Malls Were Cool

Malls Were Cool

When I was growing up, in New York City and north Jersey, we had several, maybe 8 or 9 to choose from. I was brought up to be a window shopper, a looky lu I guess. Walking through the mall passed the time away while enjoying clothing styles, music memories, hanging out with friends and some really good pizza.

There was one mall that I went to, underground mall, that always kicked it up a notch. The people there were from all over the world. They probably worked in the city, maybe lived nearby or outside of the city, but would often shop in the mall. Very cosmopolitan, if we still use that word. It was harder to get to that mall for me because we had moved across the Hudson in my teenage years and getting into the mall near the bottom of Manhattan was not convenient for me.

I remember cutting school one day and catching the bus into the Port Authority terminal in the city. If memory serves, we went through the Lincoln tunnel and came out around 43rd street. From there, I could walk down to the mall. It was under a couple of tall buildings, the Twin Towers. It was easy to head in that direction since you could see them easily from any corner.

It was quite a walk, but I loved it. City blocks in NYC are big but loaded with fascinating people and things to see. I’d pick up a Sabrett hotdog on the way down and I’d be in heaven, mustard , Sauerkraut, footlong, dished out of the carts on many corners. NYC was known for staggering good food, no matter what price point.

As I got to the towers, I walked along the sleek buildings, steel gleamed back at me more than glass reflecting on me. They were marvels that I watched grow taller every day on my walk to school across the river in Garfield as they built the tall skyscrapers. Just marvelous to me. I grew up with them you could say.

The Mall below was fascinating as well. I could wander around in there for hours, looking at the world through the goods displayed in its shops. I miss it. There will never be another place like it.

I joined the Army in 75 at 17 years old and whenever I came home on leave I felt the urge to get back into the city, take the ferry around the Statue of Liberty, and pay a visit to the mall. Pizza, pretzels, or hot dogs were mixed in usually. The pizza and hot dogs were the best in the world, while Philadelphia might, and I say might, have had an edge on the pretzels. But for a few hours, I was back in a very special piece of real estate.

As I say, I grew up with the Twin Towers, and the neighborhood all around them and even underneath them. From the South Street Seaport, the Fish Market, the high end clothing stores, Wall Street, the church where Washington worshipped, the food carts, the salty smell of the harbor, the salty language of New York cops and so much more. One time we went up to the top observation deck and I stood there looking out over New York harbor. What a sight.

Yea, that all disappeared for me on 9/11. I was in my daughter’s room, praying when my wife burst in to tell me that my memories were being attacked, even erased. My kids were off in boarding school and their rooms were quiet spots for our devotion. But there was destruction that day, not peace.

How many lives left this earth that day? I think they are still trying to identify some of the dead. And more to follow in the years since with cancer and other illnesses. How many police and firemen woke up that morning thinking this would be their last day? How many cabbies, toughened by driving in the crazy downtown traffic were reduced to tears? How many Americans watching on TV were in shock and wanted to go to the city just to do something helpful, supportive. How many people around the world felt similarly? Many things happened that day, and much, as well as many were lost, never to be reclaimed.

I would like to forget it sometimes. I don’t like to cry over something that happened 25 years ago. Really, I’d rather not. I’ve forgotten a million other things, I’m sure. But no, I cannot forget the Twin Towers and what happened to the people in them. I can’t forget what happened to the whole world after that. Some memories do not go away or even fade with time. This is one of them, maybe the only one so significant.

I remember.

Eagle Recovery

From my research;

Wild animals are versed at rebounding from a storm, fire, or flood—all of which are natural fallouts—responding to them with gestures toward vigorous new creations, as in a new eyrie. Animals have a tougher time coming back from the assaults of humankind, in part because the aftereffects—poison or invasion—often linger and slam the door to creation. Still, as long as animals are not polluted or shot out of a healthy habitat, they can generally tolerate the presence of the human species. It’s humans who take less kindly to coexistence.

