It was a busy weekend. I ended up playing two concerts, two church services and an afternoon at a high-rise full of "seasoned" citizens. So, I sat down late Sunday night and stared at the computer screen.... and continued to stare at the computer screen. Finally, I told myself, "I got nothing here." No "inspiration" to write a blog. My mind was a blank slate and my "muse" had either gone into hiding or had taken a long leap off a short pier....(Does that even make sense?)...
So,.. I turned off the computer and went to bed. Live to fight/write another day.... I guess.
I've been thinking about "inspiration". What does that mean, anyway?
The dictionary definition is:
1. Arousal of the mind to unusual activity or creativity.
2. A product of creative thinking or work
3. A sudden "intuition"... as in solving a problem
4. Divine guidance, the special influence of Divinity on the human mind.
5. Arousing to a particular emotion or action
6. Inhalation, the act of breathing in of air
O.K. I think I get most of these definitions.... except perhaps for number 6,... the whole "inhalation" and "breathing in of air"....(yes, that's actually in the dictionary).
Yes, today I suddenly feel "inspired" to take a breath! In fact, I make splurge and take several "breathes"..... Or, I may be "inspired" to simply NOT breathe. I think that's called....dying?
Anyway.... I digress...
As a songwriter I do get inspired to write new songs. I write mostly from "inspiration" rather than from "perspiration", which simply means that instead of writing 60 songs a year, I might write...maybe... "6".....
But, I can't explain the phenomenon.
"Why" do I care to even write one song? Or why is an artist inspired to paint a painting or a photographer inspired to take that special picture.... or a builder inspired to erect that particular structure?
What inspired God to create an entire universe and fill it with objects of his imagination and His likeness?....
This summer I got "inspired" for the first time to actually care about my lawn. I was doing my usual mowing and suddenly, for the first time, noticed that I was mostly mowing down "weeds" instead of "grass". An epiphany!.... (yes, I am a s..l..o..w.. learner).
So, this season I have been spreading weed-killer on my lawn and purchased grass seed and spread it around and now.... I'm buying "winterizer".... for the first time. I didn't even know there was such a thing as "winterizer"...for lawns.... (good grief, where have I been all these years?)
Sometimes inspiration just comes out of the blue... and it's a surprise (like the lawn thing)....
But, I think, most of the time though, I'm mostly inspired by other people. I see someone doing something extraordinary, and, ...perhaps I'm just a tad jealous,... but I want to do something "extra-ordinary" myself.
My friend, Dennis, rode in a weekend bike marathon to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis treatment and research. I think that's one of the most admirable things I've seen from one of my friends in quite some time. Cudos to you, D! (And, by the way... WHY did you do it? What "inspired" you?....
Which... leads me to ask this question of all my readers.....(However many of you there are... God only knows...)... "What inspires YOU?"....
I would like to hear from you... get some feedback.. sort of open it up for discussion.
What inspires you to do what you do?.... Ride in a marathon. Take a picture. Write a song. Involve yourself in a particular activity. What makes YOU tick?
Write me and let me know. I will share it with the folks ....and keep you anonymous (if you prefer).
At least it will give me some fodder for a future "blog"..... Until my "muse" returns from wherever the heck it went.
Why do I keep writing these blog things anyway?...
(If you read my very first one, then you'll know).....
Anyway, have a great week. Hope it's an "inspirational" one....
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Contentment
Contentment: defined as.... "The state of being content. Satisfied. Ease of mind".
Boy, that sure tells me a lot. Glad I looked THAT up!.....:-)
I happened to catch part of a program on the telly (that's British for "television")... over the weekend. It was about a bazillionaire who lived most of his life on a specially-made yacht. It was like a floating city. His wife was being interviewed and she took the camera crew on tour of the whole place. Her and her husband's living quarters were over 3500 square feet. (It was their "personal space" on the yacht. They could entertain myriad guests who had their own bed/bathrooms, kitchens, living rooms, whatever....
The filming crew went up on top of the ship and had a brief interview with the husband. He was showing them how he had built his own "golf course" on the yacht. It was a part of the deck that would come up mechanically from somewhere below. It was a putting green. He could stand out there on the "green" and hit golf balls out into the ocean. They had hired-hands who had little speed boats that would go out and place markers in the water so he could see how far he had hit the ball. They (the "servants", would place the markers out in the ocean and cheer him on when he hit the ball close to the markers. If he played a golf game with someone, whoever hit closest to the markers would win each "hole". He looked into the camera and said, "Whenever I have a guest on-board and we play "golf", I always win.... because (they) know who writes the checks!"
That statement reminded me of an episode of The Twilight Zone where this guy on the show dies. He loves to play pool and he ends up in an amazing pool-room, playing the game he lived for. He thought he had died and gone to heaven. The problem was....he never lost a game.... never. No matter how poorly he played. He finally exclaimed, "If this is how it's going to be for eternity I wish I "hadn't died and gone to heaven!".... The other guys in the room just looked at him and said, "What makes you think this is Heaven?.....
