A peaceful moment

Last night I ate supper on the deck for the first time this season. The air was crisp but not cold. There were no bugs. As the light dimmed sounds increased. I could hear the geese and swans settling down for the night, a lullaby of nature. I was at peace. There was nothing pressing on me. I sat in the moment until night arrived and let all the different sights and sounds scrub my soul clean. I was peace.

I read a statement once that said "there are no days, only moments." Last night was one of those moments. There have been stresses in my life before, and they will come again, usually pretty quickly, but I just need to take the time to be in the present and experience peace and joy in a tangible way.

I'll be kind if you will!

At Urgent Care there was a woman who was waiting for her child to be seen by the doctor. One child was jumping up like he was on springs and mom would jump up after him. The only problem was that she was wearing thong that was more than a little visible. I know thong underwear is supposed to be sexy, but I have to be honest, in this case it was about as sexy as me in a Speedo.

I have been told I have a serious plumber’s crack problem. When I bend over those behind me are traumatized. They look away. I work hard to make sure it doesn’t show, that my shirts are long enough to cover an unpleasant sight.

I expect the same from thong wearers. Please be kind to those of us who must sit facing your backside. Keep your pants up! Please! Be kind.

Self-centered

I realized after reading the book “The Swarm” by Frank Schlatzing, that I am so self-centered. The only reason I don’t freak out when I say that is that I don’t think I’m alone. I think about myself 24/7.

The book is pretty gripping as it describes the discovery of single celled amoeba that together has from the dawn of time had a high level of intelligence and is now deciding to take action against humans who have been polluting the seas. It is a thriller, but it also gets the point across that we as humans think we are the only ones here. The cells had a memory of millions of years, and I have a hard time seeing the consequence of a day’s worth of my consuming and waste. If I had a larger view of how I fit in the whole, I might be more careful.

Lying in bed this morning my puppy was curled up next to me. I scratched her tummy. She obliged me by exposing more of her tummy. I rested my hand on her chest and felt her very tiny heart pumping blood through her body to keep her alive. It made me think of all the systems that keep us running. I rarely think about the consequences of one or more of them failing.

The book is a good read. It made me stop and think about something other than myself. It lasted for at least a couple minutes…just before I cruised into the kitchen to see what there was that I could eat.

Priorities

At a local coffee house I observed a man. He was sitting at a table with his computer in front of him, his hand draped over a computer mouse. I was drawn to his head. His eyes opened wide, then fluttered closed. His head dropped. It reached a certain angle. His eyes popped opened and his head bobbed up, only for the eyes to quiver and close again, and his head dropped
again. Regardless of all the props of productivity surrounding him, the cycle repeated over and over with nothing accomplished, not even a good nap.

I remember so many times when I have been in the same position, with my head bobbing in front of my computer. I can feel upset at my lack of productivity. Life is demanding and in order to be successful one has to do a lot of things. The only way to get through it is to set priorities. Whenever I have head-bobbed like this man, it has almost always been because I have failed to stay committed to my priorities.

The man at the coffee house continues to nod in agreement.

Maturity

My 13-year-old child came down the stairs for school dressed in capri pants and sandals. It was 31 degrees outside. I told her that it was cold outside, and that she would do better dressing warmer. She refused. I remembered back to my other children and reminisced about the arguments we had years ago about roughly the same topic, except it was shorts with sandals.

It occurred to me that a mark of maturing is expectation. When a child is born, or even in the womb for that matter, there is no anticipation. The fetus doesn’t know when birth will occur and so isn’t waiting for anything. It floats nourished in fluid, perceiving what can be perceived and making sense of it, as it is able. We on the other hand as “mature” adults worry about every aspect of pregnancy, birth and life after baby comes.

We teach our children how to expect. “If you don’t go to bed, Santa won’t come.” “How long until summer break from school?” Myriads of scenarios could be recounted

So there is conflict over how to approach today. I can’t wait for spring so I will dress according to what I want not what it is. She is progressing towards adulthood at an acceptable pace. “Next year I will be better off than I am right now.” “If I can find that person who will complete me, I will be happy.” "If I just made more money, I'd be happy." "If I just had that new toy, then I would feel contented."

My 13-year-old is the word of God to me. “Don’t worry about tomorrow, for it will have worries of it’s own.” Be content with where you are today. And for God's sake dress warm!

We all need a victory now and then

On my way to work I drive by a Hummer dealership. The sign out front proudly declared that I should get my Victory Red H3. I was confused. Since when has red been a sign of victory and what victory are we celebrating? It sure as hell is not a victory from the gas pump, ESPECIALLY in the Hummer family!

I went to the web site. It was as elusive about what victory we were celebrating. I guess as an advertising gimic it may have worked because it sent me to the website. But it ain't gonna make me buy one!

Maybe we just need to see the word "Victory". It doesn't have to mean anything in particular. With all the depressing news around, maybe we don't need to have a victory over something. Maybe seeing the word our step will get a little lighter. And red does move me.

What lies buried below

Walking today, the air temperature was a brisk 25 degrees. It was cold enough for the snowmelt to refreeze. What started out as a beautiful covering of white has liquefied, refrozen and become icy puddles. Below the surface laid dead leaves, a decaying carpet under ice, inaccessible. If you were to retrieve a brown leaf when the pool was fluid, it would have stung your hand to reach below the surface.