Davis, Jack E.. The Bald Eagle: The Improbable Journey of America's Bird (p. 214). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Research btw is more involved than I expected. Lots of searching under lots of rocks till you find something that shines and catches your eye, as this quote did.

Eagle Talk 5

Simple Leadership

Jackie

I’ve been researching Bald Eagles for a year or so now. We have a pair of them that nest about 1700 feet from our house. We watch them almost every day. It is an interesting relationship. We can’t exactly call them our friends although we feel a friendly disposition towards them. We don’t think of them in anyway as pets, although we sometimes talk to them in those funny voices like you are talking to your dog. We even say hello to them when they are within earshot. And we certainly don’t relate to them as a falconer would to their captive raptor, like the Mongolians that fly Golden Eagles to hunt or exhibit.

For the moment, I don’t have a precise description of our relationship with our pair, which we call Edward and Abby. How we chose those names is another story and that will be in the book I’m working on, but yes, we did give them human names.

Seems like that is a pretty natural thing for us humans to do. I’m not judging anyone who does it or is against it, just saying it is a human thing to do, especially these days when we are so close to our animal companions.

My wife just passed on the sad news to me that the female from the Big Bear nest in Southern California just died and I felt that zing go through my neck and brain like when you hit your funny bone in your elbow and it goes through you with an electric jolt. It’s a sad feeling I’m speaking of. And we get it for others that have become important to us for whatever reason.

It’s sort of the beginning of grief and the recovery from grief which is called bereavement. We’ve never met Jackie in person of course, but our story has been bound in with hers because of the outpouring of good wishes for her as she fell ill about 3 weeks ago and then the ties that bind her to our pair of Eagles here at Holmes Lake. We even find ourselves worrying for these two and how well they are doing.

There are over 50 Bald Eagle nest cameras that are operating in this country. I’m still trying to understand it but there is an unusual and outsized level of interest and care in these creatures, beloved creatures in fact. I like that. I like being a part of that community that cares so much for these birds. It makes me want to work harder at seeing that they have a high quality of life. They can live 15 to 20 years in the wild and even longer. I’m afraid that Jackie didn’t get that chance to live out her full life. I don’t know why. I’m not sure anybody knows why, yet at least. But these treasured birds need an answer and so do we. As we help them to live better lives, I’m confident that we will all have our lives improved. RIP Jackie. Godspeed to her partner, Shadow.

Purpose of Education

“Thomas Jefferson. . . knew what schools were for--to ensure that citizens would know when and how to protect their liberty. . . It would not have come easily to the mind of such a man, as it does to political leaders today, that the young should be taught to read exclusively for the purpose of increasing their economic productivity.”

― Neil Postman,

This Postman quote got my attention because it is such a deterministic statement. Is he suggesting that the real and ultimate, even only, purpose of education is to increase economic productivity on a personal level? Maybe. I wonder what he was thinking.

Here is some AI thinking

According to cultural critic Neil Postman in his book The End of Education, the true purpose of education is to forge a coherent, unified culture out of a diverse society, provide profound meaning through shared narratives, and help young people make sense of the world rather than just train them for jobs. 

futuremakers.nz +2

What Education Should Be

• Cultural Cohesion: Bringing diverse groups together with a shared sense of national and civic purpose. 

  Encyclopedia Britannica

• Meaningful Narratives: Using powerful stories—such as the "American Experiment" or "Earth as Spaceship"—to give students a reason to learn. 

  futuremakers.nz

• Moral and Intellectual Growth: Teaching students how to ask deep questions, think critically, and understand their place in human history. 

  futuremakers.nz +1

What Education Should Not Be

• Economic Utility: Reducing schooling to mere job training or a way to make more money.

• Consumership: Teaching children that their human worth is measured by what they buy or consume.

• Technological Worship: Blindly trusting computers and gadgets to solve human and educational problems. 

