Get the Picture

Get the Picture

My granddaughter Zoe celebrated her first birthday recently and she had two parties. I took pictures and gave her parents a scrapbook filled with lots of pictures after each party. Each of the two scrapbooks is a little different, but both of them are filled with memories.

One day Zoe will grow up and begin a life of her own and her parents will open scrapbooks and remember her journey. After my own children grew up, I realized how valuable and wonderful those pictures were. I put them together in those white cardboard clear plastic frames, on colorful scrapbook paper and hung them on the walls of our living room. With a turn of my head, I traveled back through time to moments in the lives of our children.

My wife, Sharon took most of those pictures, but our parents gave us pictures to travel back into our childhood. Now, I seem to have taken on that role. Perhaps that is because my children gave me a digital camera. Photographs need dates and names for those who will receive them after we die. Someday our journeys will be memories for our children to share.

You, too can give that gift to your children. It is worth the time and effort, and your gift of photos will be treasures. Share your journeys in scrapbooks, and make enough for all of your children.

Curtis

Be Mice to Elephants

Be Mice to Elephants

This is one of my acrylic paintings It was was based on one of my ink drawings, and it is different in some ways. The ink drawing is above my painting.

The symbolism is simple. Elephants are supposes to be afraid of mice, but I think that mice are afraid of elephants because they are huge and powerful. Still, if we use the other idea, something interesting happens. The little mouse stands up to the huge elephant, confronts what he is afraid of and conquers his fears.

There are people that believe that the elephant would just step on the mouse, and the mouse should avoid elephants. If we were talking abut cats and foxes, I would have to concede that point. When you use symbols, you have to refrain from adding too much stuff. I say, "Stick to elephants and mice!"

That allows us to learn something. We can stand up to our fears and do something about them. Can we actually make friends with our fears. When we reach the point when we are no longer afraid, we can live with whatever we were afraid of.

Perhaps we may learn from the mouse. Our strength and our size do not have to be equal to or greater than what we fear. We conquer our fears when we draw on something inside of us. If we have the faith the size of a mustard seed, we can move mountains, and elephants, and other things. Find the verse in the bible and look up, "With faith, all things are possible."

You remember the phrase, "Are you mice or men!" If we accept the meaning of our metaphor, mice deserve a better reputation. Something small can overcome something great and powerful.

Bear

Two For Jesus -Tom and Rachel

Two For Jesus
Tom and Rachel

We talk a lot about giving our lives to Jesus and serving him and yet most people don't get much farther than that. Tom and Rachel are God's servants. Tom works with the high school youth and Rachel works with the junior high youth. They belong to a church that believes that every member should find an opportunity to serve Jesus and to serve Jesus in some form of Christian ministry.

Rachel has a gift for serving junior high youth. She understands them and she connects with them. I saw her with them in her Sunday school class. Their faces lit up as they entered the room and saw that she was there. It was obvious that they love her.

Tom has a gift with high school you. He understands them and he connects with them. He can play with them and share the fun. He also talks to them about Jesus Christ and they listen to him. It was obvious that they love him.

It was refreshing to share their home with them last weekend. I felt the presence of Jesus Christ, their love for him and each other and us. They are two for Christ and they are making a difference in the lives of youth. I smile when I think about my son and my daughter. No, they are not brother and sister, but I refuse to use the phrase, "daughter in law." She is much more than that. She is my daughter and I count that as a blessing.

I was a pastor for eighteen years. Seeing them at work in ministry for Jesus Christ brings me great joy. They are two for Jesus and they shine, their lights shine for Jesus.

Bear

Listening Fills Our Emptiness

Listening Fills Our Emptiness

I have been writing a blog for sometime and today it occurred to me that listening fills our emptiness. I wonder how I can write a listening blog. Since my blog entries have no comments from readers, I wonder if anyone reads what I write.
I thought about that and I also saw that a true listener is not filled with his/her own words. In fact, a true listener is a blank page, and that allows him or her tp focus completely on what the other person is saying, and see the para language, the nonverbal messages that add meaning. Should a blog be a blank page?