I know there have been times in my life where I haven't wanted to face some part of my life, I let snow provide a pure white covering. I can pretend that it was forgotten. As the thaw comes, what I didn’t want to face I now cannot avoid. Dead leaves lay at the bottom of a snowmelt pool. Scooping them out would burn my hand. So I let it sit there. The weather turns cold again and that deadness lies at the bottom of the pool, taunting me, but inaccessible. I must wait for the thaw.

I have learned that it is better to deal with things, not let them get buried and clear away as much snow as I can.

God's amazing love

In the service yesterday our pastor talked about the parable of the prodigal son's return and the different responses it evoked. One thing that I had not thought of before was that God's love is not a "zero sum game" meaning that if I get something, someone does with less to compensate for my gift. God's love is not a "zero sum game".

What I struggle with is that I do not understand how God can love me single-mindedly with His eye solely on me...AND He can love someone else single-mindedly with His eye solely on him or her, AT THE SAME TIME. In our world we can’t do it. If we spend time with one of our children, another one has to deal with our absences because we can’t be in two places at the same time.

The prodigal son was welcomed back to the family after his struggles. Immediately the older son feels jealous, perhaps because he feels that his father never focused on him in the same way.

If God can be everywhere at the same time, why can’t He have His eye single-mindedly on everyone at the same time. I struggle to comprehend this, but I struggle as well with understanding where the edge of the universe is.

God is just that big!

A father's love

In church yesterday, I talked to a friend of mine who has a son who was recently deployed to Afghanistan. I asked how his son was doing He put a positive face on the situation, but you could see the pain in his eyes. It was deep and constant like a day long rain shower.

We grasp on to hope. It is such an elusive quality and the more we love, the more we can lose. My friend doesn't go around like others I have seen, using his son's deployment as a pronouncement of pain and a reason for things to be different than they are. My friend wouldn't bring it up if you didn't ask. But you can't help but observe the deepening lines in his face, to understand the weight of his love.

United we stand

A car passed by me the other day with a sign in the window of the driver’s side rear door. It had a large American flag in it with the words “United we stand!” United we stand. Obviously the other part of that is that divided we fall. It seems to imply lately that if you are against the war, just shut the hell up and take one for the team, or you will undo everything that has been done up to now.

The sweet mystery of democracy demands that all of our views be heard. A definition of tyranny is that voices of dissention are suppressed by a cruel, unreasonable, or arbitrary use of power or control.

So to those who are attempting to use patriotism to shame others into compliance, I say, our democracy demands that we all contribute our perspective to the mix, and use reason and restraint to guide our path.

The brown stripe of joy

The weather was warmer than it has been in quite a while. The mounds of snow were liquefying. Jackets were unzipped or not worn at all. I was working on my car, with the garage door open. Looking out on my narrow perspective on the world I heard the sound of a child coming up the sidewalk. A boy about four years old rode past my garage on a little bicycle with little tiny wheels.

He headed straight into a large dark puddle lurking across the sidewalk. A large spray of water spewed up the child’s back. As he rode by me I noticed that the back of his coat had a large streak of brown, all the way to his collar. Muddy water dripped off his back and on to his tiny rear wheel. All the time his eyes glowed with adventure and joyfulness, fully celebrating the end of winter, and the advent of spring.

Age clouds enthusiasm. There are too many things to be considered and too much lost if not attended to. Oh to be a child again, to boldly plunge into an activity with no thought of consequence.

I know that any mess I make will have to be cleaned up by me, so I imbibe in restraint, and live, if only vicariously, through a four year old boy on a little bike with tiny wheels, plunging headlong into a mud puddle. And in a small way, I encountered joy.

Sharing is better

Last week my daughter had two snow days. She was so excited that she didn’t have to go to school, that she kicked off her celebration by going back to bed.

When she woke up she came downstairs, thinking about what she was going to do with this gift she had been given.

She called a number of friends and discovered they were either not answering the phone or not able to play. One of her best friends was on a cruise in the Bahamas. My daughter sat alone at the house and ended up watching TV. She even used the word “bored” once.

I was reminded that life is to be shared. We may have a belief that we can do just fine on our own, but the simple truth is, is that life is so much richer when we have someone to share it with.

Pruf reeders need not apply.

Tiered of been passed over for that promotion because you dont have the proper Degree?

University Degree
 
OBTAIN A PROSPEROUS FUTURE, MONEY-EARNING POWER, AND THE PRESTIGE THAT COMES WITH HAVING THE CAREER POSITION YOUŇVE ALWAYS DREAMED OF. DIPLOMA FROM PRESTIGIOUS NON-ACCREDITED UNVERSITIES BASED ON YOUR PRESENT KNOWLEDGE AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE.
 
If you qualify, no required tests, classes, books or examinations.

I got this in my e-mail. I can't say I was sold on this at all. Makes me wonder what you would need to qualify to get their degree. I don't think misspelled words would deny you this fine opportunity. Somehow I think even if you got this degree, others might be able to get a hint that you didn't actually put the work into your education.

Also, aren't the words prestigious and non-accredited oxymorons when used in the same descriptive sentence?