  LMU Digital Commons +1

It Couldn't Be Done Edgar Guest

It Couldn't Be Done

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
     But he with a chuckle replied
That “maybe it couldn’t,” but he would be one
     Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
     On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
     That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: “Oh, you’ll never do that;
     At least no one ever has done it”;
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
     And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
     Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
     That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
     There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
     The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
     Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start in to sing as you tackle the thing
     That “cannot be done,” and you’ll do it.

Talk About What

The thought occurred to me today that what would I talk about if I was told I could never talk about myself again. I guess I'd be even more quiet than ever. Then again, who knows, I might mutter on about all kinds of things.

Two Practical Things To Learn About America

I’ll throw these out at the beginning. These two items will make life better for those coming from another country to live in the US. And they will improve the life of those that already live here as well.

Learn what your roles as a citizen are and learn how to take advantage of the economy, all in the context of legal and moral actions and ideals.

Show up and vote and make the government work for you and learn how to invest your time and money in the capitalist system.

Both of these are givens in our country. Our government is unique and if there is greatness to be discovered in our form of government as I believe there is, then it will behoove all of us to dig deep into what our government is and how it operates, and more importantly, why it is formed the way it is, two legal branches to make laws, one to maintain them and another to execute them. And the second idea basically comes down to how to make money and make a living in this country.

I’ve watched many immigrants excel at both these ideas. They learn how to act like Americans and then they learn how to excel and prosper as Americans. From Russia, or Poland or Italy, or Sudan, or Kenya, or South Africa, or Colombia, or Mexico, or Chile, I’ve known people in all these countries that came to America and figured out these two concepts and how to use them to their benefit. They didn’t cheat or scam or secretly live their lives to gain at other peoples expense. They lived their lives openly and worked hard at these two concepts. They became productive, interesting citizens, always learning, ever looking forward and they worked hard to make a better life for their family, friends and the institutions they engaged with. I’m thinking how they made wonderful church members and contributed greatly to our faith and spirit when I was their pastor.

As it turns out, we would do well to learn from them, watch their struggles, lend a hand from time to time, marvel at their courage, and be inspired by their dreams. They came here to make a better life and they have succeeded.

This September 6 will be a year since I broke my ankle. I had little idea before the twist and shout and yell and cry of that day what I would go through pain and frustration wise. I can say many things about my misfortune but this will suffice for now. Watch where you step.

So I’ve started feeling like my old self in the last month or so and I couldn’t be more grateful. When you are out of commission for so long, you get a little rusty, among other things. My wife, bless her immensely has been the best partner I could imagine as we have repaired my bones and my spirit.

I was very tied down to my room for much of that time. That’s not all bad. Of course, I got out many days for our walk but I was not performing well its fair to say. These last few weeks have been better, still some pain in my ankle, but manageable in concert with all my other activities and not so limiting.

This time also diminished my studies and that desire for learning has returned substantially. I’m so glad to be reading and doing a lot of thinking about things I consider important.

One of those things of importance is what makes a country? Its people, its government, its laws, its resources, its history, its objectives, its purpose or mission? I could add some other things but that’s enough for me to think about.

We are living in the most momentous, most exciting time filled with the most possibilities and most achievements during my lifetime. I have witnessed attack after attack upon our individual freedom(s) and we have withstood them all. There are more to come and I welcome them. They are making us stronger. We are going back to the Why question in earnest. Why America, Why a Republic, Why two houses of legislation, why laws, why a President and not a king or a prime minister.

This time of reWhying our Why is so fascinating to me. For so many, it seems frightening as we grapple with these questions and come up with different answers. And the other factor is so much indifference by some if not many.

I’m intent on knowing the why of my country and refuse to be indifferent about it. I have spent many hours in this last year understanding what makes us tick as Americans and what the future might look like. I think it is bright actually. We have a magnificent beginning story from 250 years ago and I think the courage and fortitude of those that framed the Constitution has carried us a long way and will take us further. In fact, I think the Constitution is and was made for such a time as this. Life is not nor has it ever been easy. That’s just part of living. But I continue to respect the oath I took in the military to uphold the Constitution. I continue to respect the pledge I made so many times in school to the American flag and what it stands for and the republic that carries out the wishes of the governed.

