Another Year

As the years roll up behind me

All the things I think I know

Fade into the passing time

As on my way I go.

As the writer said long years before

There's nothing new to see,

What's happened on this spinning earth

Again will someday be.

You'd think we'd learn from what we've done,

Mistakes no more repeat,

But, often it's just wishes

That go down in defeat.

Wisdom comes along the way

To those who give it heed

It serves us well if we but hear

It's voice in time of need.

Passing time has made me gray

And wrinkled up my face

But, I'm still here and learning

Simply by God's grace.

Gather Around

In this world that has become divided

By the fractiousness of power,

Be the one to gather around you

Those in need of protection,

Those who are different,

Those whose experiences don't match your own,

Those from whom you will learn

Wisdom.

"Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.  Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing." -- 1 Peter 3:8-9

Legacy

The things we allow to take root in our lives

Shape the landscape of our future.

Plant wisely.

Weed carefully.

Cultivate that which will bring

Peace and contentment

In your waning years

And in the lives of those

Who are our legacy.

Aging and Attitudes - A Little Randomness

Why is it that the more I learn, the less I know?
Why, with knowledge, do certainties become uncertainties?
How does youthful optimism become the skeptical old man?
Is experience about learning, or about attitude?

There was once a young man named Roy
Who wanted to be a cowboy
He headed out west
In spurs and a vest
And that is the end of my story.

If I follow my dreams to the end of the earth
In pursuit of riches and fame
Will I lose all the things that truly are worth
The price of my good name?

Life is a series of blusters and blunders
That lead us ever on
With fits and starts and various arts
We look up and find it is gone!

I once thought I could be President
Then found out I didn't want to be.

I never quite had the world by the tail
But, I found the Golden Rule:
Do unto others as you would have done
By them to little old you.

It's about the journey, not the destination.

Words and More Words

I truly intended to get a post out yesterday, but sometimes the things we need to do out-demand the things we desire to do.  I won't write twice as much today in order to make up for the missing!

I did learn yesterday that there actually are a handful of people who read the things that I write.  Some of them are obvious, like family and a few good friends, but I am occasionally surprised at encountering those who have read my words and remembered them and make mention to me.  It is gratifying, yet intimidating, because it emphasizes the responsibility we have for our words.  What we say and what we write can have impact on others in ways we may not always be able to predict.

I do try to avoid being especially inflammatory here, although sometimes I will get political.  Politics can be polarizing -- just observe the current situation in Washington.  Even with political subjects, though, I try to keep my thoughts "gauged" and designed more to provoke conversation and thought, rather than vitriol.  Sometimes it even works!

I don't claim to be a teacher, yet each and every one of us is a teacher by the example we set for others and the words of our mouth and mind/hand.  Sometimes what we teach is imbued with wisdom and at other times, folly.  I pray that my words will convey wisdom -- often without my knowledge or, awareness, or even intent that they do so.  God works through the words of man just as He works through our actions.  I pray that my words be empowered with the Spirit of Truth.  Always.  I know I will fail at times, but He never does.

"Not only was the Teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people.  He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs.  The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.  The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails -- given by one Shepherd.  Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.  Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.  Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter:  Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.  For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil."  -- Ecclesiastes 12:9-14

Patience and Persistence

It's hard to keep an open mind
As one begins to age;
Accumulated knowledge
Makes one feel like a sage.

Experience informs our thoughts
About the way things work;
We hear of some strange new idea
And reject it like a jerk.

But, sometimes we should stop and think
Of how when we were young
We often sought a different path
Along the ways unsung

And in the journey 'cross the sea
Of trackless wilderness
We learned about so many things
That God would often bless.

Persistence paid us dividends
And patience brought us luck
Though failing on our journey
We rose above the muck.

With just those two to lead us
Upon our merry way;
Patience and persistence
Made what we are today,

Which is a form of wisdom
Filled with the things we learned
As we travel on this journey
To the rest we've dearly earned.

