Class Act

• A woman falls and gets hurt. Her dog runs under the house. The outside temperature is terribly cold. A responding police officer climbs under the house to get the dog, assists the woman and her dog into the house, covers them both with a blanket, and makes the woman a cup of tea while waiting for the Rescue Squad to arrive to make sure the lady was ok.
• A young man with downs syndrome plays a basketball game. His team helps with on which direction to go, and assists so he can try (many times) to score. The opposing team plays defense by cheering him on.
• A high school student gets a chance to play ball, and when many high school sports have gotten rougher, both teams put this student to the challenge... challenging him to do his best. All were successful.

In a time when there are so many people pointing fingers at what's wrong in our world and how our society is messing up, we've forgotten those who are doing right, and making things happen. The police officer didn't have to climb under a house, especially in the cold weather, and he certainly didn't have to make the tea. The opposing basketball team didn't have to cheer the young man on. The high school student was taking the time from everyone's evening, but no one cared.

If people would stop for one minute and find the good in things, how much time wouldn't be wasted in the hateful words, or the horrible actions, or the ill-mannered ways that people otherwise act?
For example...
-- You don't like how Mrs So-and-So makes treats? Make sure to THANK HER for making treats, and don't eat them.
-- Those kids keep taking all the cookies from the community cookie jar? Wow, there are kids around to enjoy the cookies? Awesome!
-- You have a problem with the deputy who just wrote you a ticket? Make sure to appreciate him/her when you find out how they saved a kid's life or stopped someone from getting hurt.
-- You don't like the price of gas? Walk. Don't want to walk? Don't complain about the price of gas.

People forget that their actions are like a virus, and like any virus, it spreads.
When the virus comes back around, do we want to be healthy, or are we willing to get sick?

Healthy comes from finding joy, being happy, using humor, loving one another, caring and praising each other, and seeing the good in things.
The choice is yours to make.

49 is a good number

I had a lot of thinking to do over the last few weeks. For those who know me really well, you know that I'm probably mentally drained now. As I've thought over my life - what is and what was - I thought of my time in high school, in the military, after the military, and as I progressed into being a pastor. Then of course I thought of my nine and a half years of pastoral ministry.
Of course, there are some things that stick in my mind

• the particular baptisms I've done... I'm still in contact with the family of the very first baptism I did. There is the baptism that I did that had great-grandpa singing afterwards, and the church filled with tears of joy. There was also the baptism of a dear friend just hours before he went on to eternal life.
• the weddings I've officiated... the one that the father of the bride worked hard to walk the bride down the aisle, not allowing his health to hold him back. The wedding on an open wagon in a field on a beautiful day. The older couple who came to be married, and the "youthful orneriness" they have.
• The friends I've made along the way - some at the moment, some years later. Some of my friends are people who, when we first met, probably couldn't stand me, but over the years, we've found a common ground and support one another, whether face-to-face or through social media. There are even those that cheap "cowboy" hats or "thrown" books come to mind.
• Some funerals... As morbid as that sounds, funerals stick in my mind. The third funeral I did when friends wanted to thrown a little "party" right after the committal service at the cemetery. Or when a funeral director pushed the button on the CD player one-too many times when trying to queue Alan Jackson's "Remember When", and instead, we all heard the beginning of "Little Bitty" (after the folks started laughing, we all figured "why not!"). Or the funerals of community matriarchs; or the hero for how he possibly saved others before losing his life.
• Of course, my granddaughters. Playing with them gives me so much joy, but my heart weeps when I have to say "good bye" to them, or when I see their sad faces, lately because grandpa blinked and his precious package fell and hurt her little nose. (Just thinking about how I took her in my arms and comforted her brings tears to my eyes).
  

Through the years, it's hard to imagine who I am now versus who I was five years ago or ten years ago or 15 or 20 years back. I'm wondering if with old age comes more cynicism, but I see plenty of folks who are my age and older who are happy and full of joy. I think of the things that do give me joy - my granddaughters, the humor I find - and I sometimes find sorrow as well because of something lingering in the shadows. I think of my health and wonder what tomorrow or next month or next year will have in store, but I also think "remember where you were a couple of years back?" I think of my ministry, and wonder about the lives I've touched -- or have I? Sure, I can wonder that... I do know of one or two because they said so (or "so they said" LOL), but I can only ponder- will I be that "weird bald guy who never got his words straight" or the "cool guy who could give Graham a run for his money" (well, if I'm going to wonder, I might as well go big, right? lol)

But through it all, I can't help but wonder "why"... Why did I do this or Why did I do that. Why did I try it this way or Why did I decide to go that direction.
Yeah, Why ask Why... but after being asked "why" so many times, I seem to find myself asking the same question - Why?

