Thursday; April 28

I am fascinated by tornadoes. I spent a lot of my life in the Midwest, so this time of year everyone kept at least one eye on the horizon. In fact, I have a picture of one of the most powerful tornadoes to ever hit the Wichita Falls, Texas in my office. I have always been a weather nut, but when people start to mention tornadoes, it gets my attention. Now, I need to be clear about something – I have never actually been in a tornado, so maybe that is why I find them so fascinating. I saw a small one a few years back, but there really wasn’t any immediate danger, so I still find them interesting. Those people who have experienced tornadoes don’t share my fascination with them – in fact, they may not even be able to discuss them without reliving the terror they experienced.

The reason I share this perspective on tornados is a parallel I see in our society today. Have you noticed how eager we are to talk about people in crisis? We all have opinions about addictions – or homelessness – or hunger – or crime; but is it because we have experienced it or just because we like to talk about it? It is easy to take on the role of an expert through mere observation, but often our expertise is little more than Monday morning quarterbacking. Sure, it’s okay to have opinions, but let’s temper our tenacity by understanding that’s what they are – opinions. Additionally, let’s also be sensitive to the people who have experienced these things. Let’s not be guilty of ignoring their plight or dismissing their pain in our efforts to conduct intellectual exercises.

We should be thankful for our good fortune. We should also remember that others may not have been so lucky. Not only do they have expert opinions, they may have personal scars as well.

Think About It!

Popular posts from this blog

Thursday; May 3

I have a fish tank that allows my three Bettas (Larry, Darrell and Darrell) to live in the same structure, but remain hidden from each other – well sort of.   When I go to feed the fish, I believe that one of the Darrell’s can sort of see that the other Darrell is getting fed and he will linger over on that side of the tank even after I put his food in his tank.   I have to tap on the side of the tank where his food is floating to help him refocus and eat.   I get the impression that he is so interested in what is going on in the other Darrell’s tank that he can’t enjoy his own food. I have been told that the brain of a fish is pretty small – which explains their inability to process “blessings”, but are we guilty of the same malady as Darrell?   Are we so worried (or consumed) by what happens to the people around us that we fail to realize what is going on with us?   Are we envious of the blessings that others are receiving and end up missing out on what we have been given?   Are w
Read more

Thursday; February 14

         While most of us are familiar with today being Valentine’s Day, there are some who actually refer to February 14 th as “St. Valentine’s Day”.  This title is often affixed to a criminally historic event known as “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” on February 14, 1929 in Chicago, but that is another story for another time.  Not knowing much about the history of “Saint Valentine” I did a little research and found out he was a Roman religious leader who was martyred in 269 AD.  According to my limited research Valentine was killed because of his encouragement of Roman men (especially soldiers) to marry which was in violation of Claudias’ edict that prohibited marriage to keep their minds singularly focused on their task of defending the Empire.  Somehow, from this beginning – and possibly embellished by Chaucer – St. Valentine became intertwined with the concept of romantic love.           I am not really sure how February 14 th became connected with love, but inspired by thi
Read more

Wednesday; December 6

What does it mean to be a leader? I subscribe to the belief that a leader is someone who seeks the best for others and works with them to achieve their potential. There are others; however, who define leadership as the ability to have a vision and the tenacity to get their own way. Leaders who are this way are often portrayed as having developed the maturity to manipulate people to do things their way. However, is the ability to drive people in our direction mature or is it childish? The Christians of the 1st Century came from a lot of different backgrounds and had to work hard to work together. As the Apostle Paul challenged Christians in the city of Ephesus he challenged them to accept individual differences, “… until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. “ (Ephesians 4:13). Bossiness was not to be viewed as a sign of maturity, a willingness to wo
Read more