Leaping Beyond Knowledge

Occasionally, I will take on, or at least attempt, the debate of some topic or statement made by those who fall into an atheistic or agnostic category.  Such individuals are usually highly intelligent and highly educated.  Almost without exception they are highly self-focused.

Debating atheists/agnostics is difficult. They all have a set of canned arguments that generally end in some form of calling you ignorant/uneducated, etc. I try to stick to a reasoned, educated, informed argument but, there are many times that I run out of answers. There almost always comes a time though, of complete rejection by the person with whom I am "discussing" the topic with my position. I suspect such an abrupt end comes for one of two reasons; either 1) I hit close to home or 2) they become frustrated with my unwillingness to "cave" to their position. 

Again, most who are in the atheist or agnostic camp are highly educated. I don't see their belief system as a result of their education, I see it as a part of the same makeup that drives them to a higher level of education. Perhaps it is a drive to know and understand, or maybe just a rejection of that which can't be explained. It seems tied to a high level of intelligence. But, along with that intelligence comes a sense of reliance on self-understanding. A sense that if I can't touch it, feel it, understand it, it can't be real. It is a rejection of the concept of the unexplainable. It is the idea that if "I" only had more information, "I" could understand it/repeat it/whatever. It is the placing of "self" at the pinnacle. Yet, those same individuals are the first to believe that man evolved from a "primordial soup" into this "high" being of which they are among the elite highest.  And they are often the first to place mankind in general on the same level as animals or even inanimate objects.


(Aside:  It is tempting at this point to state that one of the distinguishing points between Liberals and Conservatives is a "humility" toward self, but, some of the most arrogant individuals I have ever met are Conservatives.  It just seems there are a greater number of arrogant Liberals.)

The placing of "self" above God is where it all started.  Satan thought he was just as smart as God and set himself up in opposition to Him.  In the Garden of Eden man thought, through the prompting of Satan, that he knew as well as God and chose to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree in opposition to God.  Hmmm....seems to me to be the same disease -- self in opposition to God.

To me, our very existence requires a Creator.  The Creator must lie outside the created.  That which is within the created cannot know the Creator except as the Creator reveals Himself to us.  Trying to understand the creation by looking from the inside out is like the blind men and the elephant.  One sees a rope, another a tree, another a wall, yet none see the totality with any sense of understanding because they only see a part of the whole.

I believe mankind has tremendous cumulative knowlege of the created order.  I also believe there is tremendous misunderstanding of that knowledge.  Wisdom is the proper understanding and application of knowledge. Do I claim wisdom for myself?  Only to the extent that I understand that my knowledge is incomplete and therefore imperfect.  I also realize that perfect knowledge lies beyond the scope of human understanding -- either individually or cumulatively.

Belief in a Creator requires a leap of faith.  It is a leap to something that defies explanation and is by definition greater than self or the cumulative knowledge of man.  It is a leap that seems especially difficult for some.

Discernment

discernment - 1 : the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure
(Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary)

"They are a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them." __Deuteronomy 32:28

How do you know when someone is lying? How can you cut through the fog and see what lies beneath the words? When listening to a skilled liar, the only way to know is through the gift of discernment. It is a gift. Not everyone has it. It is something for which one should pray. It is desperately needed by each and every voter in the upcoming election.


"Arrogant lips are unsuited to a fool— how much worse lying lips to a ruler!" __Proverbs 17:7

An Independence Day of Prayer and Reflection

The day after tomorrow is the 4th of July. Where has the summer gone?

The 4th is honored in celebration of our independence from England. It has been so long ago that we don't truly understand what that independence means. Today, it is a rare individual that even stops to think that the liberties we enjoy arose from that period in the 1770's when previously loyal subjects finally had a belly-full of the capricious actions of the British Parliament designed to extract payment from the colonies for their many wars. It wasn't so much that the colonists didn't want to pay their fair share of the defense of their country (England) it was that they were being taxed without the opportunity of representation in making the decisions. They were treated as less than full citizens of their country.

