eventually get to when you call a large company with a problem or question. Its not really that great a job.  You sit in a cubicle for most of the day and deal with the problems of folks who aren’t really in that great a mood.  My friend  is over 50, had been downsized at his old company, and had looked for work for a year and a half while his unemployment pay was in effect.  Hoping for a better job, he kept looking in spite of the fact that in this economy, there are few jobs to be found.

            I think he is glad to be working again.  Being around people, feeling productive and having a paycheck are all nice things to have after a long time of hiatus.  There is a lot to be said about honest work done on a regular basis.  It’s easy to take our jobs for granted.  It is easy to think that the pay is too low or the boss is unreasonable or the hours are too long. But really, in this economy, we are lucky to have jobs at all.  It is one of the gratitudes we can count. 

            If you are feeling grumpy this morning because you have to go to work, try gratitude for work to do and a place to go.  

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: blog

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            I haven’t written my blog very consistently for a while.  Maybe you have noticed … maybe not.  It’s funny how something that has become such a habit falls by the wayside so easily.  I miss writing it every morning and was not even sure why I had stopped.  Was it just laziness?  Was the thrill of seeing my writing in print and available for others to read gone?  Was I just out of the habit? 

            It was probably a combination of all three of these things, plus a little more thrown in.  But if I look closer, there is usually an underlying cause for a change in my habits.  It takes some self examination, but if I am intentional about it, I can eventually find the culprit for the new variation to my routine.

            In this case, it didn’t take all that long.  It began with an awareness that my outlook was becoming more cynical and negative.  My point of view was deteriorating toward what was wrong with a person, place or thing.  It spilled over into my writing.  My blog was no longer hopeful, creative, imaginative or winsome.  For me, at times, it almost felt sinister.  Really.

            But I got over it.  Well … not completely, but I am working on it.  All it takes is catching myself in the act of being negative and changing it as quickly as possible.  Wish all my bad habits were that easily broken!  I hope to get back on board with my daily blog.   I miss the creative energy that comes in crafting thoughts into words.  Writing is a great way to start the day; and a positive attitude never hurts.

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: tell me a story

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            You may not think this is true, but we want to hear your story.  You say you don’t have a story?  I seriously doubt it.  Everyone has a story.  It could be argued that the story is not worth telling, but that is debatable.  And it is also up to the listener and not the teller to determine whether the story is valuable or not.

            Can you tell your story?  It’s a little intimidating, isn’t it?  You have to think about what it is you want to say in the first place.  How much would you want to disclose?  Would it hurt someone else’s feelings if you spoke your truth?   Recently I began to collect the stories of my congregation.  My folks are at the late dates of their lives.  If the stories are to be collected, now is the time.  We have fascinating stories in our congregation.  Fighter pilots flew the skies during World War II.  One woman gazed from the top floor of a building as Japanese planes flew over her head on their way to bomb Pearl Harbor.  Not everyone’s stories are so dramatic but they are worth the telling all the same.

            So what about you?  What are you willing to share with us?  Tell us about the birth of your first child … your wedding day… or the time that you first knew that your friend was your “best”.  Is there a first real accomplishment?  A first failure?

            You may not think you have a story; but you do.  You were born, you grew up, things happened.  And we want to hear about them ... really…. We do.

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: the good ole days

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            Simulacra …. It’s a word you can wrap your tongue around.  Simulacra … not exactly Similac, that word that names the nasty formula babies are fed.  Simulacra is not exactly Lycra.  That’s the stuff that makes us well…. less fluffy.

            Simulacrum, the word, was first used in the 16^th century. It meant likeness or representation – like the likeness of a god in statuary or other medium.  Philosophically it has come to mean a distortion to intentionally make a copy appear correct to viewers.  So, the idea from there is that in remembering “the good old days” we distort how they really were.  We perform simulacra. We do this a lot, especially as we get older. 

            We long for something that probably is more legend or myth.  We have this idea that people used to sit on their front porches every evening; when in reality, most folks were still doing dishes or folding laundry or taking their evening bath so they could get up at the crack of dawn the next day, bone tired, to go to the work they did to make a living for their family. 

            We do that with technology.  We long for the good old days when families used to gather around the dinner table and have conversation together.  Really?  Is that what really happened? Or was it more like adults sparing in debate over their close minded opinions and children being “seen but not heard.”