Those who speak to us require some feedback, just enough to encourage the other person to share his/her thoughts, but not some much that the flow of the other person's communication is interrupted Effective and fulfilling listening takes practice. Many interactions will be short, but meaningful. A message that is too long may lose the attention of the listener, even an experienced listener.

I went shopping and I noticed the enthusiasm of the woman who was assisting the check out clerk. She had very short hair, shorter than a crew cut and I said to her, "I like your hair," She ran her hand across the top of her head and said,"Thank you." I asked her if she liked her job and she answered, "I applied when I was living in Seattle, and they hired me on the spot. I moved my husband anf family so I could work here."

This wasn't an ordinary company. Those that they hire start at $11 an hour. Getting her new job was a major event in her life. It required her to move a long way from her home and start a new job. Her enthusiasm flowed from her new job, and she seemed to love her job. It was obvious that the company gota good deal and a great worker.

A lot of people don't seem to have the time to talk or listen. They are too busy.
It seems like the times when men sat together smoking their pipes and sharing with each other has ended. Perhaps they are like the dragon, in my picture. relaxing and smoking his pipe. He is alone and his scales protect him.

Curtis

Nobody Wins

Nobody Wins

Darwin wrote, "Life is the survival of the fittest."

The conflict of nations, ethnic groups, street gangs, and tough men and women may be about survival, control, dominance, and gaining wealth. Sometimes it is about freedom an protecting innocents. When innocents are killed during a war, a drive by shooting, or by a shoot out, it is called collateral damage. It seems to be an escape clause and to be derived from the reasoning that it is normal for innocent people to die during the lethal part of violent human conflicts.

We live in a world where we need warriors and war machines to protect us from our enemies. We need police men and women to protect us from violent criminals and street gangs, and organized crime. More and more citizens study the martial arts and/or get gun permits because they have watched innocent people beaten or killed, and they don't feel safe.

If Darwin is right, if may be helpful to learn how to use a hand gun if you live or work in violent parts of our cities. That might keep a woman from being raped or any number of people from being killed for the money in their cash registers or wallets. Do we live in a world that requires us to take these measures to save our lives or save us from severe beatings? Martial arts can also help to insure our safety. Will the inability to protect ourselves result in more death and/or severe beatings?

In every case, the use of violence may leave another person, good or bad. injured or dead. Canada has used a radically different approach. Canada does a good job of taking care of the needs of its citizens. They have created a system that offers food, shelter, and medical care to all of its citizens. They believe that all people deserve that. In that country crimes and violence are very rare. What would happen if every nation had that kind of system in place?

President Obama is facing huge opposition from Republicans and many Democrats because he wants to insure that every American has medical care. The rich say that his national health plan will raise taxes and they have TV ads to convince the people to oppose it. Obama's approval rating has dropped to fifty percent. It cost a lot of money for Canada's approach, but it also includes decent housing and food, and reasonable financial help. Canada has created a country where violence and crime are very rare. Why is our nation unwilling to embrace that system? We see them as socialists and we are told that socialism is bad, but if that means that all of their people are valued and cared for, is it bad?

Our system is failing and our homeless and unemployment numbers have increased dramatically. The number of blue color jobs for America's work force has fallen to its lowest level. Sixty five million working Americans have no health insurance. Though the crisis in our country began in the seventies, we have just begun to see that our nation is in trouble. Most of our auto makers are bankrupt, and service jobs are going overseas along with many "professional" jobs.

In our battle with drugs, violence, and crime. it seems that nobody wins. Two percent of our citizens are living in overcrowded prisons and jails The majority of the inmates were convicted for drug related crimes and we have very little money for counseling and rehabilitation. When there is little or no help, there is no hope.

Perhaps it is time for more Americans to vote,YES, for America. Less than thirty percent of us vote, and/or give $ to support candidates. Our votes, many more voters, may change our country and help our president to help all Americans. That would be a win win situation.