King Solomon was the richest man who ever lived. He wrote a book which is included in the Bible. It is the book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon writes: "I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet, when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 2:10)....
Often it is easy to watch a show like the one I watched over the weekend and be envious of someone who has so much..... who "apparently" has so much. Is this guy really happy with all his wealth, all his opulence... his mornings of fresh-squeezed orange juice and Eggs Benedict delivered to his quarters by servants every morning?...
Maybe so. I don't know. It's too easy for me to judge him and his wife and their imported granite table-tops and polished mahogany interiors.
Is this happiness? Is this the picture of contentment? Is this what we should all be striving for?..... more and better "stuff"?....
Solomon himself came to this conclusion later on in his life. "So I hated life,... I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool?".... (Ecc. 2:17)
I compare this to what the Apostle Paul wrote about his own life when he was writing to the his friends in the city of Philipi. "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."... ) Phillippians 4:11.
Contentment is a state of mind. For the addict, contentment is (or should be), waking up every morning in peace, being able to "not" spend his/her day chasing the "high" of addiction. To live a life of internal peace. That is the purpose of the 12-Step Program. To ultimately bring us to a place of finding peace with our Higher Power, our Creator,... the One who knows exactly what we need in life, for He is the One who created us, who knows our very thoughts, our very longings. For the rich man, like Solomon, his "addiction" is chasing after the seemingly perfect life of "things", more things, finer things, and "accomplishments", ....climbing the "ladder of succes". It seems all well and fine, except when a person actually gets to the top of the ladder, all that's found there is "empty space".... a standing in mid-air with nowhere else to go...but back down.
All of us, at some point, need to evaluate our own lives. What are we seeking? What are we "after"? What do we need to make us "content"?
Personally I think it's all about trying to fill a "God-Shaped" hole in our souls that we are born with. That's the conclusion the Apostle Paul came to, and he had found that contentment. Though he wasn't a rich man materially, Paul had something in his life that money couldn't buy, ... a personal relationship with God, Who abundantly supplied every need.
Is this the secret of real life? No one else can answer that question for you, but it might be a wise thing to actually take time-out to ask the question.
Like the man on The Twilight Zone episode, perhaps the real definition of "hell" is actually getting everything we (think) we want......?
Boy, that sure tells me a lot. Glad I looked THAT up!.....:-)
I happened to catch part of a program on the telly (that's British for "television")... over the weekend. It was about a bazillionaire who lived most of his life on a specially-made yacht. It was like a floating city. His wife was being interviewed and she took the camera crew on tour of the whole place. Her and her husband's living quarters were over 3500 square feet. (It was their "personal space" on the yacht. They could entertain myriad guests who had their own bed/bathrooms, kitchens, living rooms, whatever....
The filming crew went up on top of the ship and had a brief interview with the husband. He was showing them how he had built his own "golf course" on the yacht. It was a part of the deck that would come up mechanically from somewhere below. It was a putting green. He could stand out there on the "green" and hit golf balls out into the ocean. They had hired-hands who had little speed boats that would go out and place markers in the water so he could see how far he had hit the ball. They (the "servants", would place the markers out in the ocean and cheer him on when he hit the ball close to the markers. If he played a golf game with someone, whoever hit closest to the markers would win each "hole". He looked into the camera and said, "Whenever I have a guest on-board and we play "golf", I always win.... because (they) know who writes the checks!"
That statement reminded me of an episode of The Twilight Zone where this guy on the show dies. He loves to play pool and he ends up in an amazing pool-room, playing the game he lived for. He thought he had died and gone to heaven. The problem was....he never lost a game.... never. No matter how poorly he played. He finally exclaimed, "If this is how it's going to be for eternity I wish I "hadn't died and gone to heaven!".... The other guys in the room just looked at him and said, "What makes you think this is Heaven?.....
King Solomon was the richest man who ever lived. He wrote a book which is included in the Bible. It is the book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon writes: "I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet, when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 2:10)....
Often it is easy to watch a show like the one I watched over the weekend and be envious of someone who has so much..... who "apparently" has so much. Is this guy really happy with all his wealth, all his opulence... his mornings of fresh-squeezed orange juice and Eggs Benedict delivered to his quarters by servants every morning?...
Maybe so. I don't know. It's too easy for me to judge him and his wife and their imported granite table-tops and polished mahogany interiors.
Is this happiness? Is this the picture of contentment? Is this what we should all be striving for?..... more and better "stuff"?....
Solomon himself came to this conclusion later on in his life. "So I hated life,... I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool?".... (Ecc. 2:17)
I compare this to what the Apostle Paul wrote about his own life when he was writing to the his friends in the city of Philipi. "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."... ) Phillippians 4:11.
Contentment is a state of mind. For the addict, contentment is (or should be), waking up every morning in peace, being able to "not" spend his/her day chasing the "high" of addiction. To live a life of internal peace. That is the purpose of the 12-Step Program. To ultimately bring us to a place of finding peace with our Higher Power, our Creator,... the One who knows exactly what we need in life, for He is the One who created us, who knows our very thoughts, our very longings. For the rich man, like Solomon, his "addiction" is chasing after the seemingly perfect life of "things", more things, finer things, and "accomplishments", ....climbing the "ladder of succes". It seems all well and fine, except when a person actually gets to the top of the ladder, all that's found there is "empty space".... a standing in mid-air with nowhere else to go...but back down.
