This I Know -- there's a lot of stuff I don't know!

It is a cool, but sunny morning in the Ozarks. The current temperature is 39f (3.8c). I debated between coffee in front of the fireplace (it's 64f, 17.8c in the house) or out on the sunny deck. The deck won. Sweat pants, a long sleeved shirt, sweater, and socks. I'm a bit chilled but the sun feels good.

One of the areas of my personal growth is in recognizing how little I truly know. We all like to think that we are smart and know stuff, and we all do know some stuff. But there is a world of stuff that I don't know and I keep finding out that some of the stuff I know (knew) is wrong. Letting go and unlearning is hard.

I'm trying to read more and seek out certain areas of knowledge. I guess that's a pretty common approach -- find an interest, seek out information about it. Right now I'm keeping it pretty basic -- mind, body, spirit stuff. I figure I need to learn more about me before I explore other areas of knowledge. I'm looking at some pretty ancient teachings from the Far East and am finding them to be quite fascinating. I'm also realizing that my brain needs to re-adapt itself to learning from reading. I'm finding it difficult to read for learning for longer periods of time. I can read for pleasure (novels) for much longer than I can read for learning. Even reading for pleasure is more difficult than it used to be.  It could be that learning is just more difficult and I need to exercise my neuroplasticity. 
God forbid that I would ever want to stop learning or stop being able to learn!

I wonder what I'll learn today.

John  

Social Media -- Old School

I'm noticing a bit of a shift on social media. While many still use different social media platforms to connect and share news (both personal and business), many others are looking to abandon it or are in search of newer, less populated forums. They mention political division or privacy as their main reasons for wanting to leave their current forums. I know that some have already left, some will leave, and still others will continue on because they crave the connection and drama that social media allows them. It seems that they enjoy sharing their views as much as they distain the views of others.

Personally, I'm more in favor of the personal discipline of choosing who to follow and when to respond to or ignore certain posts, although I think I'd get along quite well without most of what is published. I have around 300 followers on two of the platforms I use -- Facebook and Twitter, and just over 200 on Instagram. I follow more accounts on Twitter and Instagram than I have followers. 
My Facebook followers have increased (much to my dismay) over the past couple of years, mostly from being a part of The Venues Church. There are a number of friends that I enjoying hearing from, but I mostly stay on for the forums on motorcycles, cigars, retirement, community activity, and the live video streams from The Venues.
My Instagram account has a bunch of bot followers and I should probably change my privacy settings.
I probably use my Twitter account the most. I use it for news and to follow authors, pastors, politicians, news personalities, athletes, etc. I also subscribe to a number of news outlets and get more news through those connections than from watching TV news.

In so many ways social media has seemed to drive us farther apart rather than bringing us together. We substitute a post on Facebook for a conversation with a friend. We say things on online forums that we would never say in person and we use forums to bully and criticize people we don't even know.
As much as social media has helped us stay in touch during this pandemic, it has also isolated us from many of the personal contacts that were once important to us. 

I will continue to hold on to my current forums (although I have already made changes in how I use them and how often I use them), but for today I think I'll go old school -- I think I'll make a phone call or two and maybe even write a letter. That's more my social speed, anyway.

John

Party Politics

This isn't a post about Democrat vs Republican party politics. It's about political divisions within each party. While many Democrats wonder why today's Republican leadership won't step up and congratulate President Elect Biden, the answer is pretty simple -- they can't afford to anger the Trump base. Although they may not agree with Trump policies or condone his behaviors, they need the support of his base. His base represents more than half of the overall republican voters.

The Democratic party has a similar kind of divide between its far left side (think Bernie Sanders) and its more moderate side. I fully expect a more liberal Speaker of the House than Pelosi when January rolls around. 

President Elect Biden keeps saying that he'll be a President for all of America. Truthfully, he isn't even representative of all of the Democratic party. Sure, the party united against President Trump, but they didn't really unify in their support of Joe Biden.

I see the divide within the Republican party much more disturbing than the divide in the Democratic party. Denying science, denying truth, and being racist and hateful are far different from differing policies on healthcare and climate change, but they are still dividing the parties and potential voters. Losing potential party voters is a pretty big deal for Republicans in Georgia right now.

I'd say that I don't have the answer, but the answer isn't a big secret. We all know the answer. 
We have to start listening to each other and finding ways to address each other's concerns. What is so frustrating is that so many voices are speaking and so few ears are listening. I am not very hopeful that we will be able to come together as a country. I am not very hopeful that people will be concerned with the needs of others rather than looking to guard their own stuff and prosper themselves. 

sigh
Maybe tomorrow's post will have more hope.

