Think About It

I had to make a quick trip to Ohio last week and drove close to Kent State University. For some of you, Kent State may not mean much, but for those of us who grew up in the last half of the 20th Century, the phase “Kent State” probably congers up some mixed opinions and a lot of sadness. On May 4, 1970 dozens of students were shot and four of them died during protests. What makes this incident so disturbing is that the shots were fired by Ohio National Guardsmen. In a sense, the event at Kent State captured a glimpse of what was going on in parts of our nation at that time. For most of my life, the phrase Kent State and the song “Ohio” have caused emotional pain. You may be wondering why this comes bubbling to the surface – and the answer is that I am getting a strange sense of déjà vu. In light of the recent protests and disagreements on international affairs, I hope and pray that wisdom and common sense will prevail. We must make sure to agree that the enemy on these issues in...

This is National Police Week and today is Peace Officers Memorial Day. If you have spent much time around me, I hope you realize that I go to great pains to be fair and balanced in most things in my life – but when it comes to the men and women of Law Enforcement – and the profession as a whole – I am unashamedly biased. I am a cheerleader for the people I know who spent decades protecting and serving – those who have chosen to maintain peace and order in our civilized world. They are the ones who make the daily choice to stand in gap between civility and chaos. They put their lives at risk to make sure we sleep soundly and safely at night. Not only do I back the blue, I also do all I can to support their families. I have seen firsthand the price families pay to stand beside their officers – they are the unsung heroes of the Law Enforcement world! Most people have a “cop story” and, honestly, some of them are not very flattering. I, too, have a lot of cop stories but most of m...

When we give a gift, what is our motivation: Do we give someone what we think they want to get or do we give them something we know they need to get? That is an interesting conundrum, isn’t it? When I first thought of this question, I was leaning toward the correct answer being giving them what we think they would like to receive – after all, isn’t gift-giving all about making someone happy? Yet, the more I think about it, the more I am tending to lean toward the second, wiser approach. Many of us know people who would like to receive things that may or may not be good for them. Children might want more candy, someone struggling with a lack of restraint might want more of what they are addicted to, people driven by monetary gain might want more stuff; but would giving them what they want really be doing them a favor? As I pondered this, I got to thinking about the gifts that God gave mankind. Had He asked us what we wanted we might have said better health, longer life, more pow...

What does it mean to “accept” someone? We live in a time in which people demand to be accepted. Like me or not, you have no choice but to accept me. In essence, you have to take me as I am or I am going to become angry or offended. Isn’t it interesting, that there is less emphasis on being acceptable than the demand to be accepted. I guess I can understand where this is coming from. I realize that throughout the years the “haves” or the “cool kids” may have set the standard for acceptance and have left a lot of people out in the cold. Understandably, this does alienate some, but does that mean that everyone doing anything is automatically okay? What would happen if we changed our perspective from accepting everything to respecting everyone? It wouldn’t be the actions that would tolerated, rather it would be innate human value that would be appreciated. Even if there was something that someone did that we found unacceptable, we could still value them as a human being. ...

It is time for my annual Public Service Announcement – Sunday is Mother’s Day! Okay, now that gives you a couple days to get your order delivered or your reservations made. You have no excuse now. I know a little bit about the American Mother’s Day celebration, but even if it did reach its current state through the efforts of the greeting card industry, it is worth the investment. Our mothers are an important part of our lives. Not only did they give us birth, they also provided us with an insight into life. They taught us what we needed to know, but they also influenced how we think. They helped us to be able to function in the world, but maybe the best lesson most of them taught us was how to care about others. I am about to make a generic statement that isn’t always true, but a lot of us learned the “softer side” of life from our Moms. They helped us develop those caring relationships we have today. Sure our fathers influenced us, but there is something special about a Moth...

I have never really counted how many networks I have on my main television provider, but I know it is well over fifty and might be closer to one hundred. I find it interesting that there are times when I scroll all the way down and can’t find anything I want to watch. In addition to this, I have several other streaming services that feature shows, movies, music and sporting events. There are times I also go through these apps and end up not making a choice. There are all kinds of ways to watch a variety of options and there are times I feel frustrated that there just doesn’t seem to be much to occupy my time. Does this sound familiar? If so, we both need to have a little talk with ourselves. You see, we can fuss about how much junk there is out there, but those same options provide us with some good stuff. Sure there are things that shouldn’t be seen or heard, but today’s society has a plethora of options with good, wholesome, uplifting material. If you look for it, you can fi...

Last week I all but lost my voice. I didn’t feel bad, but I wasn’t ready to run a sprint either. As I sat around not feeling up to doing much, it was tempting to get to feeling bad – not physically, but emotionally. As I looked back on my week, I can see how it would have been easy for me to get down on the dumps. I mean, here it is – right in the heart of spring and I am feeling puny. Then something interesting happened. I got to thinking about how it was five years ago this month that I had open heart surgery. It was four years ago that we were just learning about the dangers (and the drag) of the COVID epidemic. Compared to that, a scratchy throat didn’t seem too bad! How do we feel about our lives? Are we pleased with where we are or are we sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves? Are we thankful for what we have, or do we lament what we lack? Perspective is what we make of it. Are we willing to invest in a positive outlook? If so, we will probably be more likely ...