All of us, at some point, need to evaluate our own lives. What are we seeking? What are we "after"? What do we need to make us "content"?
Personally I think it's all about trying to fill a "God-Shaped" hole in our souls that we are born with. That's the conclusion the Apostle Paul came to, and he had found that contentment. Though he wasn't a rich man materially, Paul had something in his life that money couldn't buy, ... a personal relationship with God, Who abundantly supplied every need.
Is this the secret of real life? No one else can answer that question for you, but it might be a wise thing to actually take time-out to ask the question.
Like the man on The Twilight Zone episode, perhaps the real definition of "hell" is actually getting everything we (think) we want......?
Sunday, September 12, 2010
In My Humble Opinion
IMHO.... the new abbreviation for: In My Humble Opinion....
Once in awhile my friend, Dennis ,plays guitar with me when I do a concert. He's a great guitar player and a great person to banter with onstage. One night when we were playing a gig together the subject of humility was somehow inserted into the conversation,.. so we just sort of went with the flow...and it went something like this...
D: It's hard to be humble when you're as good as I am.
Me: I'm just as good as you are, it's just that I am too humble to speak of it.
D: I'm the most humble person I know
Me: I'm sure you're not as humble as I am because I never talk about how humble I really am.
D: I've done so many things I could talk about, but I won't, because I'm too humble to tell you about them.
Me: I think I was "born" humble.... I've never had a problem with NOT being humble.
D: Perhaps you're right, ...maybe you are the second most humble person on the planet.
Me: The "second" most humble?
D: Yea, well we all know who the "most" humble person is.. but I can't talk about it,... it wouldn't be proper..
Me: It's a great gift, this "humility" thing we possess...
And so we went,...yada, yada, yada....
And I thought it was a brilliant strategy, using "irony" to make a point about humility.
The only problem was that everyone in the audience just stared at us. I think they took us seriously and just thought we were idiots. So much for irony....
Being humble is one of those slippery propositions... As soon as you think you have it, it disappears like a ghost into thin air.
I don't think a lot of folks even think about it, really. Our world is prone to promote self-promotion and success and achievement over "humility". It's something that's always been greatly lacking in the human condition.
I recently read an article that made several statements as to whether a person was truly humble or not. Here are a few of the more salient points...
1. Am I unwilling to listen to advice, instruction, correction, information or suggestions?
2. Am I reluctant to submit to any authority or someone else's set of rules?
3. Do I argue and quarrel to try and prove that I am always right?
4. Do I dominate conversations, saying my opinion about every subject on every occasion?
5. Do I respond to others often with mockery but am unable to laugh at myself?
6. Am I eager to promote myself and my accomplishments?
7. Do I enjoy the admiration of others, secretly reveling in it?
8. Do I get agitated at the small indignities of life, such as: standing in line, waiting my turn, driving and older, used car, or performing menial (to me) tasks?
9. Am I over-concerned with outward appearances?
10. Am I reluctant to associate with people who I deem undesirable; People who I don't feel will advance my status or enhance my image?
I'm sure all of us can squeeze ourselves into any of the above at some given point in life....
What's the answer?..... If we care to pursue one....
"When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, "Give this man your seat." Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, "Friend, move up to a better place." Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
This is one of the stories that Jesus told His followers in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 14.
I think it's good advice. It doesn't have to be a wedding feast. It can be anywhere....a parking lot, a movie theatre, a supermarket, the workplace. The most important place is in the heart.
First Peter 5:5 states: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
I know I need a lot of grace in my life and, if I were a betting man, I would bet, deep down, that you feel the same way.
Anyway, this is my blog of the week. I think it's the greatest blog I've ever written. As a matter of fact I think it may be the best thing anyone, anywhere has ever written! It should be etched in stone and made a monument of! It's brilliant! Incredibly insightful! Superb literary prose!........IMHO......
Once in awhile my friend, Dennis ,plays guitar with me when I do a concert. He's a great guitar player and a great person to banter with onstage. One night when we were playing a gig together the subject of humility was somehow inserted into the conversation,.. so we just sort of went with the flow...and it went something like this...
D: It's hard to be humble when you're as good as I am.
Me: I'm just as good as you are, it's just that I am too humble to speak of it.
D: I'm the most humble person I know
Me: I'm sure you're not as humble as I am because I never talk about how humble I really am.
D: I've done so many things I could talk about, but I won't, because I'm too humble to tell you about them.
Me: I think I was "born" humble.... I've never had a problem with NOT being humble.
D: Perhaps you're right, ...maybe you are the second most humble person on the planet.
Me: The "second" most humble?
D: Yea, well we all know who the "most" humble person is.. but I can't talk about it,... it wouldn't be proper..
Me: It's a great gift, this "humility" thing we possess...
And so we went,...yada, yada, yada....