That desire to have the opportunity to have a voice in the decisions of government is one that in many ways has died among a large portion of our citizenry. Voter apathy is high. Dissatisfaction with the government and leading political figures is extremely low. It is as though a large percentage of the American people have allowed themselves to become less than true citizens. They have been lulled by the relative prosperity that they enjoy and by their feelings of impotence, to merely endure the burdens of the government that they allow to continue on its merry way by their apathy.

It is much like the frog in the kettle illustration with which we are all familiar. If you try to put a frog into hot water he will jump out. If you put him in cold water and slowly add heat, he will boil to death. I believe that a large number of people in this country are allowing themselves to be boiled to death through the gradual creep of economic subjugation through the policies of our government.

This 4th of July is one that I believe should be spent in reflection on where we have been, what we have become and where we are going as a country. It is a time to examine the burden of government on our lives and our livelihood. It is a time to consider the role of each and every elected official and the part that they have played in adding to that burden. Are our lives truly better than they were ten or twenty or even longer years ago? If not, what has changed?

We must get out of the pot and get active. If the heat is building we need to put out the fire. It is time to get involve -- get energized. The election this fall could be a turning point if we will let our voices be heard. I believe in our system of government and I believe there are good men and women both in office and seeking office. I also know that there are those in office and seeking office that have nothing on their mind but their own self aggrandizement, power and wealth. We must seek wisdom in our choices. The only true source of wisdom that I know of is the God that created us. We all should hit our knees in prayer for the future of this great nation. The 4th of July is a great time to start.

Heeding Experience

I once had a professor who said,
"I know that it's a cliche
But there's more than one way to skin a cat!"
He was referring to the balance between
Realistic expectations based on how things are
Versus the seemingly unatainable dreams
That inhabit our hearts.

"The key is to never give up," he said.
"Keep doing something every day
That moves you closer to what you really want to do."
He added, "Sometimes our dreams change
As the years go by
And we find that the things that we thought we wanted
Aren't what they seemed
And the things that come our way
Are sometimes better!"

Now who would have thought
That the wisdom of his words
Would be revealed so many years later?
Youth has a way of dismissing
What experience has taught.
Wisdom is heeding
Those with experience.

Deeper Truth

Each day I try to spend some time
Perusing other blogs.
Some of them have views like mine;
Some run on different cogs.

Some seem to have lost their way,
Not knowing where to turn
Because they lack a moral base
For which their soul does yearn.

And so they lash in fitful spurts
At things they see and read
Not understanding what it takes
To fill their deepest need.

If they would only look beyond
The knowledge in their mind
They might see what causes strife
Among the human kind.

There is a deeper truth that dwells
Beyond this universe.
It's summed up in a single thought
Embodied in this verse:

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." __John 3:16

Traveling

In my job I do a lot of traveling. Most of the places that I go to are located in the Plains region of this beautiful country. A lot of folks at home comment to me that it must be great getting to travel all of the time, eat out, and see different places. I know that it sounds glamorous, but it gets old quickly. In my earlier years, a lot of my traveling was by airplane. It seems anymore that most of the places I need to get to are quicker by car than by air. When flying, I usually leave from Rick Husband International Airport in Amarillo. But, if for instance I need to travel to Garden City, Kansas, I have to fly Amarillo to Dallas to Denver and then to Garden City. That turns into a full day of travel. Although Garden City is two states away from me, I can drive there in about four hours. Same problem if I'm flying to North Platte, Nebraska. It's about an eight hour drive, or an eight hour flight. Besides, if I drive, I can see the country, make stops when I feel like it, and have the flexibility to make side trips when the mood strikes. I think I've eaten in about every little Mom and Pop Diner in half-a-dozen states. I like the local dives because the food is usually better. But, back to my original thought. After awhile, all of the motel rooms and all of the eating joints begin to look alike. The most difficult part though, is being away from my family. It's hard on everyone when a job requires a lot of travel. Over the coming weeks, I will attempt to add some perspective to this way of life for you. Perhaps some of you might glean a little wisdom here and there. It will be nice to hear your insight.