The most exciting part is that so many others feel the same way. And they are raising their voices in renewal and the ongoing work of revolution against tyranny and despotic thinking. The Revolution of our forefathers continues. All those men thought the American Revolution was useful for the entire world. If they were still alive, they would continue to believe so. They would sign their names and pledge their sacred fortunes for the next chapter of America.

Good Government.

One of my favorite movies produced an insightful line, where Capt. Jack Aubrey says: "Men must be governed! Often, not wisely, but governed nonetheless." Dr. Stephen Maturin replies: "That's the excuse of every tyrant in history from Nero to Bonaparte..."

Wow. In two lines, they get down to business. Men need governing or do they?

Why can’t we all be left alone, free from any government or control of any kind?

I think the Libertarians would like that perspective, but I’d bet that most of them would still see a proper role for government, albeit much more limited than today.

Whether you think much of government or not, we are overseen by those that govern us. About half of us do some sort of voting for that government every few years.

In God’s word, there is a clear government with God as the King and chief governor. And Christ is also a governor. Matthew 2:6 But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a governor who will shepherd my people Israel."

In fact, an earlier prophecy offers that Christ will have the government upon his shoulders. saiah 9:6, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

I look at all those words in that verse and I think that of all the governments in various forms in history and there is only one that makes sense to me, the Government of Christ.

What form that should take, and how should it be applied is the question. A democracy like the one in Athens, a Republic like the one in America, a socialist form like many countries in Europe, Marxist, Communist, Oligarchy, Kingly, or any one of a dozen others?

I’ve studied some of these forms and still keep coming back to what I consider the most ideal, one led by Christ. We are in a Republic of course, with Democratic values at the heart of our style of government while others are more Socialist with Democratic values as their touchstones.

Is any of it Good Government? I’ve always chuckled a bit when I remember Ronald Reagan's words, "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help".

He was skeptical of government overreach and its ability to correct and govern the people. I think today, we are seeing his skepticism much more in the minds of the citizens of the world, not just one country. Something has shifted, hasn’t it? We no longer use the words Good and Government together. I’m not sure we ever did, actually.

The American Revolution was started by the complaints listed in the Declaration of Independence, a relatively short document with a long list of complaints about the Government of King George, and in some cases, the lack of government. After 250 years, it feels a bit like we are back where we started. I hope we do it better in the years ahead. Maybe we should take some time to look at Gods documents on Government.

Ain't Gonna Study War No More

The old spiritual called for peace and tranquility in a time of conflict and violence. Before the Civil War, slavery was a terrible, violent injustice upon humans of various races. In America, mention the word slavery and we often associate it with whites enslaving blacks. That is true of course, but not the full story. In fact, over time, there have been just as many whites enslaved as well. The Atlantic Slave Trade of the 16th -19th century was largely violence perpetrated upon Africans and their subsequent offspring. It was horrible and still troubles us to this day. To offer a singular cause for this international brutality is difficult but most settle on economic reasons; the Cotton and Sugar trades for instance. Whatever the reasons, taking a human from their home, putting them in chains, perilous travel across the seas that might kill you, working for men with ungodly power over you and your body, and your family; all these and a thousand other injustices belie the barbarity of it all. The Brits finally put an end to it, for the most part, under the courageous guidance of the likes of William Wilberforce and others. In America, Lincoln hated slavery as well and took the country in a direction it could not fathom or prepare for, and effectively ended slavery as an (corrupt)institution.

But that did not and sadly, could not stop the violence. In fact, I’m not sure we will ever eradicate violence. In order to get rid of all violence, we will have to do a lot of violence to those that do not agree with us. We will have to get rid of their thinking in other words, who cares about their bodies if we can silence their thoughts and ideas. No, sadly, I don’t think that day will ever come on this side of heaven. That might be why the old spirituals sang of heaven as well. Remember Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to take me home. Slaves sang that, knowing that only God could offer full freedom and it would likely be in the next life.