And I thought it was a brilliant strategy, using "irony" to make a point about humility.
The only problem was that everyone in the audience just stared at us. I think they took us seriously and just thought we were idiots. So much for irony....
Being humble is one of those slippery propositions... As soon as you think you have it, it disappears like a ghost into thin air.
I don't think a lot of folks even think about it, really. Our world is prone to promote self-promotion and success and achievement over "humility". It's something that's always been greatly lacking in the human condition.
I recently read an article that made several statements as to whether a person was truly humble or not. Here are a few of the more salient points...
1. Am I unwilling to listen to advice, instruction, correction, information or suggestions?
2. Am I reluctant to submit to any authority or someone else's set of rules?
3. Do I argue and quarrel to try and prove that I am always right?
4. Do I dominate conversations, saying my opinion about every subject on every occasion?
5. Do I respond to others often with mockery but am unable to laugh at myself?
6. Am I eager to promote myself and my accomplishments?
7. Do I enjoy the admiration of others, secretly reveling in it?
8. Do I get agitated at the small indignities of life, such as: standing in line, waiting my turn, driving and older, used car, or performing menial (to me) tasks?
9. Am I over-concerned with outward appearances?
10. Am I reluctant to associate with people who I deem undesirable; People who I don't feel will advance my status or enhance my image?
I'm sure all of us can squeeze ourselves into any of the above at some given point in life....
What's the answer?..... If we care to pursue one....
"When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, "Give this man your seat." Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, "Friend, move up to a better place." Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
This is one of the stories that Jesus told His followers in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 14.
I think it's good advice. It doesn't have to be a wedding feast. It can be anywhere....a parking lot, a movie theatre, a supermarket, the workplace. The most important place is in the heart.
First Peter 5:5 states: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
I know I need a lot of grace in my life and, if I were a betting man, I would bet, deep down, that you feel the same way.
Anyway, this is my blog of the week. I think it's the greatest blog I've ever written. As a matter of fact I think it may be the best thing anyone, anywhere has ever written! It should be etched in stone and made a monument of! It's brilliant! Incredibly insightful! Superb literary prose!........IMHO......
Sunday, August 29, 2010
All You Need Is Love
One of my favorite Saturday Night Live skits was Eddie Murphy's "Buckwheat" character advertising an entire record album of classic songs. For those of you in the younger set, "Buckwheat" was the little Black (Politically correct: African American) boy (can I even use the word "boy"?)..... the little Black, African-American "child" who didn't speak very well in the old "Our Gang" television series. (This was when t.v. was in black and white....and the broadcast day ended at midnight... with the playing of the National Anthem)....
Anyway,... I particularly liked his version of Tina Turner's hit: What's Love Got To Do With It.... except Eddie sang it as, "What's Nub Got To Do Wit It"..... as well as his revisit of the Country Music classic, "Lookin' Pa Nub In All The Wrong Places"......
So,... now you all know my warped sense of humor...
Love.....
There's nothing you can do that can't be done
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game
It's easy
There's nothing you can make that can't be made
No one you can save that can't be saved
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time
It's easy...
All You need is love...
The Beatles sang, "All You Need Is Love" ... one of my favorite Fab 4 songs...
(Although a bit obtuse unless you happen to still be using LSD on a regular basis)...
Steven Stills sang, "Love The One You're With".... (that could turn out to be an interesting venture, depending on who you're with and what you're doing at any given moment)....
C.S. Lewis ventured into the literary definitions of love and came up with four types...
Familial: the love of family.... son, daughter, mother, father, sister and brothers
Phileo: "Brotherly love" in the sense of the human family, how the city of "Philadelphia" got it's name: The City Of Brotherly Love (I wonder just how true that is today?)....
Eros: Sexual love. The root of "erotic". The one love that this world seems most likely to distort and twist away from it's original intent. Hence, the lure and spread of pornographic images...
Agape: This is the love that is attributed to God.... Agape Love...a love that transcends emotions, love for love's sake....(God IS love)....First John 4:8
This is the ultimate biblical definition of love: "This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." (First John 4, verse 10)...
The Apostle Paul made a special point of love in his letter to the first century Corinthian Church. There are a few vitally important things to consider in this life to be able to live a life of purpose and meaning. Faith, Hope and Love are the spiritual lifeblood that flows through the human heart. Faith is an extension into the unseen, whereby we may develop a trust in a Higher Power Whom we cannot see. This in turn, leads us to be able to "hope" for better things than this world has to offer, a better "future" than the tangible is able to give to us. And love.. love is the glue that holds everything together. As fallible (read,... sinful) human beings, we fall so incredibly short of the type of love we had at the beginning of creation, the full measure of "Agape" love that Adam and Eve shared with their Creator as they walked with Him "in the cool of the day". (Genesis 3:8)...
In First Corinthians, Chapter 13, the Lord's Apostle gives us the clearest picture of what true love really looks like.
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It doesn't envy, it doesn't boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophesies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought as a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
What's Love Got To Do With It?...... asks Tina Turner....