John

Monday Motivation

 

Perspective

It's been a week!
It's now Saturday evening and I'm enjoying a cigar, the fights are on, and I'm reflecting on the day. I thought I'd write some thoughts down for Sunday morning's post.

This afternoon (Saturday) I had just left the house to meet our daughter for a post-election celebratory drink. I was only about a mile from the house when my phone rang. It was the ER at the hospital where I am on call as chaplain this week. They told me they were moving a patient to the OB ward for post event observation after what they called fetal demise. She was 22 weeks pregnant and had just lost the baby. Although they hadn't requested a chaplain, the ER nurse called me.

I made the course correction and headed to the hospital. On the 30+ minute drive I was thinking about how small the world can seem at times. 
For the past several days, much of the world was watching as the results of our (the US) presidential election slowly came in. Here in the States, there were demonstrations, a fair amount of hand wringing, and much speculation on the future of the government's make up. We have been concerned with state elections, national elections, and international impact. This election had the greatest citizen participation with millions of more voters participating and having their voices heard at every level of government.

But in that moment, none of that mattered.

Nobody asked or cared if the young couple was Trump supporters, Biden supporters, or if they even voted. It didn't matter if they favored universal health care, were prolife or pro-choice, or what religion they practiced (if any). The medical staff at the hospital did what they were trained to do and then called me to come and minister to them in their very small world. 
On Saturday morning this young woman woke up expecting to be a mommy in a few months. By Saturday afternoon, that wasn't going to happen. That was their whole world.

Perspective.

There are millions of others that live in pretty small worlds. Around 600 people in Springfield MO are more concerned with finding a warm, safe place to sleep -- tonight. Many more than that don't know how they will feed their kids -- tonight. There are people in my community that are suffering physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Families are separated and dealing with pandemic issues -- on this very night. 
I'm not saying that we shouldn't be concerned with the big picture. But we also need to bring our focus in and look around us, at the people and the needs around us. We need to know that we can make a difference in their small world -- in our small world, and we can do it today.
You probably know somebody that could use a phone call. Call them.
You might know somebody that really needs a visit. Visit them.
Maybe you know somebody that needs a meal. Fix them a meal, buy them a gift card, or take them out if you can. 
Not sure who to help or how to help. Visit a thrift store or discount store and buy as many cheap warm coats as you can and donate them to a shelter. You can make a difference in your world. 

Without the labels -- red, blue, conservative, liberal, Christian, Muslim, atheist, etc. -- we are all just human beings trying to make it through the day. Why not help each other?
Life doesn't have to be a competition. It isn't that important that you finish the day with more stuff than me or somehow ahead of me or anyone else. We can finish together. 

My heart breaks for the young couple that I prayed with today. I know that their world is ugly today. I don't know that I was able to offer them any comfort because they were truly devastated when I saw them. You may feel like that, too. Do what you can. Keep things in perspective. Share some love. 

John  

Call the Election: It's time to stop the dying

It's hard to believe that the 2020 United States Presidential Election is yet to be decided.
It's Saturday for crying out loud!

As the election continues to dominate the news, the US has faced a growing and spreading pandemic. We have set records on daily new infections. The national death total is climbing towards a quarter of a million dead Americans. As the election dominates the news, I wonder if anything is being done (at any level) to address our woeful handling of the pandemic.

I don't expect there to be any quick change in policy concerning the pandemic. There needs to be a change in the national attitude toward the pandemic and efforts to stop its spread. We need to start doing the right things concerning hand washing, social distancing, and masking -- All of us!

I really don't expect the science denying followers of Trump to all of a sudden believe that wearing a mask will help, but maybe they will at least recognize the foolishness of claiming it to be a democratic hoax.
Maybe.

I expect that the rank and file Trump supporters of southwest Missouri to continue with life as usual -- large family holiday gatherings, community and work holiday parties and celebrations, big church sponsored Christmas pageants, etc. Without some serious behavioral changes, I fully expect to see a half million dead by the time we hit the one year mark since the first big shutdown. I am hopeful that we will soon (before Jan 20) see more science information from the CDC experts.

I fully realize the negative economic impact of a shutdown. It may be necessary for another brief amount of time. If secondary protocols had been enforced after the early shutdown, we wouldn't be where we are today. Maybe just an enforcement of those protocols now would prove to be a positive move in reducing the spread and easing the burdens on our hospitals and local healthcare facilities.

For local friends, do your part. Encourage others to do their part. Stay safe. Stay healthy.
I'll be back tomorrow.

John

50/50: It shouldn't be a bad thing

The problem isn't that we are divided to a nearly 50% blue vs nearly 50% red nation. The problem is the divisive polarity between the two. If our elected representatives truly represented the citizens of the country they would work together for the good of all of us rather than fighting for what they perceive to be their half of the country.