I’ve studied violence all my life it seems because I learned to hate violence before I was a teenager. The stories my father told of WW11 and fascisim, Nazism, and later Communism since he also fought in Korea I was growing up during the Vietnam conflict or war if you wish and the culture of war dared me to try to figure out why so many people, mostly men, were willing to pick up a rifle and a bayonet and end the lives of their enemy. I have never fully understood it, and have comforted myself by thinking that it is impossible to understand it. But try, I did.

Do we need to try to understand violence today? Putting aside the spiritual about studying war, I believe we do. Whether you believe violence is on the rise or not, there is too much of it in our society and world. Some of the most beautiful people I ever served as a pastor were immigrants, refuges really from South Sudan. These young men and women were hunted and harassed by powerful forces in their country and they had the chance to come to America while leaving many of their family members behind. Many were already murdered and in the ground, others still trying to survive in terrible conditions.

When I listened to their stories, all I could do was ache and cry it seems. When my father told stories of prison camps or the Ghettos of Warsaw that were eradicated like vermin, I ached, still do in fact. There is no sense in trying to calculate such consequences, suffice it to say, that hundreds of millions died and still die as a result of this kind of violence but no one has the honest number. It’s just bad beyond belief. I hear that a thousand Russians are dying a day as a result of the Ukrainian resistance. I know next to nothing about either Russians or Ukrainians. I do know that they all breath and act like humans, just like you and me. I can’t express any glee over the losses, even though they attacked their neighbor Ukraine. I could never allow myself to be happy over anyones death I think, at least not common people as most of these soldiers are. If it was someone like Hitler that was killed, I could rethink that of course, but mostly because the death of a Hitler would mean the end of violence is likely near.

It’s never been my job or purpose in life to hate. I have hated and it hasn’t been very effective. Likely, it has been more damaging than good. But as my father taught me, we really did have to go and do violence to the Nazis, Germans if you wish, Japanese and so forth. I’ve tried to lean Pacifistic and sometimes I get very close. But I can’t quite go all the way.

That leaves me with the unpleasant task of studying war. And the naive task or learning enough to prevent wars. I know that’s not going to happen totally, but what if I can prevent violence on a smaller scale? What if I can take my self out of the violence equation somehow? Might that somehow contribute to to a better world with less violence and more peace? I think so. These are a series of complicated ideas and few satisfying answers of course. And none of us have to study the reasons for violence but I find myself engaged in that study because violence is part of our day to day. Next time, I’ll take a look at the list of things that make for violence. After that, I’ll make a stab, no pun intended, at figuring out what are the root cause of violence. I don’t know if I’ll make any convincing headway there but it must be done I believe. So it’s back to studying war again. Wish me luck and good health.

Who's Listening?

You know that funny feeling you get, maybe even creepy when you check your social media accounts and there is an add on there for something you were just talking about with your spouse or kids? We were talking about football a while back here in Nebraska and stadium food and in a flash, those red hotdogs were being advertised as if they thought we were about to run down to the store and buy a case of them. We just looked at each other and went wow, somebody is listening in.

It's funny but that doesn't bother me much, probably because I've lived with God listening in for many years now. I've never felt like he is spying on me and wanting to sell me a product though. I've always felt like He was checking in to see how I was doing and if I needed something. So when a package of His love showed up right away, I got used to Him being around.

Sometimes people wonder about the idea that if you know that God exists. For me, I know He does, because He's always around. I don't need to prove it, I simply appreciate it.

History Matters

It’s been some six months since I wrote here. It feels good to have enough energy to make my mind work and come up with words to make my fingers work. The last 4 months have been their own kind of recuperative hell from ankle and lately knee pain. The fall into a hole that I never saw has left me close to depressed at times, mostly because it was hard to see a full recovery of my ankle. As it progresses, I get a little less concerned each day and grow confident that I will be walking on the wild side again.

