I Hate What Our World Has Become

I hate what our world has become. Yesterday I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things on the shopping list Jen gave me. As I was wandering in the aisles hopelessly looking for dried cranberries there was a cart with two young children in it. Their mom was just a few steps away closely examining her proposed purchase. I wanted to stop and try to strike up a conversation with the two little ones. I love to talk to children and treat them like real people.

Then I remembered an incident at the church the night before when we were doing the harvest festival. 100’s of children were in our building, most with their parents. I was roaming the halls doing my Pastoral duty and had stopped to talk to one of our men who was helping direct traffic. He was sitting in a chair and had a large bag of candy. As each child or group of children came by he directed them down the proper hallway and offered them a piece of candy. Most children eagerly checked through his bag and took the piece they wanted. Some asked for two.

One little girl drew back in fear when she was spoken to. She just stopped, looked at John with a blank stare and didn’t move. I assume it was her mother who came along just then, looked over the situation, reached into John’s bag for a piece of candy, and said to John. “It’s ok, you’re a male.” She took the little girls hand and off they went down the hall.

I don’t know the family, I don’t know the story. There may be a history of abuse or it could just be our culture of fear. But remembering that incident I passed on by the two children in the grocery cart and continued the search for dried cranberries. I never found them by the way. But that is ok, she wanted fresh cranberries anyway. I finally figured that out.

The incident in the hall reminded me of another conversation earlier in the week. Jen and I were at lunch with a guest preacher for our State Convention . The conversation somehow came around to accountability. He told us of his accountability partner whom he has to answer the accountability questions for. In the conversation he made reference to being able to say he wasn’t alone with a woman. “If I am on an elevator by myself,” he said, “and a lone woman gets on, I get off.”

I guess I understand the implication. “If I stay away from being alone with women I won’t be tempted.” Or is the implication, “If the elevator door opens on the next floor and I am seen in this elevator alone with this woman it will be bad for my reputation.” Either way, what a mess our world has become.

Later that day I was at the airport awaiting another arrival. I was standing at the coffee bar line waiting to pay when a traveling woman stepped into line behind me. My first thought was, “Gee, should I get out of line so we won’t be seen in line together?” I laughed first at my self, then at the whole situation. I went into the waiting area and called Jen and told her, “If I am on an elevator and a woman gets on, I am not getting off. Is that ok?” Her response. “Huh?” “What are you talking about?”

Did I say, I hate what our world has become?

Broncos 13 Ravens 3

Andrew needs a refreshment break as we watch the Broncos defeat the Ravens. Hint. Andrew is the one with the Bronco Pajamas. Jen made me leave mine in Salt Lake City.

. . . And The Rockets Red Glare . . .

I had no idea what the rockets red glare was until I went to the visitor center at Ft. McHenry. Check the website for a description.

I love history and Ft. McHenry is about history. It played a part in the War of 1812, the Civil War, and WWI.

The star spangled banner was written durin. g the bombing by the British of Ft. McHenry during the battle of Baltimore. You have sung about the rockets red glare a million times. But do you know what the rockets were? I had no idea

They were long sticks with a canister of propellant attached. On the top was a bomb. They were not very effective in this battle although they had been in the past.

http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/hh/5/hh5l.htm

Across The Nation

Left SLC, UT, Monday AM, 8:15 MST; Arrived Baltimore, MD, Friday PM, 4:00 EDT; after a drive across America. Spent one day in Nebraska at Harold Warps, Pioneer Village in Minden.

Why did we drive? Don’t feel sorry for us. We drove because we wanted to. And I am really glad we did. My only regret is that we didn’t have time to stop at more places than we did.

Pioneer Village is a day well spent if you are at all interested in how our ancestors lived in and settled this land. There are buildings Mr. Warp saved from the 19th century that show what life was like in the Prairie states at least 100-150 years ago. There is a family stockade with cabin, a school house, a general store, a train depot, a church, a pony express way station, and a replica sod house built to authenticate life in the past. Included is all the tools of the era, as well as the tools, equipment, and especially the transportation from the 1800’s through the 1900’s. As my friend Cliff would say, “very worthy.”

Several of the museums we drove right past without stopping between Nebraska and Baltimore were dedicated to Herbert Hoover, Rutherford B. Hayes, Ronald Regan, We went by the birthplace of John Wayne. There was the Bob Feller museum and the College Football Hall of Fame. We might have stopped at the last two except we went by them well after they were closed.

We are having a great time with our kids and our new grand son. Andrew Wyatt Russell

In His Grip.

This week I was introduced to a realatively new ministry called, “In His Grip.” (See link at the bottom of the page.) It is a golfing ministry designed to reach men for Christ. It is another tool in the toolbox that if used correctly could be effective in outreach.

In His Grip uses golf analogies to teach men about life and about the Lord. There are a lot of similarities between life and golf, as well there should be. For millions of men and women golf is a part of life.

I am certainly glad that life isn’t just like golf though. Golf is harder. You can know all the right things to do. You can plan on doing the right things. You can practice to execute the right things. And then you duff it. I have discovered that if I put that much effort into life, I usually manage to get it right in life. Not in golf.

Many times my best efforts, even after a seemingly sufficient number of practice swings ends up in the rough, or in the trap. I fall short or I over hit. Sometimes I seem to have it in the bag, in the fairway, onto the green, everything lines up and then. . . a three putt.

Maybe golf is more like life than I want to admit.

Habits Are Hard To Break

Teach a youth about the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

I stopped by to see my parents this week. We were driving to Glorieta, New Mexico and stayed with Mom and Dad for the night. They still live in the house we lived in when I was learning to drive. The neighborhood has changed quite a bit though. When I was first driving, the street we lived on was filled on both sides by houses with young families with children. It was a rather narrow street and made a turn that decreased visibility. Even today you have to be really careful and alert when driving down Parkland drive.

There was another way to get to our house. Instead of turning on Parkland you continued straight on Heiland until you came to Iris. Then you turned on Iris to Parkland and came out right at our house. There weren’t as many houses on those two streets. Dad told us teenagers we were always to take that route to the house. He didn’t want to see us driving down Parkland.

Today houses line both routes. There is no appreciable difference between route one and route two. I am 57 years old. I can drive down any road I want to. But I still feel just a little guilty, a little rebellious, if I turn on Parkland and take the forbidden route to the house.

Out where the highways come together there is a stop light. You come down the road from town, reach the highway intersection and there is a traffic signal. When I was growing up and learning to drive, there was only a stop sign. You came to the highway, looked both ways, and if it was clear, you entered the highway.

The traffic signal has been there for at least 30 years. Just the other day I came down the road to the highway, stopped, looked both ways and ran a red light. It was totally unintentional. It was reverting to the days of my youth, reacting to what I had been taught 43 years ago.

We are creatures of habit. We should make an extra effort to see that our habits are good ones.