thoughts on the news of the day: dr seuss

hmmm…..

                I am a pretty big fan of Theodor Seuss  Geisel.  You probably know him as Dr. Seuss.  Today, March 2, is his birthday, or was his birthday.  He was born in 1904 but died in 1991.  Over his life, he wrote 60 different books, many of which you are no doubt familiar.  Books like, “A Cat in the Hat” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “Oh, The Places You’ll Go” 

                When I was pastoring a church in south Texas, we had a mission project which involved providing school clothes for kids whose parents didn’t have money to buy them.  In conjunction with this project, a young Girl Scout decided to try and provide a book for each child that visited our church for clothing.  She brought boxes and boxes of books she had collected for her project.  When we had completed the distribution of clothing and books, several boxes of books remained.  We debated what to do with them.  Should we put them in our church library?  Or give them to the local library?  We seriously doubted that anyone would want them; they were tattered and torn and didn’t look particularly appealing to most kids.  But I opened up one of the remaining boxes and delighted in a carefully stacked assortment of Dr. Seuss books in near perfect condition.  We were stunned that anyone would so carelessly toss such a fine collection.             

                After making a reasonable donation to the kids clothing project for the books, I carefully carted the Dr. Seuss classics back to my pastor’s study.  I loved sharing them with kids who visited my office.   Most of the popular ones are gone now, given to young readers.  But I don’t regret that they are not in my bookcase anymore.  After all, it was Dr. Seuss who wrote, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

                hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: sign up

hmmm…..

            Yes, it’s a picky detail, but you have to sign up.  Scott Downward found that out the hard way.  He won the Cowtown Marathon this past weekend.  Or, maybe not.  Scott ran the fastest finish of the 9,000 competitors in the race; but he had failed to register for the event .  He ran on a friend’s bib who had signed up for the race but was unable to run in it.  Unfortunately the judges caught the error and took away Scott’s victory. 

            Yes, for many things in life, you have to sign up.  Our parents had to sign us up for kindergarten.  We had to sign up to play on the baseball or softball team.  The Department of Public Safety  requires us to sign up for our driver’s license.  And then there is that detail with a marriage license.  To vote requires a sign up.  Our own children need a sign-up for their social  security numbers shortly after they are born.

            Some people say that all you have to do is “suit up and show up” for life.  You just arrive and life happens.  That might be true.  But there is lots to be said for mentally signing in each morning.  That would be something like waking up and saying, “Good Morning God! What do you have for me to do today?”  Signing up with God when you arise has its merits.  It says that you are willing to let God be in control of your words and deeds.  It says that for today, whatever happens, God will be there to protect, guide and guard you.  And when you sign up for God’s daily marathon, you win, no matter what.

            hmmm…..

            

thoughts on the news of the day: leap year

hmmm…..

            What “would ya, could ya, should ya” do if you had an extra day in your life?  Would you take the day off and go for a picnic or a bike ride?  Would you finish up that project at work?  Would you play with your kids?  Visit your grandma?  Clean out the closet?

            Well, guess what?  This year you do.  We have one more day this February in  a year commonly called Leap Year.  It happens every four years in order to syncronize our calendar with the astronomical or seasonal year.   This keeps the calendar from drifting through the seasons too rapidly.  In the Hebrew calendar, a month is added seven times every 19 years. Wow! a whole month would really be nice – think of the vacations you could take!!

            When I was growing up, the big question was how old would you be if your birthday only came every four years?  When everyone else was 16, would you only be 4?  And …. Would you still get birthday presents, even though, technically, you didn’t have a birthday?  I have personally never know anyone born on February 29.  One of my friends came close – she was born on February 28 in a leap year.  She was always kind of grateful that she didn’t have strange birthdays to deal with. 

            I guess I should say here that we should all do something special, something we wouldn’t ordinarily do on this special extra day.  I could … but I won’t.  That is way too obvious.  Instead, let’s just be grateful for every day … every day when we can enjoy our family, be grateful for employment, food and shelter … not just one day every four years … but every day.

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: connect

hmmm…..

            There are several stories today on the internet about people who have used facebook to deal with issues in their life.  One young Taylor Swift fan is battling leukemia so his sister got on facebook and was able to connect with Taylor  (or Taylor’s staff).  Taylor invited him to be her date for an award show early next month.  Another man, grieving the loss of his mother decided to post a facebook memorial page.  This page featured photos of his mother from throughout her life and has garnered numerous reaponses from friends all over the country.  We have heard of several facebook protest petitions against large corporations who try to add surcharges to client’s  bills.  They have been sucessful in preventing big business from taking advantage of customers. 