We all know there is a subject in school called History, right? But I wonder if History is important or required for many students to engage with these days. In fact, the title of this post is a bit of a sad admission that history needs to have something of a renaissance.

I am prouder of my son and daughter than they both realize because they both graduated with degrees in subjects that used to matter a lot and I believe have shaped their lives. And those subjects, History for my daughter and English for my son, will come to matter a great deal to them again. They both are very literate, far more than I am and they think well and often of great and minor things alike. For that, they have my respect. As I write this, I am getting some payback from helping both of them to get their degrees, English from him and the words I choose and history from her for the topic I’ve chosen.

Now, to history matters. The historians I’ve read are more often than not, looking to the immediate and long term future of our world and its nations. For many of them, that is why they studied history. To learn something of the past and the way the past repeats itself so that they might be able to suss out what the future looks like. When well researched historians speak, you know they carry extra weight in their arguments because they have looked at matters from several sides and examined and weighed the facts and circumstances of events and characters that made history.

That reason alone has been the driving force why I read so much history, on all sides I might add. It gave me no pleasure to read Mein Kampf when I was a teenager. I found Hitler to have monstrous and barbaric tendencies from well before the beginning of WW2. Reading Marx is no picnic, boring and whinny in fact. Both readings were un-redemtpive, offering little intrinsic value or character building guidance. In fact, both became models of what not to do in life.

Yet, I read them for their viewpoints and arguments. Match that up with the consequences of their experiments in humanity and the genocides they unleashed and you have your reason for reading history and becoming an amateur historian.

I found myself in possession of a book of anarchy called Steal This Book from Abby Hoffman on how to live off the system, steal your food and clothing and transport. He had a section on how to steal coins from pay phone booths by slipping thin cardboard down the change shute and capturing the money in the change maker at the bottom of the phone case. Now that’s some history for you. Does anybody remember the culture of standing at a telephone booth and dropping dimes, nickels and quarters in at the operators direction? I sure do.

My father found that book in my room one day and I’ll never forget the whooping I got. I suppose he taught me a lesson. He’s long gone now and I think it stuck. I am responsible for what I read and what goes into my mind and what comes out of my heart. He was afraid I would turn out to be some kind of misfit wastrel in life and he would have nothing to show for his wayward son. There is a famous parable that illustrates this as well in the Bible. My father was not as forgiving as that one of course, but I’m sure he felt similar sadness over me. He may have been very happy to hand me over to the army as well so that I became their ward and problem.

At any rate, I read a lot, mostly history, because I wanted to know what the future might look like. I care about the future, not that I’ve made a scintilla of difference in how it will turn out. But I might make a difference in someone’s life and direction by explaining the outcome of Anarchy or Communism or Totalitarianism, etc. All those have been tried and found wanting and terribly destructive.

Once the Greeks unearthed Democracy, the world started down a new and unknown path. Filled with mystery and possibilities and choice, it became the best from of government available to humanity from an earthly perspective. While many see God as a benevolent dictator, I see Him as the founder of true Democracy. That is why I enjoy reading His words and following His ways. I think the Bible is the best path forward and its history is to be studied and embraced. Billions of people in the past and at present don’t agree. That too, is part of God’s government. Otherwise we wouldn’t be here.

Is the study of history in a bad way today? It sure feels like it. Ask someone who was the fourth president of the U.S. and I don’t know what you’d hear, or the third or second. Some have no idea of the first, Yikes. Ask who started WW2 or WW1 or any of those kind of questions and you might as well be looking at blank faces. Does History matter to everyone? No. But it does to me. And hopefully you.

Todays Catch

“So the point of my keeping a notebook has never been, nor is it now, to have an accurate factual record of what I have been doing or thinking. That would be a different impulse entirely, an instinct for reality which I sometimes envy but do not possess. At no point have I ever been able successfully to keep a diary; my approach to daily life ranges from the grossly negligent to the merely absent, and on those few occasions when I have tried dutifully to record a day’s events, boredom has so overcome me that the results are mysterious at best. What is this business about “shopping, typing piece, dinner with E, depressed”? Shopping for what?