Curtis

Monsters Are Real

Monsters Are Real

One night my son came to talk to me. I was smoking my pipe and working on a model. It was late, but his question led me to put aside the model car and talk to him. He asked, "Daddy, are monsters real?" I thought about his question for awhile, about what monsters mean to a little boy. Do the monsters in our dreams express the bad things in our lives that we have to face everyday?

When I was a graduate student I took lessons in Kenpo karate because I needed some exercise. A father brought his twelve year old son for lessons. He had a good reason. Three bullies stopped his son at the beginning of his paper route. They took his papers out of his newspaper bag everyday and threw them randomly all about. I taught him Kenpo and he worked hard. Finally he was ready. The three bullies appeared as usual and the boy followed my instructions. He took off his news paper bag and said, "I don't want to hurt you." They laughed at him. He placed his left hand on the leaders left shoulder and delivered a rams head punch to his stomach. The leader fell to the ground gasping for air. The leader wasn't hurt; he just got the wind knocked out of him. The boy made his point and the three bullies never bothered him again. His bullies were monsters in his eyes, and he was afraid of them. After he dealt with them, he wasn't afraid anymore, but they were afraid of him.

I am not suggesting that physical violence is the best way to deal with our monsters. In fact, I believe it is seldom necessary. There are times when it may save our lives, or when it is the last resort. Many times the confidence that I gained from learning Kenpo karate was enough to send a bully looking for some one else, a person that is afraid of bullies. We need to stand up to our monsters and deal with them, or we will always live with fear. Words are powerful. Words can often solve our problems with our monsters.

Some situations don't allow us to deal with our monsters. That doesn't mean that we have to fear them. They may be people close to us who are unwilling to deal with their stuff. They are passive aggressive, and they avoid any kind of conflict, even when things may be resolved. We learn to let go and let live in those situations. Those situations may hurt a lot and it may be hard to let go of our pain.

After a few moments, I answered my son, "Yes, monsters are real, but Jesus is bigger than our monsters and he can deal with them." My son smiled after we prayed, and went to bed. I wondered what about the monsters he was facing.
He is grown up now, and he is very good at dealing with his monsters.

Loves More Than One, But No Infidelity

Loves More Than One, But No Infidelity

We watched an interesting episode of Star Trek Enterprise. Once again, Captain Archer had offended the aliens. His dog, Porthos, peed on one of the tress that they considered sacred. The doctor sent the aliens genetic information about Porthos, and they should have known that something in their environment would make his dog very sick. If they had warned Captain Archer, Porthos would have stayed on the star ship, Enterprise. Porthos got so sick that the doctor wasn't sure if he would live through the night.

The aliens demanded an apology for Porthos' indiscretion. Captain Archer felt that they owed him an apology because his dog was dying. The aliens made plasma inductors and his star ship needed one. He would have to apologize or the aliens would not give them a plasma inductor. He loved his star ship and his crew, but it seemed that he loved Porthos more. Porthos was dying and he was very angry, and there was no way that he would apologize.

Captain Archer's love for Porthos, his star ship, and crew was appropriate, but conflicted. The doctor told him about one other kind of love that he was unaware of. Actually it wasn't really love; it was sexual tension. Tpol, a Vulcan woman, and his science officer was the object of those emotions. He would never act on those feelings because their were rules in place that forbid sexual relations between the two of them. He asked the doctor what to do and he told him that it was enough to be aware of those feelings. He spoke with her in the privacy of his room, about his situation with the aliens. As she left, she acknowledged that it was a good thing that there were rules in place that kept them both safe.

The doctor also helped him to sort out his feelings about Porthos and his responsibility to his crew as a star ship captain. His apology to the aliens required him to go through an elaborate ritual. His reward for doing it well was two extra plasma inductors, for a total of three instead of one.

We have jobs that we love, family that we love, and many of us have pets that we love. We may have friends, and hobbies that we love. Sorting all of that out may be difficult and we may have conflicts to resolve. Sexual tensions are not intentional and they,too, must be resolved. We are human and feeling arise from time to time. The most import thing is to be aware of all of that.

Bear