Answer:...... Everything
Anyway,... I particularly liked his version of Tina Turner's hit: What's Love Got To Do With It.... except Eddie sang it as, "What's Nub Got To Do Wit It"..... as well as his revisit of the Country Music classic, "Lookin' Pa Nub In All The Wrong Places"......
So,... now you all know my warped sense of humor...
Love.....
There's nothing you can do that can't be done
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game
It's easy
There's nothing you can make that can't be made
No one you can save that can't be saved
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time
It's easy...
All You need is love...
The Beatles sang, "All You Need Is Love" ... one of my favorite Fab 4 songs...
(Although a bit obtuse unless you happen to still be using LSD on a regular basis)...
Steven Stills sang, "Love The One You're With".... (that could turn out to be an interesting venture, depending on who you're with and what you're doing at any given moment)....
C.S. Lewis ventured into the literary definitions of love and came up with four types...
Familial: the love of family.... son, daughter, mother, father, sister and brothers
Phileo: "Brotherly love" in the sense of the human family, how the city of "Philadelphia" got it's name: The City Of Brotherly Love (I wonder just how true that is today?)....
Eros: Sexual love. The root of "erotic". The one love that this world seems most likely to distort and twist away from it's original intent. Hence, the lure and spread of pornographic images...
Agape: This is the love that is attributed to God.... Agape Love...a love that transcends emotions, love for love's sake....(God IS love)....First John 4:8
This is the ultimate biblical definition of love: "This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." (First John 4, verse 10)...
The Apostle Paul made a special point of love in his letter to the first century Corinthian Church. There are a few vitally important things to consider in this life to be able to live a life of purpose and meaning. Faith, Hope and Love are the spiritual lifeblood that flows through the human heart. Faith is an extension into the unseen, whereby we may develop a trust in a Higher Power Whom we cannot see. This in turn, leads us to be able to "hope" for better things than this world has to offer, a better "future" than the tangible is able to give to us. And love.. love is the glue that holds everything together. As fallible (read,... sinful) human beings, we fall so incredibly short of the type of love we had at the beginning of creation, the full measure of "Agape" love that Adam and Eve shared with their Creator as they walked with Him "in the cool of the day". (Genesis 3:8)...
In First Corinthians, Chapter 13, the Lord's Apostle gives us the clearest picture of what true love really looks like.
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It doesn't envy, it doesn't boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophesies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought as a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
What's Love Got To Do With It?...... asks Tina Turner....
Answer:...... Everything
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Friendship
When You're down, and you're troubled
And you need a helping hand
And nothing, no nothing is going right
Close your eyes and think of me
And soon I will be there
To brighten up even your darkest night
You just call out my name
And you know wherever I am
I'll come running to see you again
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you gotta do is call and I'll be there yes I will...
You've got a friend
Songwriter: Carol King, Artist: James Taylor
Friendship....
I wrote a blog early this year about my friend, Stan. I hadn't seen him in several years, but when we got together it was just like we had never been separated. We just sort of "took up where we left off".... good fellowship.... a good friend...
When my wife and I were first married we befriended another young, married couple. All of us were struggling financially. I had a pud job that didn't pay much. My wife worked as a visiting nurse so she made fairly decent money and that's pretty much how stayed afloat in those lean years.
This couple we had befriended didn't have any children. We had one and one on the way. For some reason this couple had more of a struggle financially than we did and they never seemed to have two dimes to rub together. (Which is an interesting statement, since what has rubbing dimes together ever had anything to do with ....anything)...?...
Anyway, my wife and I would do what we could to help them out. A dollar or two here and there for gas, perhaps give them some groceries,... whatever we could afford to do. It was a hardship but we didn't mind doing it since they were our "friends", after all....
One night we were all sitting around in our living room, drinking coffee, just chatting about life, when the conversation turned to money woes again. Suddenly the wife turns to her husband and says, "You know, sweetie, if things don't turn around for us we might have to start dipping into our savings."..... Our... SAVINGS?....
I couldn't believe my ears!.... They had... "SAVINGS"!!!... And, here WE were, sacrificing to "Help" them?.... Unbelievable...
Well, to make a long story short, that was the end of our "friendship". We never invited them over or responded again to any of their invitations. We severed that relationship that night.
Looking back, I should have had more of a backbone and really let them have it.... verbally, anyway....but I didn't and that was the end of it.
The reason I am saying all this is simply to say that friendships are extremely important relationships. A good friendship is hard to find, hard to cultivate, and is a real treasure if you can find it and keep it.
There's a scripture in the bible that says, "There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother".
I truly believe it, for I have experienced it.
If you've got a friend (or "friends")... please don't take that special gift for granted. If you want a friend, then BE a friend, and don't take advantage of the relationship. Send them a note once in awhile (or just say it), and let them know you appreciate them. Be there for them when they are going through a hard time. Rejoice with them when they prosper.
And, if you have money in a savings account,.. don't be asking them for a handout. Friends treat each other with integrity.
Should the sky above you
Turn dark and full of clouds
And that old north wind should begin to blow
Just keep your head together and call my name out loud
Soon I'm be knocking upon your door...
