Think About It

In preparation for yesterday’s sermon I reviewed John Kennedy’s Inaugural Address from 1961.  As I listened to the new leader two things stood out to me.  The first one was how the scope of his message was timeless – it could have been delivered today.  The second was that it was full of hope.  The world in which Kennedy had been called to lead was filled with communist aggression, unequal civil rights, poverty and international political chaos, yet he did not back away from the challenge.  There are so many quotable moments in that speech, but one that is often overlooked states, “ In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger.  I do not shrink from this responsibility – I welcome it.  I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation.  The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will ...

One of the more interesting phrases that has come into the public spotlight in the last few months is “fake news”.  While it appears that this term has been bantered about by people hoping to deflect information they might not want disseminated, it does appear that there have been outside influences who have tried to sway public opinion by publishing information that actually is false.  Some, with their own agenda, have intentionally planted false stories in hopes of getting people to believe them and act a certain way.  Whether it was to impact an election or sway public opinion, lies have been published.  While I see the danger in this approach I also seen another troubling issue – there are people who are swallowing the fake news hook, line and sinker.  Some are so gullible that they will accept whatever is dangled in front of them.  Now, it might be easy to blame our society, but the truth of the matter is that this is an age old problem.  Do yo...

I will be the first to admit it … I have become a cold weather sissy.  While people all around the county are dealing with cold temperatures I am realizing just how little tolerance I have for the cold weather.  Sure there were days when I used to be able to get out and be active when the wind chills dipped below zero, but, frankly I just don’t like it anymore!  I think I have become more like an alligator than a polar bear – the thought of laying in the sun next to a nice warm river bank sounds pretty good. The reason I bring this up is not to complain – well, not really – but, to make a point.  When people would ask me how I could live in the frigid temperatures of the Northern Plains or the Rocky Mountains I would explain that it is just something you get used to.  Coming from Florida, in the beginning the cold was somewhat of a shock, but the more I was around it, the more comfortable I became.  In fact, there were times in my life when I got to wher...

Over the past few years a lot of attention has been drawn to social injustices … and, often, in response, someone else has raised a flag on another side of the issues.  To me, the most poignant might be “The Black Lives Matter” movement which was met by the “The Blue Lives Matter” slogans.  On one hand, some people wanted to bring attention to racial equality, then others felt compelled to highlight another segment of the population – the dangers faced by law enforcement officers.  Somewhere in the middle an “All Lives Matter” mantra was born. As I look back at this volatile situation in our country I am drawn to something pretty simplistic, a children’s song that I grew up singing.  I realize that the chorus of the song has recently come under some ridicule, but, in the song “Jesus Loves The Little Children” we are taught the lesson that God loves all of His children no matter if they are red, yellow, black or white.  For just a minute, let’s set aside the c...

The other day I was watching a documentary on the gangsters of the 1920s and 1930s where they described what they called the failure of Prohibition.  According to these folks, the Volstead Act was directly responsible for the rise in crime and the violence of the criminals during this time in our nation’s history.  At some point it might be interesting to debate that philosophy, but that isn’t my point today.  The thing that got my attention was the rationale they cited for the beginning of the prohibition of the manufacture and sale of alcohol.  According to the show’s producers, the late 19 th and early 20 th Centuries were times of western expansion fueled in part by cattle drives and mining discoveries.  These industries often employed young men who were away from their families.  They worked hard, so when they had a break from their labor, they had a lot of money and little self-control.  Many Midwestern and West Coast towns sprang up to provid...

When we discuss the coming of a new year it is tempting to get excited about a chance to begin again.  It might even sound like we get to hit a reset button or begin a reboot process so that everything starts anew.  Unfortunately, that isn’t necessarily accurate.  The unwrapping of a new calendar doesn’t mean that history has changed or events have been altered.  It isn’t like the movie “Groundhog Day” where we get to keep starting over until we get it right.  There is something nice about a new year, but it isn’t the answer to all of our past problems. The value in the new year is an artificial point in time when we can affect some changes in our lives.  No, we don’t get to start afresh, but we can start thinking and acting differently.  There are two areas where a chance to reframe ourselves can be advantageous: Attitudes :  For the most part, we get to pick our attitudes.  People can influence our circumstances, but we have the last s...

When we think back on 2017 what will we remember?  There have been some significant social events in the past year – some represent the highs of human advancement while others mark the lows of human nature.  We lauded some good moments as people rose to the top while we cried during times in which we witnessed the worst of mankind.  In guess, in a sense, it was a typical year. While 2017 was like most years from a global perspective, what was 2017 like for you, personally?  Did you accomplish what you set out to do for the year or was it one that was fraught with failure or disappointment.  Did you experience a resurgence in your life or did you have to confront continual barriers and stumbling blocks?  At the end of the year do you feel closer in your relationships with others or even more distant? One of the things to remember about any year is that what happened will not stand on its own, it will be a part of what makes us who we will become.  ...