Typing what piece? Who is E? Was this “E” depressed, or was I depressed? Who cares?”

From On Keeping A Notebook.

That’s largely how I feel about keeping this personal blog. It’s more for writing than a reflective or remembering devise.

What word starts and ends with E but only has one letter in it? Envelope.

Slept in this morning. (Will I remember anything else about that statement, in say a year or two?)

Life In Stages

Most of the time, we live in denial. It’s ok to live that way I believe. At some point, life will fade and denial will lose its grip on your daily thinking. I think you should make good use of denial for as long as you can. I don’t mean denying that you might be doing something stupid or that if you stay on the same course, bad things are going to happen.

I’m talking about denying that death is a part of life. That’s why stages may be useful. In the early stages of our lives, we do not think about our mortality very much. Good or not so good, that’s just a fact. The ancient thinkers would find that bad I think. To them, knowing that death is nearer than you think gives you fuel for a more vibrant and responsive life.

Now that I’m older and had a few personal brushes with death, I tend to agree with the wise ones. But I still cling to the idea that when you’re young, living with constant thoughts of death is morose and even damaging.

When I went into Hospice work, I learned about what might be 4th and 5th stage living, more towards the end of life. Almost daily, I was pretty involved with the dying, the 5th stage I would say. End of life. I was good at helping people in that stage. I miss being able to be able to help people but I don’t miss being surrounded by the dying. It got heavy after almost a decade.

But you can’t escape it really. You might see a lot less of death, but it’s still part of your life. You do learn how to adjust to the stage you are in and your loved ones as well. In fact, it can give you extra incentive to partner up with them and invest yourself in their life all over again. You gain that ancient wisdom and put it to use, even if your younger partners are in a different, less death aware stage.

Our dog Bo just died a couple of weeks ago and we had that kind of relationship with him, at least the making his life better part. We kept him going and walking and going places for as long as he could. Deb fed him like he was a king, eating food fit for a king I think. In some ways our lives revolved around him. We got him from the shelter 6 or 7 years ago and he was gentle and energetic for 9 years old. He could be a bit frustrating at times, but not bad. He was a good steady Eddie, always ready to go out the door with you.

But over the last two years, he went through stage 4 and the last couple of months, stage 5. What a courages, never say die kind of dog he was. Like all the dogs in our lives, he was Debbie’s dog. I’m not bad for them, but they love her. Maybe she just spoils them endlessly. But we both feel the loss. And this loss took place over a couple of years. Sometimes I wonder if it changed my personality and if anyone noticed. I think it made me more quiet at times, and even more sad because I knew his time with us was short. He had several bounce backs which you are glad for but they make it harder in their own way. He just had no quit in him.

I like that. But it was extra painful at the end and brought a touch of somberness to our home for almost 2 years. Would we do anything differently? I don’t think so. He wanted to live and we wanted him to be happy while he could. Right up to the end, you could see him look at you and kind of melt your heart.

He’s at peace now and the house is less something, I don’t know what the right word is actually. But it is. I would not have wanted to pick him up at the shelter years ago and started telling him that he was going to die in 6 years so that he could prepare himself for death. Seems pretty stupid, right? I If I had my way, none of God’s creatures would ever die. Short of that, I’m glad we get to make life better for the cats and dogs and birds and kids and lovers and neighbors in the meantime.

Good In Good Out

Interesting effect I think

Random Thoughts on Conflict

Don’t know, Don’t Care if anyone reads this, just my thoughts.

Lots of conflict in society today, perhaps at a very high level for this whole century.

Getting the two sides together seems impossible.

Remember the Israeli saying, Put Two Israelis together and you have three political party’s.

So much conflict in churches, how can that be, but it is real.

