Wake Up, America!

Warning: I'm upset. Really upset. (cover your ears, kids) I'm upset because of all the dopey people who are whining that AIG (after receiving $173 million in bailout money from Uncle Sam) spent millions of dollars in bonuses (165 million to be exact) for their employees. Hello? That's like complaining that the drunk bum used your Abe Lincoln handout to buy some alcohol. You dopes, you. If you're gonna complain with how they used your money....don't give it to them. Hey, I've got a bright idea, let's hand out millions and millions of dollars of someone else's money, and then try and pretend like we have strong financial morals. (did I mention that I'm upset?)

It just totally blows my mind that AIG, rather than Big Government, is somehow getting blamed for this. Once you GIVE the money to THEM, it's THEIRS, and they can do whatever THEY want with it because you GAVE it to THEM. I once put about 15 bucks worth of gasoline into someone else's car because their "sister was in the hospital". Did I get ripped off? Probably. But, I knew the risk going in, so I'm not going to whine like I'm somehow naive to evil. Don't blame the guy asking for a handout just because you were foolish enough to give it to them. What did you expect AIG to do with the bailout money? Use it wisely? You dopes, you. Let's take a bunch of money, give it to a company who obviously can't handle money well (that's the claim, isn't it?), and then act like we're shocked that they waste it. As I understand it, that bonus money was part of a contract for these employees. So, Uncle Sam, how about you do your homework and stop shelling out cash to people who have made it known in writing that they plan to (say it aint so) pay their employees.

Imagine I came upon a kid who was throwing quarters, one by one, into a wishing well. Imagine that this kid, after running out of quarters, turned to me and said, "Could you bail me out of this dilemma, and give me a roll of quarters?". Imagine I give this kid a roll of quarters, and the kid takes the whole roll and throws it into the wishing well. Now, imagine that I start yelling at the "stupid" kid for throwing away an entire roll of quarters. Let me ask you, who's the stupid one?

Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on The Man.

Wake up, America. You dopes, you.

Is that Ok with You?

I'm a people watcher. At any social gathering, I enjoy just sitting back and processing it all. The subtle glances between husband and wife; the business man checking his Blackberry, again; the loner staring off into space; the extrovert hamming it up, much to the pleasure of his 'audience'; and, of course, the other 'people watchers' who, like me, are taking mental notes.

I love to analyze things, peoples, events, conversations - pretty much everything. I often will memorize important conversations, and play them over and over again in my head - trying to catch something I've missed. One thing I love to do is place people into their respective "I'm Ok - You're Ok" category. If you're not aware, "I'm Ok - You're Ok" was a very popular "self-help" book in the early 1970's, written by Dr. Thomas A. Harris.

I won't try to summarize the book here, but basically (and this is an over-simplification) there are four life positions/attitudes you may embrace.

1. I'm not Ok, You're Ok (low view of self, "high" view of others)

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2. I'm not Ok, You're not Ok (low view of self and others)

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3. I'm Ok, You're not Ok ("high" view of self, low view of others)

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4. I'm Ok, You're Ok ("high" view of self and others)

I don't share this with you because I agree with the prescriptions of Harris (I don't), I share it with you because I find his descriptions of people quite fascinating. I find these four categories very helpful in being more aware of what makes people tick. With a little thoughtful observation, I think we could understand those around us a lot more.

While, in many instances, categorizing the behavior of someone may seem a bit trivial, there are other times when it can be very important. We should train ourselves to notice the bizarre behavior of others. If someone blows their top over some minor detail (the straw that broke the camel's back), it ought first to move us to compassion and curiosity, not condemnation. In reality, their temper tantrum, off-color comment, or startling behavior may be a symptom of something deeper. It is the loving friend who notices, and (here's the kicker) does something about it.

Endurance

While reading in Proverbs (my default devotions if I don't do my regular Bible reading), I came across a particularly challenging verse.

Proverbs 24:10 says,

"If you faint in the day of trouble, your strength is small."

I think I would have expected the ending of that verse to read a bit differently. I might have expected it to say something like, "If you faint in the day of trouble, your strength is average." or, "...it wasn't your fault." or, "...it happens to the best of us."

Really? If I fail during adversity, then I am weak? Let me throw this into a slightly different context, and then end with a challenge.

I remember during one chapel at Xenia Christian High School, one of my teachers, Mr. Holloway gave an illustration using a Styrofoam cup and some water. Mr. Holloway filled the cup to the top with water, and then gave the cup to a student. He instructed the student to hold the cup out at an arms length, and then he suddenly bumped the students arm, forcing the water to spill out. He then asked the student, "Why did water come out of the cup?" The student replied, "Because you bumped my arm." Mr. Holloway informed the student that this was the wrong answer, and the student offered several other guesses, none of which satisfied him. He finally gave the student a clue and asked, "Why didn't coffee, or tea, or something else come out of the cup?" The student replied, "Because there was water in the cup." "Exactly!" my teacher shouted. He went on to explain that what came out of the cup when it was under stress (bumped) was merely a reflection of what was inside. Water wasn't suddenly created, simply because the Styrofoam cup was bumped.

This is true for us as well. When we face "trouble", how we respond is a reflection of who we really are on the inside. Our bad attitudes, clouded thinking, and flippant speech aren't caused by poor situations, they are exposed by them.

So, if I faint in the day of adversity, it is a reflection that my strength wasn't that strong after all. Pretty humbling. Each day we are in a battle. Is your strength small?

"Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil." Ephesians 6:10

Sweet Dreams

I had this bizarre (is there any other kind?) dream last night. I usually don't remember my dreams, and the ones I do remember, aren't all that interesting. This dream was different. For some reason, I couldn't get it out of my mind while I was driving to work today. It's strange how dreams work, sorting and sifting our life while we sleep. This particular dream was the merging of several stories and I'll explain as we go along.

