Safety Net - Too Bad We Need One

What2Say2Day? I'm excited this morning. I've been waiting at least a month for this day. Today I'm attending a conference on How to Create a Safety Net for LGBT Teens. I work with teens who fall into this category of needing a safety net and see first-hand the damage that can be done when a teenager feels as though nobody accepts them AND therefore why should they accept themselves. Drugs, alcohol, self abuse, high drop-out rates, and other risks, including suicide, are highest amongst these teens. I'm not talking about just the LGBT teens but all youth who feel as though nobody, including themselves, care. One of the underlying themes I try to live by is to love others as we love God and ourselves. These three "loves" cannot be separated. It's when they are separated and kept apart that we begin to see the deterioration of the human race's relationship to each other, self and the rest of creation. Okay, before I begin to rant, and because I need to get myself into Honolulu's traffic (sigh) I'll stop here. I'll let you know how the conference went.

It's Not About Me

What2Say2Day? Luke 11:27-28 is an interesting little story about what Jesus says after he's just cast out a demon from a mute person, been accused of being a demon himself, and wonderfully defending his actions and turning the tables on his accuser. Apparently a woman is amazed at what Jesus has just done and praises him saying (and this is an ultra modern-day interpretation), "Your momma is awesome for giving life to you!" Jesus response is simply (again, paraphrasing), It's not about me, it's about you." My mentor teaches me that humility in the bible is not the lowering of yourself to another. Rather it is finding a way to be equal to them. God did not intend for any one of us to be better, or less, than the other. What He did intend is for each one of us to use the gifts given to us by Him to help those around us who need the help. This would mean those who have (stuff) to give some to those who have not, creating a world where everyone has what they need. Sometimes it would mean those who have less to give to those who have more. Everyone sharing whatever they have an abundance of with those who need just a little more. No, not just money, or physical things. We can also give patience, kindness, acceptance, a listening ear, love and more. What a concept!

Mid-week Realization

What2Say2Day? Today's thought may be a short one. I was beginning to feel overwhelmed again. Yesterday, when I signed in to work I actually thought, "Is it really only Tuesday?" So today I went to the one thing that always seems to calm me; Psalm 130. Especially verses 7-8: O Israel hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem. It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities. This Psalm always reminds me that it's God who we should follow. For me, I find that when I'm feeling overwhelmed it's usually because I'm trying to run ahead of God. So, today and for as long as I remember to, I will do as it says in this Psalm; my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning. Happy Wednesday, everyone, and may your day be filled with waiting and the knowledge of steadfast love!

Where does it all go?

What2Say2Day? I was having a conversation with a friend yesterday about how in the last 12 or 15 years it seems as though the price for everything has doubled. Gas (here in Hawaii) is over $4 a gallon, a gallon of milk is close to $8. The cost of a single family home 10 years ago was in the mid $300,000 - it's in the mid $600,000's now. So the price of everything we buy has risen at a rather steady rate. In contrast the wages we get paid have only gone up an average of 10% to 15% in the same time. As a result many of us are forced to take on part time jobs just to make ends meet. So, my question is, where does it all go? Not my income; I know where that goes - mortgage, electricity, water, phone, TV, credit card payments, car payments, food, gasoline, etc. I want to know where the monies we pay for our "necessities" go. I mean, seriously, where. As far as I can tell somewhere between us paying it and it getting paid back to us a lot of it seems to disappear. Jobs are being taken away (or given away) and the items we buy are of a lesser quality so I'm assuming they cost less make. So, please, someone tell me where it's going. Here in Hawaii it's said we pay one of the highest income taxes in the States. Yet our roads are cracked and pot-holed (if that's a word) and our schools are in complete disrepair. So, where does it all go? I hear similar stories from around the Nation; higher taxes, lower qualities of life, higher costs of living, lower qualities of life. If I may offer this as a suggestion - stop worrying about where it all goes. All we really need in this world is trust in our God, good friends, and true love. A while after my wife and I began dating (when I was sure she was "the one") I told her, "If we lose everything in this world, our home, our jobs, even our hair, and have to live under a bridge, as long as I'm with you none of that would matter." Now, before you think, "I don't have that special person on my life", I want to tell you that yes you do. Jesus is the best friend you will ever have, he is the one friend who will never leave you and will love you no matter what. Jesus is the one person who wants - wants - to live with you under a bridge. All you have to do is say ok to his love and begin to build that relationship. So, in answer to my question, where does it all go?, as for the riches of this world - who cares. As for hope, peace, love and joy - it will always be in you and with you for as long as you let it live.