You've got a friend...
And you need a helping hand
And nothing, no nothing is going right
Close your eyes and think of me
And soon I will be there
To brighten up even your darkest night
You just call out my name
And you know wherever I am
I'll come running to see you again
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you gotta do is call and I'll be there yes I will...
You've got a friend
Songwriter: Carol King, Artist: James Taylor
Friendship....
I wrote a blog early this year about my friend, Stan. I hadn't seen him in several years, but when we got together it was just like we had never been separated. We just sort of "took up where we left off".... good fellowship.... a good friend...
When my wife and I were first married we befriended another young, married couple. All of us were struggling financially. I had a pud job that didn't pay much. My wife worked as a visiting nurse so she made fairly decent money and that's pretty much how stayed afloat in those lean years.
This couple we had befriended didn't have any children. We had one and one on the way. For some reason this couple had more of a struggle financially than we did and they never seemed to have two dimes to rub together. (Which is an interesting statement, since what has rubbing dimes together ever had anything to do with ....anything)...?...
Anyway, my wife and I would do what we could to help them out. A dollar or two here and there for gas, perhaps give them some groceries,... whatever we could afford to do. It was a hardship but we didn't mind doing it since they were our "friends", after all....
One night we were all sitting around in our living room, drinking coffee, just chatting about life, when the conversation turned to money woes again. Suddenly the wife turns to her husband and says, "You know, sweetie, if things don't turn around for us we might have to start dipping into our savings."..... Our... SAVINGS?....
I couldn't believe my ears!.... They had... "SAVINGS"!!!... And, here WE were, sacrificing to "Help" them?.... Unbelievable...
Well, to make a long story short, that was the end of our "friendship". We never invited them over or responded again to any of their invitations. We severed that relationship that night.
Looking back, I should have had more of a backbone and really let them have it.... verbally, anyway....but I didn't and that was the end of it.
The reason I am saying all this is simply to say that friendships are extremely important relationships. A good friendship is hard to find, hard to cultivate, and is a real treasure if you can find it and keep it.
There's a scripture in the bible that says, "There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother".
I truly believe it, for I have experienced it.
If you've got a friend (or "friends")... please don't take that special gift for granted. If you want a friend, then BE a friend, and don't take advantage of the relationship. Send them a note once in awhile (or just say it), and let them know you appreciate them. Be there for them when they are going through a hard time. Rejoice with them when they prosper.
And, if you have money in a savings account,.. don't be asking them for a handout. Friends treat each other with integrity.
Should the sky above you
Turn dark and full of clouds
And that old north wind should begin to blow
Just keep your head together and call my name out loud
Soon I'm be knocking upon your door...
You've got a friend...
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Poor, Poor Pitiful Me
Well, I lay my head on the railroad track
Waiting on the Double E
But the train don't run by here no more
Poor, poor pitiful me.....
song by Warren Zevon ....copyright 1973... (Made famous by the lovely Miss Linda Ronstadt....)
Have you ever thrown yourself a good, old-fashioned Pity Party?...
I do it...all too frequently...
Life ain't fair..... Things never work out for me.... I hate my job..... My back hurts.... I hate wearing glasses.... My cats give me allergies.... I never catch a break....My co-workers are a bunch of jerks...... I need a vacation.....Wah, Wah, Wah.....
Life sucks...
Sometimes I just need to read some "encouraging thoughts".... you know, some trite, meaningless, prosaic statements that will supposedly make me "feel better".... (you know the kind)...
examples:
"Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it we can never do anything wise in this world"
"We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in this world"
"All the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming"
"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble"
"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything; but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do something that I can do"...
"No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit"
"Instead of comparing our lot with that of those who are more fortunate than we are, we should compare it with the lot of the great majority of our fellow men. It then appears that we are among the privileged"
BLAHDY...BLAHDY...BLAHDY...BLAH...BLAH......... (give me a break)....right?...
Anyway, if you're into this type of meaningless blather then you can read more quotes and wisdom penned by this particular writer by visiting the following website:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Keller
Helen Keller..1880-1968
Deaf and blind from the age of 19 months. Entered Radcliffe College in 1900, graduated with a Bachelor Of Arts Degree Cum Laude in 1904...
Contributor to many newspaper and magazine articles, wrote numerous essays on blindness, deafness, socialism, social issues and women's rights....
Traveled the world.... published 12 books....Honorary degrees from: Temple University, Harvard, University of Glasgow, Scotland,... Berlin, Germany, Dehli, India and Johannesburg, South Africa........ yada, yada, yada,......
"Life is either a great adventure or it is nothing"......H.K.
Anyway, this is my stupid blog for this week. Sorry I couldn't come up with something better.... I just can't seem to catch a break!...... Wah.....
Well, I lay my head on the railroad track
Waiting on the Double E
But the train don't run by here no more
Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor pitiful me......
Waiting on the Double E
But the train don't run by here no more
Poor, poor pitiful me.....
song by Warren Zevon ....copyright 1973... (Made famous by the lovely Miss Linda Ronstadt....)