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So there I was, sound asleep, minding my own business, when it hit me like a ton of bricks - a dream. The dream opened with me at an audition for a play. (In High School I was in several plays, and acting was a big part of my life, so it isn't that unusual for me to dream about an audition.) I'm not sure where I was in the dream, probably Ohio. (Usually the location\setting of my dreams default back to my hometown - Xenia, OH.) In the dream, I happened to notice that my parents were in the audience, waiting to watch me audition. (This was a bit odd since family members don't usually come to auditions, especially for a simple High School drama. At this point, you should also know that I've been trying to get a particular job now for several months.)

Right before I was called up on stage, I realized that, for some illogical reason, if I didn't get a part in the play, I wouldn't get the job I'd been hoping for either. Don't ask me how this dream-logic works. All I knew was that I absolutely had to get a part in the play, or it was bye-bye to my budding career. As you can imagine, this caused me a great amount of stress. However, I wasn't too worried because I've auditioned several times, and I know how it works...or so I thought. I went up on stage, was handed a script, and was told that I had to SING my lines! (In the auditions during High School, we were given the scripts in advance so that we could prepare, and we never, ever, had to sing.) When it came time for me to sing, I panicked. I couldn't find my place in the script, I didn't even know what tune I was supposed to sing, and I kept stuttering and stammering as I spoke/sang. I was devastated. I looked out at the crowd, and my parents were so embarrassed that they had quietly exited the building. (I think that this part of the dream stemmed from my need of affirmation from others. I often worry about what other people think about me, nearly to an extreme. When I realized my parents had left the audition, I felt sick.)

After a minute or two of fumbling through the script, the producer (who oddly wasn't the producer I had in High School) told me to "stop wasting my time" and get off the stage. At this point I immediately assumed that Jimmy Whalen was going to get the part instead of me. (Jimmy and I went to High School together, and he always got the lead role in our High School plays. Ironically however, Jimmy and I were, and still are, great friends.) As I took my walk of shame off the stage, I stopped and pleaded with the producer to believe that I had "tried my best".

I was absolutely heart broken. I didn't get the part, and, consequently, I didn't get the job. Once I got home, the director (who, again, was not the director I had in High School) called me and asked, "What happened? Did you just not care about getting the part?" I pleaded with the director to give me a second chance. I explained to him that he should give me the part because I had been in so many plays, and that I had just had a really, really bad day. I was explaining to the director that I had tried as hard as I could, pleading with him to let me have the part when my alarm went off and I had to get up and go to work.
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So that's it. That's about as interesting as my dreams get. I hope that this glimpse into my mind doesn't leave too big of a scar on you. Maybe tonight I'll have a dream that will let me know whether or not I got the part. Oh, don't worry, if I ever dream a sequel, I'll be sure to let you know how it ends.

Pity Party

How do we deal with pain and suffering? Is this question already an oversimplification of the issue? Consider with me for a moment the following categories of pain.

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"Acts of God"
Natural Disasters - This type of pain is triggered by loss experienced during floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, or other natural phenomenon.
Passive Operational Failure -This type of pain comes from loss experienced during unavoidable equipment accidents. (e.g. flawed farm machinery)
Erratic Animal Behavior - This type of pain comes from loss experienced when animals, wild or otherwise, attack.

"Acts of Man"
Amoral Human Error -This type of pain comes from loss experienced due to simple human mistakes.
Immoral Human Error -This type of pain comes from loss experienced when we are intentionally wronged by other human beings.
Cause and Effect - This pain is caused by loss experienced during the natural journey of life, such as moving away from friends and family, growing older, or touching a hot stove.

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I have to sigh when I glance back at the categories of pain above. Have I even scratched the surface? If we pause and look around, it's everywhere. Pain. To quote Ravi Zacharias, "For many, despair is not a moment, it is a way of life." So often we blurt out an answer for pain, without really considering the depth of the pain experienced. What about the sadness that haunts us as we fall asleep at night? What about that pain which hits us at the most unexpected moments? What about the dormant feelings of guilt we hold inside? What about those times we feel so lonely, despite being surrounded by friends and loved ones? What about our feelings of insecurities that constantly threaten to destroy our confidence?

Where does all of this come from? Why are emotions so powerful? How do we cope with these internal frailties? Is some stupid Dewey Decimal Classification System of pain supposed to be of some comfort? How do I keep functioning when I feel powerless to keep moving forward? How am I supposed to help my own family when it was an accomplishment for me to just get out of bed and take a shower? How long do I have to keep this smile plastered on my face when, inwardly, I'm hurting? How long do I have to bury these emotions deep into my consciousness?

How do we cope with these, and a whole other flurry of questions? What's more, how do we deal with the pain in the above categories? At one point, while Job's "friends" were offering him round after round of "advice", Job finally responded and said,

"Have pity on me, my friends, have pity on me, for the hand of God has struck me. Why do you pursue me like God does? Will you never be satiated with my flesh?" (Job 19:21-22)

In other words, Job is saying, "Don't you even feel sorry for me? Why do you keep judging me, isn't that God's job? Aren't you satisfied that my life is in ruins? Show me some mercy!"

While I do believe that God has provided some reasons for our suffering (to mature us [James 1:2-4]; so that we may help others [2 Cor. 1:2-5]; to show His glory [John 9:3]; to chasten us [Heb. 13:6ff]), too often we forget to simply show our friends, as Job said, pity. Having "all the answers" doesn't always ease pain and suffering. Christ, who knew His purpose for coming to the earth (Luke 19:10; Matthew 16:21), still cried in the garden before His death. Pain is real, and needs time to run it's course. We must seek to show compassion and mercy, and not just bombard someone who is struggling with what we think they need to hear.