Life is full of turns, changes, twists, tumbles, and tons of pitfalls. But as I was once (or twice, or thrice) told, I'm a grandpa!! So there is some joy. There is some happiness. There is something out there.

Love - a few weeks ago, not ahead

Christmas has come and gone. Or has it? Have we pushed it aside, or are we living the idea each day?
I think we never got the clue in the first place.

I watched many this & that posts on social media, and as I worked on my Christmas Eve Message, a I posed a challenge (opportunity) for people, both in my Message and on social media - post a note of what the Holiday Season means, and challenge others to post a response as well.
The response to my challenge was interesting - many "likes", and one person answered the challenge.
One.
(I'm not counting my brother in this, but credit does go to his constant love for the Christmas season with his own blog, pictures, and how he decorates his home and spends his free time baking treats)
Then my brother posted a "Pay It Forward" challenge that I stepped up for, and for those who commented to my post would have to post the same challenge to their Facebook wall. It was nice to see some of my Facebook contacts comment on how they would want to receive a random gift from me sometime in the year, but only one person completed the challenge by "Paying it forward".

I have had people contact me about various forms, stats, audits, etc (it's that time of year) and many of the questions could be answered so much quicker by going to the person with the answer. But because someone said something to someone else last year and hurt someone else's feelings, and never talked to the first person to start with, then it seems nothing gets done.
But some forget to try that "love one another" thing, put the hateful person aside and go talk to the original person for an answer.

Valentine's Day is in a few weeks - a time when the hearts and roses will come out and people will oogle and ahhh over sweet-nothings. I may even  be expected to do the "usual 'love' Sermon".
But what love? Love for each other? Love one another? Love for our neighbors? Love for our enemies? Love before hate? Love in outreach and mission? Love in care and understanding?

We can look and search - but we MUST to ask ourselves...

I am what I am

Over the past week or so, I've had the "opportunity" to look at the world around in a different light. I've had the chance to look at things and consider where I stand in the "grand scheme of things".

Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinions. How a person feels is his or her feelings, and no one can dictate that. Likewise, no one can dictate how I feel, and thus I'm entitled to my opinions.

When I became a pastor, I made a choice to stand for those who couldn't stand for themselves. I chose to defend the defenseless. I decided to help the helpless.
But this also meant that I had to stand bold in my beliefs.
This meant stern discernment in some tough situations. This meant realizing that it was ok to say "no", and saying it when it needed to be said. This meant dishing out some tough love from time to time.

This isn't something that is easily explained - I've had many classes on the different areas of this, done various research papers, and am still taking different classes. So if I'm not making a lot of sense, trust me, it's not something simple to just write out in some blog. But when I can say is that people are quirky. All people are. And it takes different kinds of people to make the world go 'round. But we also have to respect people. We have to respect who they are, how they came to be, why they are what they are, and what they do. We may not like it, but they are who they are. Period.
This doesn't mean that we have to accept everyone. If we don't like how a person or group of people do or don't do things, then we don't have to hang out with them. Any reason to hang out is simply peer pressure and adults have already learned about all of that.
No. We can move on and live our own lives. We can be happy and watch those who chose a different path go down that path, and simply wish them the best, pray for them, and move on.

With that, I have to now say that over the next few days, weeks, and months, I've got a lot of considering to do. I've got a lot to think about. I've got a lot to mull over.
So it you see me with a glazed look, just snap your fingers once or twice. I'll come back to the current state after I blink once or twice.

I like my soup hot.

Ah, a season of caring and kindness and compassion.
Where was it?

To set the record straight, this is my blog - a blog is personal reflections and opinions. So if something here rubs you the wrong way, I know a really nice pharmacist that can sell you a creme or ointment for that.

Over the past year, I've set forth to find the history on things - in short, why things are the way they are. In doing so, I found out more than some people might have wanted. For each rock I overturned, there were more stones underneath.

Over the past year, I started a class to learn to sort and separate people and what makes them who they are, and then put it all back together in particular groups (we are all like this - at our jobs, our families, our clubs or social groups, and each one of those interact with one another within us). This all affects the health of each person.
The key thing I found was how people all seem to jump when a certain group of people said jump, and even when those folks stepped out of the scene, the affect on the group still lingered like a heavy smoke.

In the end, people react how they want (well, we all do), and when people find out that they have done something wrong, what would be the next step?
Do they go on with life?
Do they apologize and try to make things right?
Do they avoid the situation they wronged and pretend like it never happened?

Over the past year, I've only seen one or two people go with #2. Most people have gone with #3, and some have gone with another choice - rumor and gossip about a situation to try to degrade another, not giving any thought to how the view looks from the balcony.

My classes are contining through 2014, so there is still tons to learn. I still have to get oversized paper to writeout some genograms (think a bunch of different colors of lines, all intersecting to different points, and each confusing point meaning something special).

The fun has just begun.