Have you ever thrown yourself a good, old-fashioned Pity Party?...
I do it...all too frequently...
Life ain't fair..... Things never work out for me.... I hate my job..... My back hurts.... I hate wearing glasses.... My cats give me allergies.... I never catch a break....My co-workers are a bunch of jerks...... I need a vacation.....Wah, Wah, Wah.....
Life sucks...
Sometimes I just need to read some "encouraging thoughts".... you know, some trite, meaningless, prosaic statements that will supposedly make me "feel better".... (you know the kind)...
examples:
"Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it we can never do anything wise in this world"
"We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in this world"
"All the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming"
"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble"
"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything; but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do something that I can do"...
"No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit"
"Instead of comparing our lot with that of those who are more fortunate than we are, we should compare it with the lot of the great majority of our fellow men. It then appears that we are among the privileged"
BLAHDY...BLAHDY...BLAHDY...BLAH...BLAH......... (give me a break)....right?...
Anyway, if you're into this type of meaningless blather then you can read more quotes and wisdom penned by this particular writer by visiting the following website:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Keller
Helen Keller..1880-1968
Deaf and blind from the age of 19 months. Entered Radcliffe College in 1900, graduated with a Bachelor Of Arts Degree Cum Laude in 1904...
Contributor to many newspaper and magazine articles, wrote numerous essays on blindness, deafness, socialism, social issues and women's rights....
Traveled the world.... published 12 books....Honorary degrees from: Temple University, Harvard, University of Glasgow, Scotland,... Berlin, Germany, Dehli, India and Johannesburg, South Africa........ yada, yada, yada,......
"Life is either a great adventure or it is nothing"......H.K.
Anyway, this is my stupid blog for this week. Sorry I couldn't come up with something better.... I just can't seem to catch a break!...... Wah.....
Well, I lay my head on the railroad track
Waiting on the Double E
But the train don't run by here no more
Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor pitiful me......
Saturday, August 7, 2010
How Hillbillies Saved My Life
I've been reading a book by Phil ("How's that working for you?") McGraw. He says that in everyone's life there are at least 5 people who have had major influence in their life. The influence could be either negative or positive, but it is a definite factor in the person you have become... the "nurture" part of nurture vs. nature in shaping the human psyche. I gave this some serious thought.... who had influenced ME over the years of my life?
One who stood out was an aunt, my dad's sister. Her name was Macy. She was the quintessential "hillbilly".... born and raised in the back hills o
f the Missouri Ozarks. She is the only woman I ever knew who chewed tobacco.... "Redman" "Tobacco to be exact. I tried it once or twice... it made me sick.... nasty-tasting stuff...She practically lived to hunt and fish. She also toted a rifle everywhere she went.
I was just a young boy, raised in the big city. This backwoods way of life was a totally different experience for me, and every summer, starting at about the age of 10, I would spend summers with her and her husband, "Sol". (It doesn't get any more "country" than this.... Macy and Sol)..... and, of course, their numerous dogs, cats, chickens, goats,....assorted menagerie of odd-ball animals.
There is a reason I mention her specifically as one of my own "top five." In my "city" life, and specifically during the school year, I wasn't very "athletic"....not very....not hardly....maybe not at all. I always got picked last for those recess football, baseball or dodge-ball games. That was back when kids could actually interact on the playground and even get "hurt" sometimes without the ACLU swooping in and filing a lawsuit to close the school down. The good old days.
I usually felt sort of "left out" from a lot of activities.... probably because I "was" left out of a lot of activities....
But..... every summer, when I would visit my aunt and uncle in the back-hills of Missouri, I was very much "accepted." My aunt would pull out this beautiful (in my eyes) 22 "over and under" rifle, (part 22 caliber bullet and part shotgun), give me a brief education on how to hande it and shoot it and then she would look at me and say, "let's go hunting!"..... music to my ears....
Her grandson, who was about my age, would come down there every summer also, so I had another kid to play with and get into trouble with. ("Trouble" meaning, like..chasing skunks or tormenting a bull)... you should never try it,... it will end up badly).
Every summer for several years we would follow her down the trails and through the backwoods of the rugged Ozark terrain. (For some reason, "Sol" was more into driving us to a trail head and simply staying in the old pickup,... sleeping).... weird....
We would hunt and fish and pick wild blueberries and blackberries, swim in the local "crick" and rivers. I felt like Huckleberry Finn.... I "lived" like Huckeberry Finn... for about 8 weeks every year... and I loved it. I couldn't wait to get up every morning and start a new adventure...
The reason I pick "Macy" as one of my top 5 most influential people is because, at that young age, .... she gave me a glimpse into a better life, ... a life where I was trusted (remember the rifle?), and "accepted" ....unconditionally. She never told me, "you can't do this"... she just led
the charge and expected me to follow. Actually, looking back, she gave me a lot of the type of "nurture" that one should expect from a father figure, even though she was a woman. My dad, her brother, was an alcoholic and really never had a lot of time to give me... at least, not without the accompaniment of a few of his close friends,... Jack Daniels and "Bud" Weiser....were two I got to know well....