It appears that we will have a President that says he will be the President for all Americans and a Senate Majority Leader that says he will do whatever is necessary to oppose everything that President wants to do -- even in opposing potential cabinet nominations.

Choosing which party leads the country forward should be just that. We still need to move forward. 
If we were a football team, it would be like the offensive line refusing to block because they want the 2nd string quarterback on the field. We are still supposed to be on the same team, still working towards the same goals. Priorities and methods may be different under different leadership, but we shouldn't be working against each other. Republicans and democrats are not supposed to be enemies, just different voices on the same team.
This is also true within the parties. The moderate factions are not the enemies of the more progressive or more conservative factions. In fact, the more moderate factions should be the bridges to reaching across the aisle to the other party. We have truly lost sight of the simple fact that we are citizens of the same country.

Just some Friday moment post-election thoughts.
I have more. Maybe tomorrow.
Maybe not.

John  

Thankful

We took some time away from checking on the status of the few remaining states last night and had our daughter and son-in-law over for dinner. It was a late birthday dinner for Hannah.

I was doing dishes after they left and mentioned to Chris how thankful I am that our kids have turned out to be pretty wonderful adults and have also managed to pick pretty wonderful spouses. 

We had a very enjoyable evening just visiting over dinner and for quite awhile afterwards. Although part of the conversation was about the election and the pandemic, for the most part the evening was a respite from the worries of the world. It was a time of just hanging out with the kids.

I've only noticed a few people doing the daily thankful-for posts on Facebook this year during the month of November. I haven't been participating in that and probably won't, but that doesn't mean that I don't have plenty of things for which I am truly thankful. My daily quiet time and added hours of pandemic solitude have given me many hours of reflection on the blessings of my life (including added hours of solitude!).

I know that there are a number of you that are struggling with how to handle typically large family gatherings for this year's Thanksgiving celebration. I have no advice for you other than to be thoughtful as you make those decisions and encourage everyone to be graceful as they recognize their thoughts and feelings might be different than others. That gracefulness in differences is something I'm working on.

Be well.
Be thankful.
Be gracious.

John

Here We Are

Wednesday morning.
Not much has changed.

Results are not finalized in the US election. It will be close -- again. Once again the popular vote will go to the Democratic candidate. The electoral vote will be close. The few states that remain in play are so close that even with 95% of the vote counted, they are too close to call.

I'm disappointed.
I'm also pretty privileged in that my life will not change much. I live in a deeply red part of the country. The pandemic is denied and slowly spreading, so we will stay at home. Our state government will continue to be red and will continue to oppress the marginalized segments of the population.

I will do what I've been doing.
I will help others when and where I can.  
I will encourage others to help when and where they can.
I will struggle to love those that oppose my efforts to love the people that they do not love.

Everybody wants to be on the winning team. But my recent life struggle has been in moving away from the binary systems of winners and losers, rich and poor, right and left, conservatives and liberals, good and evil, straight and queer, black and white.
Most of life happens in the grey, in-between areas of life. I live between liberal and conservative. I live in the grey. From the middle you can see that the sides do not communicate with each other -- they yell at each other. I think that the majority of us live in the middle with tendencies toward one side or the other. I don't think that the middle is represented very well in our government.

I'll take care of the people that I can.
Today I am going to send a glass tubed, bourbon infused cigar to a Vietnam vet so that he can have it to smoke on November 10th, the birthday of the US Marine Corps. An annual cigar is his way of celebration and remembrance; his way of honoring his fellow vets that are no longer with us. Sharing a decent cigar from my humidor allows me to honor his service.

Do something kind for someone today. Add a little good to your area of the world -- today.
Share something good. Go ahead -- brag on yourself a little. Tell me something -- big or small -- that you did or are doing for someone else.
Lift my spirits. Restore my faith n humanity. Tell me something good.

John

Two-fer Tuesday--Election Day evening thoughts

It's Tuesday evening and polls on the east coast are still open for a couple of hours. As I said this morning -- today has been pretty much like any other day. I've been busy enough that I haven't checked any news sources, nor have I spent much time on social media. In the few moments that I've scrolled through Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter I have been encouraged by the relatively calm encouragement that we will go on tomorrow with calm encouragement.

While there is a certainty that we all want our side to win, there also seems to be a confidence that things will be okay no matter the outcome of the election. The losing parties will continue to fight the injustices they see and begin to form plans for midterm elections in '22. The winners will layout their plans for the new legislature in 2021 and how to work with or oppose the White House strategies.

I'm feeling a reserved, but calm energy. We will see if that changes throughout the night.
Sleep well, my friends. The sun is still planning on rising in the morning. 
And there will still be work to do.

John