Lessons from my old age

1. I don’t remember becoming absent minded.
2. I finally got my head together, now my body is falling apart.
3. It’s hard to make a comeback, when you haven’t been anywhere.
4. If all is not lost, where is it?
5. It is easier to get old than it is to get wiser.
6. Aging isn’t for wimps.
7. It’s not hard to meet expenses, they’re everywhere.
8. My idea of a balance diet is a cookie in each hand.
9. It has come to my attention that too much comes to my attention.

Beautiful Art

The Musee d'Orsay in Paris is a wonderful place of beauty. It is home to some of the finest pieces of art ever painted. Not being a student of art, I was personally astonished at how many of the works on display there I actually recognized. And I was a little overwhelmed that the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt, Pierre Auguste Renoir and Paul Cezanne were all hanging in the same museum.

But the greatest personal surprise, and source of great joy, was a painting by Theo Van Rysselberghe entitled Man at the Tiller, 1892. Catching the blue and white hues and reflections of light and sea, the painting of a sea captain guiding his ship through stormy water is magnificent even when viewed from a distance. And yet when you are within a few feet of the work, you realize that the artist had painted literally thousands of tiny "dots" to compose the scene. It's hard to imagine the amount of time and effort it took to produce such a work. What amazing gifts God has given to men.

Three Mistakes of Barack Obama

President Obama's election victory, and the Democratic Party's majority gained in both the House and the Senate, must have given him great confidence that his political positions were in complete harmony with the wishes of the majority of America.

It seems to me that President Obama has made three (at least) significant miscalculations.

First, that his personal charisma, and speech making abilities, would allow him to push through unwise and unpopular legislation.

Second, that his victory gave him a mandate to press a socialist agenda.

and Thirdly, that the appointment of "czars", would greatly expand his cabinet membership, without requiring congressional approval, and make it easier to manage a larger radical administration.

Freedom of Speech

As an ham radio operator, I often volunteer to work events to practive my emergency radio response skills. A couple of weeks ago we were asked to work the "New Richmond Riverdays". Our task was to set up a radio communication headquarters and then have ham radio operators walk through the crowd and observe for any unusual activities which should be reported to authorities. We looked for alcohol abuse, vandalism, persons with medical emergencies etc. Our radios serving as additional eyes and ears of the police, EMTs and event staff expanding their effectiveness during the event.

All was fairly quiet until a preacher was observed brandishing a bullhorn and large sign. This fellow was yelling into the microphone, waving his Bible, and condemning the crowd for their wickedness, telling them that they were going to hell if they did not repent.

The reason he was there was because of the crowd. Lots of people were able to hear his message. One older lady yelled back at him, "You don't even know me, How can you say I am going to hell". A larger crowd began to form, fifty or more. A couple of teenagers also took offence to the accusations and began laughing and mocking him. Several others also began yelling and condemning the preacher. Our radio group notified our communication center of the situation and three police officers responded.

I was impressed with how they handled the situation. Each officer stood between the preacher and each of the most vocal teenagers. They did not yell or issue orders. They softly told the boys that their actions was attracting more attention to the preacher and that is just what he wanted. The best way to oppose him is to walk away and ignore his efforts. The crowd eventually dispursed and the preacher left.

I generally agree with the message of the preacher, certainly his right to speech. But I also believe that his approach and tactics were doing more harm than good. There is a time, place, and method for everything. Nevertheless, it is wonderful that we live in a country were both sides of an argument can enjoy the benefits of free speech.

Influence of one man

I was saddened last Sunday to hear of the death of Dr. Ray Bauer. He served as the Principal at the Milford Sr. High School. I did not know him well, but I saw him rather frequently. He was involved in nearly every activity at the school. He often introduced the band performances, came to the Winter Guard competitions, and always had a cheerful word for students, parents and volunteers. He will be missed.

In Theory

In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.
Yogi Berra

Pencil Production

I read an interesting comment the other day. It said that not one single person in the whole wide world knows everything needed to produce a single, simple pencil.

Think about it, growing the wood, molding the metal, processing the graphite and the eraser. Not to mention assemply, sales, marketing, financing and distribution.

The morale is that we all need to share the knowledge we have to the benefit of all of us.

What I have learned about Contentment

Contentment is personal
It cannot be given to you
It cannot be taken from you

What I have learned about Forgiveness

Forgiveness
There are two kinds: divine and human
Divine forgiveness is from God
When God forgives, events are forgotten
"remembered against us no more"

Human forgiveness is from man
These events cannot be forgotten, but must be forgiven, if repentence is offered
If no repentence is offered, we must accept it, and move on

Let God be the judge

Fools...........

Fools grow everywhere, even without watering.

The Impact of Immediately Available News

This truly is the information age. It seems contradictory that newspaper subscriptions are rapidly declining. This is not because the daily bulletins no longer provide valuable news information, but because the news is already widely known by the time the newspapers are printed and distributed. The availability of the internet, portable computers, cell phones, digital cameras and especially personal digital devices, make the dissemination of news nearly instantaneous. Newspapers are just not current enough.

But that is not my main point. The question I ask is, “how do our leaders make decisions in such an environment?” In the past, decision makers were able to ponder their positions and gauge the potential reaction of the public to unfolding events over a period of time; even attempting to mold this reaction a bit. More recently, astute politicians began to use opinion polls to help manage their philosophies. Nowadays every event is met with millions of personal opinions instantly. Bloggers, u-tubers, and Instant Messengers are flying everywhere. Innumerable fragments of knowledge do not constitute a philosophy for living one’s life, managing a business, or running a country. It’s difficult to determine fact from fiction. Long term considerations give way to emotions and first impressions. To respond to such a flurry of information is impossible, but not to react may be seen as insensitive or uninformed.

Adding to the difficulty in sustaining a long-term decision making perspective is how social programs are been labeled, in contrast with the actions actually necessary to achieve them. Who could oppose “Fair Housing”, “Americans with Disabilities”, “Drug Prevention” or “National Defense” legislation? Yet when the actions required to accomplish the stated goals are revealed, they may be far more onerous than voters are aware. This is not to mention the modifications, amendments and stipulations attached to the original documents.

So are we doomed? Perhaps not. If we can use the power of prayer, our personal intellect, as well as our hearts, we can elect wise leaders based on their character, not the flashiness of their campaign themes. We can then trust them to honestly lead us down the path to long term wellbeing.