Rested!

What2Say2Day? If I may loosely quote from Genesis 1..."and on the 7th day He rested". Rested. If I may now even more loosely embellish a line from Shakespeare..."Ahh, to rest, to lay down my head and simply do nothing but sleep". We all long for rest. We all like when we rest. We all enjoy an afternoon, no, better yet, an entire day of nothing-to-do-ness. And yet our days are filled with things to do. Turn off the blaring alarm, make breakfast for the kids (and coffee for you), take the kids to school, go to work, run errands on our lunch break, make arrangements for the weekend during down times at work, pick up the kids, take them to soccer (or dance lessons, or gymnastics, or baseball, or football, or piano, or...) go shopping for things you forgot to buy over the weekend, pick up the kids from whatever you dropped them off for, get dinner, go home, eat dinner, make sure the kids bathe (and if you're a kid you still have to do homework), wash dinner dishes, catch up on emails, pay bills, bathe ourselves and, finally, go to bed. And that's just Monday. Tuesday is, well, like the directions on the shampoo bottle says "rinse and repeat". People, please, slow down, find the time to rest and enjoy the things around you. I suggest you start with 15 minutes a day. For 15 minutes turn off all electronics - phones, computer, TV, everything. Find a nice quiet spot, or not quiet if watching people play is your thing, and simply do nothing. It's only 15 minutes, I know you can do it.

Persisitence + Patience = Success

What2Say2Day? This one is inspired by an FB comment from one of my friends this morning. What do you do if your first attempt is an epic fail? Do you stop trying or blame something and/or someone else for the failure? Do you wait for a mentor or person-in-charge to correct it for you? Or, do you (as the adage goes) try and try again? (Raise your hand if you picked the last option.) This goes back to yesterday's thoughts on where it seems our society is headed. We've become accustomed to instant gratification. If we don't know it we Google it instead of using a dictionary or looking for an article or book written about it or using an encyclopedia (who remembers those?). We go to a drive-through and expect our food ready when we get to the window. We want our electronic messages sent to us as soon as they're sent to us. As I pondered the Facebook comment I remembered a fact: it took Thomas Edison over 10,000 tries to get the light bulb to work right. Over 10,000 tries! Imagine if he gave up because it wasn't instant gratification. (Does anyone else see the irony - light bulb vs. instant gratification.) Here's another example for you sports people: a baseball player is considered a successful batter if he doesn't get a hit 7 out of 10 times at bat. Babe Ruth held both the home run and strike out records consecutively. Imagine if he decided all that failure wasn't worth it.  Just one more example - Jesus' ministry took 3 years on earth, and even now, after his death on a cross 2000 years ago, he's still at work. Imagine if Jesus wanted instant gratification and decided to just give up. Now, imagine what you can do if you remain persistent and add a little patience.

Choose Wisely

What2Say2Day? I'm watching a movie called "The Swing Vote" with Kevin Costner. It's a story that takes a tongue-in-cheek look at how the candidates for President have to sway a single voter's mind so he votes for them. It goes over the top with each candidate doing and saying anything just to get that vote. Oh, and by the way, Kevin Costner's character, Bud, hasn't a single clue on what's going on in the country. In one scene he's asked if he's pro-choice or pro-life to which his response is, "well everyone should have a choice, right?". The follow up question was, "So you uphold Roe vs. Wade?" To which he replies, "I dunno". He's then asked, "So you're pro-life"? To which he responds, "Well, who isn't." The candidates then go on an all out effort to say they are against abortion. Watching this movie makes me think about what is really important in our lives, or if we even know what's important in our lives. In general, I think we are getting caught up in a world where we've forgotten what's important. Are any of these on your list of important things: God, family, friends and (as the bible put it) the widows and orphans and outcasts of society. Did you notice the one thing missing from the list - you. I'm not saying you aren't important, please don't get me wrong. What I'm saying is we're quickly putting ourselves to the top of our list, pushing the others to a distant second, or third, or fourth. In the movie the incumbent President has a private moment with Bud and says to him, "In our lives we have to pick what's important to us and fight for it." I guess we just have to choose what's important.