Reminder

The events of the day should serve as a reminder to us. Not necessarily that we are a nation despised or a nation prepared. Not specifically that we have great leadership or wonderful volunteers. Today should serve as a reminder of what your life is really all about.

I know that sounds a little too deep and way to general so I will share with you only what went through my head today when I heard. I thought about home. Who was at home or where they might be if not. I thought about the people who would not be going home tonight but instead to a hospital or nowhere else ever again. I thought "what can I do?" but that was immediately replaced with "what am I doing?" and for the rest of the afternoon, the life I live seemed to be a distraction to my own thoughts.

The fact that every second of our lives is now in some way being recorded astonished me. It blew me away at how many different angles and vantage points were recording the stragglers of a race already won more than two hours earlier. I watched with horror over and over again, the reactions of those nearest the first event. There were all sorts of different people from different backgrounds and they all reacted instantly at the same moment.

Some dropped for cover and hid. Others grabbed the nearest person to them and held them close. Some just stood there and wondered what could possibly be happening while still others made a 180 and ran to assist those who needed it. I watched one man just a few feet away from finishing what I imagine was a goal taking up several months if not more of his life. Surprised by the noise and then turned around and went to help. All that training and work and it was more important to aid the wounded then to complete his own goals.

I have nothing to say about those no longer with us today. I did not know them or their lives but they did teach us to live in the moment and perhaps their loss can serve as a reminder to us to reset our own goals and perhaps make sure we don't turn our backs on those that need it to fulfill our own wants or needs.

The Best Kind Of Friend

Friends come in many shapes, sizes, colors and backgrounds. Some are good for a lifetime and some are good for a short while. There are those whose shoulders you lean on in tough times and different ones when you need a laugh. It is hard to imagine life without all the diverse types of friends you meet along the way.

One of my favorite kinds of friends are those that love you no matter what and in doing so will tell you how it is whether you want to hear it or not.

At first it may sound like I am describing the funny friend but that is a totally different friend. The funny friend tells you a joke or a crazy, generally unbelievable story about who knows what. But when they share with you the one about the preacher and a rabbi deciding who jumps first, it is exactly what you need to hear at that moment. A little distraction from the terrible situation you're dealing with or the ticket you got that afternoon for going five over the limit. But I am not highlighting that friend today.

The friend I would like to place on the pedistool is the one that tells it like it is. The good with the bad. Sometimes with good timing, but mostly not. The things they say stick in your head and haunt you like a "you know you can do better" ghost. They say things like "you're a better person than that" and "you are someone special to someone" and "i miss when we used to be friends" or one of my new ones "Hmmm, too vague. Try again".

I love that friend. That is a person that cares about you so much they want to see you at your best. They want you to succeed and many times at the cost of your own pride and dignity. So the next time you feel your self needing a real boost, a life changing, direction altering, dig a little deeper boost, call that friend up and let them tell you how it is. And by all means take what they have to say to heart.

They are your friend after all...

Sudden Celebrity

Entertainers have been around as log as the human has needed to be entertained. That is, since there were humans. It has always been a necessity for people to be able to loose themselves in a spoken poem or drama or viral video, if only for a couple of minutes once in a while. Doing this allows us to put our own lives into perspective and to help guide our dreams, expand our creativity or to simply remember that one time Doug caught that fish and it was "this big".

Although entertainment has been common enough throughout the centuries the people that bring us that entertainment are (pardon the pun) dramatically different. In previous ages, entertainers were schooled in the arts. They were well versed in history, literature, makeup, costumes and so on and their profession was to be an actor or a storyteller. For the most part the entertainers we still mention today were at least by the end, intentional in their craft. However today it is a different creature that we flock towards.

Enter the sudden celebrity. This person has not ever even thought about being famous or being the one people look to. This person stumbled (sometime literally) into a video someone shot on their phone and BAM! Instant fame. This person has never raised his or her hand in elementary school and now they have people asking for their autograph and to have their picture taken with them. The rapid change from nobody to somebody is hard to handle. Ask "Joe the Plumber" or "Balloon Boy" or one of the hundreds of regular people that are thrust into the lime light by the masses begging for a minute of distraction.

Even in the last decade or so, we went from having "A List" celebrities to people that are famous now, just for being famous. Since when were famous people offered to do tv shows after they were famous? Shouldn't they prove first that they can be good entertainers before we dump on them the duty of constant celebrity?

I wonder if the history books will mention along with names like Thespis and Ariston will mention the cast of Big Brother season 13 or Antoine Dodson. Probably not. Not that those people are not special in their own way but let's not deem them celebrities just yet. And let's not rely on them or anyone else with that title to solve the worlds problems. Thanks for trying anyway Sean.

Dear To My Heart

(In no particular order and in no way all inclusive)

my wife

my mother

my father

my sister

my other sister

my brother

my other brother

(both from other mothers)

my wife's family and what can now be called my new one

my friends in Temecula

my friends in St. Louis

my friends in all the places I have lived, worked, done ministry and played

my dog

...just for starters 

The Mystery Of Why

There are several stages of childhood. There are the fussy newborns where everyone including the child is figuring things out. It takes a few months and soon behaviors develop that are cute and endearing. A funny look and a glimmer of personality and then it turns into the early ones. They begin to crawl, stand and soon walk and right about that time they learn the words they hear the most. For the large majority of kids, that word is "no". Cute at first, it soon becomes an annoyance but at least they are learning and beginning to show you they understand what is happening around them.

The weeks fly by and then the milestone everyone knows and loves arrives. The "terrible twos". Many experts argue for and against the label but I think we all have seen the evidence of the demographic. But the time continues to move and shortly the threes rear up and dominate all the frustrations of "no".

The "no" quickly transitions to "why" and then it is all down from here. They challenge every decision made and every tidbit of wisdom of you are willing to offer there empty and un-experienced minds.

But there is a lot of awesome in the amount of curiosity they have. It is a good practice to continue especially now that you think you know everything. Try asking why when you are commuting to work two hours a day to a job you kind of like sometimes. Ask why when you shop, ask why when you workout, ask why when you think you know something. Challenge it.