Looking back, the memories I have of those summers spent in the Ozarks, with the "Hillbillies", always come flooding back with fondness and gratitude.... and, I believe the underlying reason is because, as a kid, I always felt more "at home" with those folks who accepted me for who I was and treated me like family (because I was), and especially, because I found in them something that every heart years for.... unconditional love.
No matter where it comes from, or the shape it comes in, unconditional love is, I believe, a requisite for forming a stable personality. Most of us spend out entire lives searching for it, grasping for it, only to find it slipping through our fingers like a ghost. Human love has its limitations and I have found that no one can meet the necessary requirements perfectly, no matter how hard they try or how much they care. Even my aunt, with all her good intentions, was still a flawed figure in a lot of ways, but she was able to give me, as I said before, a glimpse into something that would eventually, as an adult, find it's fruition in my relationship with my "Heavenly Father", the One Who is, I have discovered, the Author of "Unconditional Love"....
I believe it was "He", all along, actually leading me though those rugged Ozark hills and valleys, and now, today, by His help and grace, I still find myself treading life's perilous hills and valleys, being led... by grace,....unconditionally,....all the way.... home....
One who stood out was an aunt, my dad's sister. Her name was Macy. She was the quintessential "hillbilly".... born and raised in the back hills o
f the Missouri Ozarks. She is the only woman I ever knew who chewed tobacco.... "Redman" "Tobacco to be exact. I tried it once or twice... it made me sick.... nasty-tasting stuff...She practically lived to hunt and fish. She also toted a rifle everywhere she went.I was just a young boy, raised in the big city. This backwoods way of life was a totally different experience for me, and every summer, starting at about the age of 10, I would spend summers with her and her husband, "Sol". (It doesn't get any more "country" than this.... Macy and Sol)..... and, of course, their numerous dogs, cats, chickens, goats,....assorted menagerie of odd-ball animals.
There is a reason I mention her specifically as one of my own "top five." In my "city" life, and specifically during the school year, I wasn't very "athletic"....not very....not hardly....maybe not at all. I always got picked last for those recess football, baseball or dodge-ball games. That was back when kids could actually interact on the playground and even get "hurt" sometimes without the ACLU swooping in and filing a lawsuit to close the school down. The good old days.
I usually felt sort of "left out" from a lot of activities.... probably because I "was" left out of a lot of activities....
But..... every summer, when I would visit my aunt and uncle in the back-hills of Missouri, I was very much "accepted." My aunt would pull out this beautiful (in my eyes) 22 "over and under" rifle, (part 22 caliber bullet and part shotgun), give me a brief education on how to hande it and shoot it and then she would look at me and say, "let's go hunting!"..... music to my ears....
Her grandson, who was about my age, would come down there every summer also, so I had another kid to play with and get into trouble with. ("Trouble" meaning, like..chasing skunks or tormenting a bull)... you should never try it,... it will end up badly).
Every summer for several years we would follow her down the trails and through the backwoods of the rugged Ozark terrain. (For some reason, "Sol" was more into driving us to a trail head and simply staying in the old pickup,... sleeping).... weird....
We would hunt and fish and pick wild blueberries and blackberries, swim in the local "crick" and rivers. I felt like Huckleberry Finn.... I "lived" like Huckeberry Finn... for about 8 weeks every year... and I loved it. I couldn't wait to get up every morning and start a new adventure...
The reason I pick "Macy" as one of my top 5 most influential people is because, at that young age, .... she gave me a glimpse into a better life, ... a life where I was trusted (remember the rifle?), and "accepted" ....unconditionally. She never told me, "you can't do this"... she just led
the charge and expected me to follow. Actually, looking back, she gave me a lot of the type of "nurture" that one should expect from a father figure, even though she was a woman. My dad, her brother, was an alcoholic and really never had a lot of time to give me... at least, not without the accompaniment of a few of his close friends,... Jack Daniels and "Bud" Weiser....were two I got to know well....
Looking back, the memories I have of those summers spent in the Ozarks, with the "Hillbillies", always come flooding back with fondness and gratitude.... and, I believe the underlying reason is because, as a kid, I always felt more "at home" with those folks who accepted me for who I was and treated me like family (because I was), and especially, because I found in them something that every heart years for.... unconditional love.
No matter where it comes from, or the shape it comes in, unconditional love is, I believe, a requisite for forming a stable personality. Most of us spend out entire lives searching for it, grasping for it, only to find it slipping through our fingers like a ghost. Human love has its limitations and I have found that no one can meet the necessary requirements perfectly, no matter how hard they try or how much they care. Even my aunt, with all her good intentions, was still a flawed figure in a lot of ways, but she was able to give me, as I said before, a glimpse into something that would eventually, as an adult, find it's fruition in my relationship with my "Heavenly Father", the One Who is, I have discovered, the Author of "Unconditional Love"....
I believe it was "He", all along, actually leading me though those rugged Ozark hills and valleys, and now, today, by His help and grace, I still find myself treading life's perilous hills and valleys, being led... by grace,....unconditionally,....all the way.... home....
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