            OK, so I know I am being a little harsh here.  There are many good things to remember about days gone by. And there are things we wish we had now that we don’t.  But next time you say “I remember when,” think about it.  Is it the way it really was, or is it the way you wish it always was; the way you wish it is now …

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: the sanctity of life

hmmm…..      

I love my dog, I really do … she is precious to me.  I take her to doggie day care so that she can socialize with other dogs her size and so she can get some exercise.  She eats premium dog food, and gets her shots whenever they are needed.  I even took her for observation at the vets one time when she had eaten some plastic and threw up.

            But where do we draw the line? I believe in the sanctity of life, but life saving measures for pets are getting weirder and weirder.  I read an article about a man who paid over $25,000 for his dog to have cancer treatments and surgery.  The dog was 10 years old and this was supposed to put the cancer in remission.  It did, but 9 months later the dog died of liver cancer.

            When I was in seminary, one of my classmates was there on scholarship with very little extra income to make her way through.  We helped her by feeding her, letting her borrow our washing machines to do laundry and stuff like that.  Actually, she was a little strange.  One day she found this cat in the street that had been run over by a car.  She asked me to take her and the cat to the vet.  We waited while the vet looked at the cat and then told her that the cat had major injuries that would require surgery and it was best to just put it to sleep.  But my classmate opted to pay $700 of her scholarship money for the cat’s care.

            I’m not saying it was not compassionate of her to take care of the cat, but to me, the decision was not the most prudent.  I love animals, I really do.  I can’t stand to see them abused and I believe that if you own an animal it is imperative that you take care of it properly.  But what does “properly” mean? 

            I wish I could sit at Jesus’ feet and ask him that question.  I know Jesus loves animals, but he loves us, too.

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: lottery

hmmm…..

            Three people, one from Kansas, one from Maryland and one from Illinois will share in the winnings from the Mega Millions lottery.  The jackpot reached $640 million, with each ticket earning about $213 million before taxes.

            Lots of folks claim that they will give some of their winnings to charity.  They pick churches, non-profit agencies and sometimes their alma mater.  Sometimes they give, sometimes they don’t.  I bet that you were saying that same thing:  “If I won the lottery, I would give some of the winnings to (fill in the blank).   We would all like to think that we are generous, especially when it doesn’t really cost us anything; especially when we weren’t expecting a huge windfall; especially when everyone is watching.

            Sure, we could wait until the unlikely day when we come into a huge parcel of income, maybe it’s the lottery, or a company bonus, or an inheritance.  But I say, why wait?  Why wait until that undetermined, unlikely day when you are suddenly enormously rich?  We can give now.  It doesn’t have to be big to count.  Scripture says, “God loves a cheerful giver” not “God loves a big giver.”

            A friend once told me about how she grew up in a financially challenged family … they were poor.  When she was young, she once told her Mom, “I wish we were rich.”  And her Mom replied, “We are rich, we just don’t have a lot of money.”  Their family shared what they had, and were blessed tenfold for it.  And my friend came to know that is what “rich” really means.

            hmmm…..

           

thoughts on the news of the day: me, myself and I

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“Healthy at 100” is the name of a book by John Robbins.  Featured in an article in the New York Times yesterday, the book was actually written in 2006.  It cites research done in 1983 by a psychologist at Baylor University named Larry Scherwitz.  He taped conversations by approximately 600 men, with a third of them having heart disease.  In an interesting research twist, Dr. Scherwitz documented how often the men used first person pronouns like I, me, and mine.  The research revealed that those who spoke in the “I” mode were generally the most likely to have heart disease, and even more interesting, when these same men were followed for several years, they were the most likely to suffer heart attacks.

The conclusion would be that thinking of others before thinking about yourself will keep you healthier and help you to live longer.  This is a sermon that doesn’t need to be preached in my congregation.  We have a 90+ year old who regularly volunteers at our local hospital; she was at the hospital five days last week assisting staff who needed her.  Oh, and that’s in addition to volunteering at the Chamber of Commerce. 

So, for the rest of us, if you want to live longer, by all means, eat right, exercise and get regular check-ups.  But don’t forget to think about someone else, at least for a little while each day.  Add that to your regular routine.  Mr. Robbins and Dr. Scherwitz say it won’t hurt; in fact, it might keep you healthy a lot longer.

hmmm…..