Saturday, May 28, 2011

She Missed Breakfast

My mother was always fond of her breakfast. Many times on this day of the year she would remind me that she gave up her breakfast for me on May 28, 1942. Mind you she was glad to do it because I was finally going to make an appearance. Not that she was given much of a choice in the matter.


It was not just that morning that mom made sacrifices for me and my brothers and sisters. I am so thankful to her for giving me life and teaching me the value of living it as a Christian. She taught me about the bible and about God’s love for me. She taught me to love God, love others and love myself in that order. I am what I am today in large part to the foundation that she carefully laid for my life.


Even today though her mind is damaged by strokes I know that she holds me in her prayers every day.


Thank you MOM I love you very much.

Friday, May 27, 2011

More on Health Care Issues

I saw an  ad on TV warning against the what they call Oboma-care health care  and using scare tactics showing a government bureaucrat getting between the patient and doctor saying you can’t give that treatment.



The big problem, and I speak from personal experience, is that my health insurance company has been telling my doctor for years that I can’t have a treatment unless I am willing to pay 100 percent of it. They are already doing what the ads are trying to scare us with. How dumb do they think we are? They pulled that trick several times before and they think it will work again.

 

Fear of the unknown or what might be moves people to action against their own best interest. It is the same arguments of fear with medicare.

 


The very real issue in these arguments is money. How should health care money be collected and spent? There are no easy answers. Instead of arguments from fear we need to examine other ways of talking about how we do health care for all our citizens with out breaking the bank to pay for it. Clear heads and common ground are needed but political re-elections seem to be the guard at the gate. All we seem to have in both major political parties are self centered career politicians. Well that is what we have to work with and we keep sending them back to congress.  




Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Trivial Time

The paradox of our time is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.


We spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.


Our time is precious and far too often wasted on trivial concerns. Take a few moments of your precious time to consider your place in eternity and the trivial will melt away.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Personal and Professional Ethics


When I was in seminary I took a required course called “Ministerial Ethics” and had to sign the Minister’s Code of Ethics at the end of the course. I was glad to do so and have lived by that code ever since.  Some years later I accepted a position as adjunct professor of World Religions at Jacksonville University and they required me to sign an educators code of ethics before  I began teaching. Again I was glad to do so and abide by it.


Over the years I have noticed many people who shoot their careers in the foot because they violated their professional code of ethics. These violations often involve money or sex, two very powerful forces in our world. Both as a pastor and a teacher I know that it is always wrong to have sexual relations with anyone under my authority. No pastor should ever have sex with a parishioner. No teacher should ever have sex with a student in a school where the teacher is employed. It is always a violation of the code of ethics.


Any time a professional violates his or her professional or personal code of ethics they destroy a part of themselves and they put their career in jeopardy. It is also damaging to the subordinate over whom they have authority. I am appalled when I see men doing it and totally blown away when I see women doing it. The recent spate of  female teachers in elementary and secondary schools having sex with male students is more than my mind can comprehend.  

Marathon Runners

Many people enjoy running in The Marathon races and that intrigues me. I have watched the New York Marathon and marveled at the number of really old people running and finishing it. For anyone to run for very long distances requires a lot of hard training. The runners of the Marathon race must persevere through the point of collapse. Some call it hitting the wall.   Then they get that second wind and go on and on and on.

Great throngs of runners enter Marathon races and the numbers that drop out of the race along the way is huge. These are hard races to take part in, through city streets - up and down hills over bridges and often in the worst weather. What does it take to finish a race like that?  I had a friend on the board of the YMCA who loved to run long races and he used to speak about hitting the wall and the effort it took to not give up and to on keep running. He would get all excited about the great feeling of exhilaration he would feel once he got past it because he was then able to finish the race he started.

          I remember watching a runner in the New York City Marathon coming in dead last but he finished the race. He was totally exhausted but he did it. That is running with perseverance. That kind of running takes a lot of training. I would not be able to go out and run that kind of race... at this point my legs would turn to rubber. I would need years of race training to even attempt it. To finish the marathon a runner must persevere through the length of the race. Over come every obstacle and reach beyond ones own limits.

Life itself is a kind of marathon where we set high goals and train ourselves to overcome all obstacles including our own pain to reach our goals. It is worth the effort in the long run. - Pun intended.