Is it getting worse? Is there a turning point or explosion point or is it turning into a slow, sometimes fast fade and disappearance of people?

I spent a lot of time helping referee negotiations, about half of those times met with some success.

How much of my life and brain power did I use to counteract the conflicts? Was some or much of that wasted time?

God is Responsible

God is responsible it seems to me. If you search in the Creation story of Genesis 1-3 you start with two equal beings, Man And Woman. God created them and that is your first hint that He is accountable. This story gives the image of God to both man and woman, enhancing their equality. Tragically, it goes of the tracks quickly when Eve eats a forbidden fruit that will give her God like knowledge.

The role of the partners in this relationship goes from advocating from one another to blaming one another. As quick as you can spit, she is blaming the serpent, he is blaming God and once the blame has started, it has never stopped.

I can see why so many people cut this part of the Bible out of their thinking. It’s a real downer and who wants to join in the blame game? Yet, we seem to be thourogly steeped in finding out who is to blame for our problems, and almost always, it’s somebody else.

I’ve been trained to kind of believe the Bible and what it says as true and accurate. There are places where you have to take it metaphorically like if your hand offends you, cut it off or your eye offends you, pluck it out. There are quite a few of those. But we have to treat the Bible as a whole as authoritative or we will end our sacrificing all authority in the end. The good news is that God takes responsibility for mankind’s failures. The greatest example of this is Christ’s death on the Cross. This was His gift to allow us to reconcile with Him and the whole earth for that matter.

We had a clear purpose when we were created by God, to make life better for others and the created order. How important it is to remember this and accept that God has our back and all of us for that matter.

For me this is a no blame day, just a day of atonement.

Advice to my self, too late perhaps, but not too little

I had no purpose for a while, I just went along with what seemed to be right in front of me. I joined the army, mostly at the urging of my father and kept moving forward, but not much purpose or mission. As I moved into ministry my wife and I began to sense more of a mission approach to our lives. Over time, it was refined into a simple mission of helping others and empowering others to improve their lives and the lives of others. My mission statement in those days was simple, “Find the Jewel in Everyone”.

A more simple mission would be “To Care” Care for self, so that I could care for others. Both these objects of care need to work together. One without the other will come up short. I think the younger me did not get the care for others part very well. I just figured I needed to care for myself. Getting married forces one to expand that a bit but still leaves you vulnerable to a heavily self centered position.

At some point, the earlier the better, it can be helpful to consider both channels of this idea of mission. The sooner one realizes that their mission is to focus on others and to care for them in some manor, the sooner one can become effective at living a values driven mission. A values driven mission is one where you look at your life skills, education and the things that are most important to you and take that bundle into the world to make up a more specific mission.

An outward mission will also drive one to live a better lifestyle not only for others but for themselves as well. When you have a clear purpose or mission, you have a much better chance of crafting a meaningful life instead of drifting through your days.

If you are young, like I once was, where can you start? I suggest watching, observing, or reading about those that have clear missions. Learn from them and take some advice from their lives and allow them to mentor you.

You are not limited to someone close to you. There are many mentors you can access in the world, even if it is from a distance.

At any rate, I would try to look at other mission minded leaders and then craft my own mission statement after my observations. Remember, it starts with caring for others and caring for your self. The word Serve or Service could be used early on as well.

Another way of looking at is simple as well. Am I contributor to others or a taker from others? This one is a bit harder because it is a judgment call and most of us don’t like to be judged. Take an inventory on your own. Am I putting out more than I am taking in, less than I am taking in or is there a good balance between the two?

This dual view, care for self and care for others is only a starting place. But start early and review it often, it will guide you for the rest of your life. When times are tough and things are way out of balance, it will help you get a grip on your life again and correct your course.

I have a few regrets, this might be the most profound of them, that I took too long to figure out this simple approach to making my way in the world, Caring for myself and Caring for others. I have found that when I care for others, I become much better at caring for myself, even when it feels like I am struggling to keep my head above water. A life lived well learns how to enjoy both.