It is interesting to me how much facebook has become the opportunity to connect in healing, positive ways.  Oh sure, its easy to bemoan it as superficial, and an escape from real communication.  But in so many ways, it connects us.  I got in touch with a friend in the Houston area that I hadn’t heard from in years.  It was great to be in communication with her and it was good to be able to hear on a day to day basis about the recovery of her daughter from a life threatening seizure.  The best part was being able to pray with and for her. 

Yes, there are other ways to be in touch.  There is email, telephone, and even face to face conversation.   Why debate which is best?  Can it ever be bad to just say hello?  Today, I am grateful for all the ways my global family connects.  And …. I hope …. you stay connected with me ….

hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: academy awards

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            The Academy Awards are this Sunday and I, along with millions of others, plan to watch them.  I like to see what the stars are wearing and my second favorite thing about them are the acceptance speeches.  Usually it is a laundry list of people they owe – agents, managers, producers, directors and so on.  Ocassionally they thank God and/or their parents but not necessarily in that order.

            There are a few memorable acceptance speeches in Oscar history.  Most of the speeches are forgotten, many times along with the actor, the role, and the movie.  But there is one that sticks in my mind.  It is Sally Fields’ acceptance speech for the best actress role in “Places of the Heart”.  You probably remember her saying, “You like me, you really like me!”.  If you didn’t see it the first time, you have probably seen it mocked by comedians, late night talk show hosts and even Academy Award presenters. 

            We all need to be recognized for our hard work and our talents.  We want to be found out.  We want to be liked …. really liked.  We want people to know that we are good or even the best at something we do.  I don’t think there is anything wrong with that.  Affirmation is good.  Accepting others acceptance of your talents and abilites feels good and, well, is good.

            So next time you see someone do or say something really good, tell them so.  Let them know that someone in this big ole world noticed them.  It might make their day.  It might make yours.

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: control

hmmm…..

            I’m trying to think about what I think about the news today.  A 9-year old girl in Alabama was forced to run for three hours and tragically sucumbed from the punishment her grandmother and stepmother meted upon her.  In another news item, eleven children were confined to a 10 by 10 darkened bedroom in Texas and three of those children were tethered to their beds.  Moms out of control.

            Presidential candidate Rick Santorum has made all sort of claims on the rights of women.  He seems to be promoting all sorts of restrictions on a women’s freedom to control her body and therefore affect the birth (or non-birth) of babies.  The state of Virginia is debating the plausability of forcing women to have an ultra sound examination prior to aborting their babies.

            It’s a tangled mess.  Some mothers probably don’t need to have children; they sometimes abuse them and cause them great pain and even death.  On the other hand, I wonder if women are ever coerced to believe that the best choice for all concerned is to abort their baby.  Probably. 

            In all of the examples mentioned above, it is a case of someone trying to control the life of another.   Who has that right and when?  I choose not to have the power to control another person; I try to leave that up to God.  Let’s face it, in the end, God has the power to control anyway.

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: blossoms

hmmm…..

            You might have seen the news about a seed that Russian scientists found in the Artic tundra. This seed had been buried for around 32,000 years and was recently germinated and grown to become a lovely plant with delicate white blossoms.  It is the oldest plant by far to ever have been grown from an ancient seed and it is beautiful.

            I wonder what I would look like in 32,000 years.  When I look at pictures of myself from my childhood, I see a resemblance; but I wonder if other people do.   How different would I look in 100 years? 320 years?  32,000 years?

            In our church, we have an aging congregation.  There are many members who are over 90 years old.  They are lovely, graceful and still full of playful life.  Occasionally (mostly at their funerals) I get to see photographs of them in their youth.  There are wedding photos, pictures of men in their military uniforms and sometimes, early family photos of them with their young siblings.  I rarely recognized them as their former selves.

            What is so charming about seeing old phtographs, though, is the story that is told by the features that remain.  Often it is bright eyes.  There are several women in our congregation who still have their sparkling, stunning blue eyes.  It is no surprize to me why their husbands fell for them.  Most men had much more hair in their younger years and this changes their appearance greatly.  But often the way they carry themselves or hold their head at a certain angle identifies them clearly.

            I wonder how we look in God’s eyes.  Does God see the wrinkles, the bald heads, the gray hair? Probably not; I mean after all, we will always be his children.

            hmmm…..