Going to the “wayback machine” today in thinking about how television influenced the culture when I was a kid growing up. Most of us kids watched the same shows, because there were only three networks, and at any given time, there was probably a good chance that the shows we liked would be viewed by many of us.

So, for example, at school the day after a particularly adventurous show of Zorro the night before, the vast majority of kids were abuzz about how cool it was when Zorro stabbed that guy with his sword. You know, boy stuff…

Or the day after the Alamo episode on Disney’s Davy Crockett series. Wow, we were mesmerized. Come on, admit it, you just sang the ballad of Davy Crockett – I know, it’s OK!

The point here is that with the limited amount of TV shows back then, a large percentage of people watched the same things. News was consumed by watching Walter Cronkite, Huntley and Brinkley, or maybe John Cameron Swayze. Mostly, the three networks were how people consumed news in those days, and there was a certain uniformity of reporting the news. If there was a political slant, it was pretty slight and very subtle.

There was a unifying effect when choices were limited. For example, in 1983 viewership of the M.A.S.H. final show was 106 million people or 45.5% of the viewing audience. By 2019, the final episode of the wildly popular Big Bang Theory reached just 18 million people or about 5.4% of the viewing audience. By 2019 there were hundreds of choices on TV and myriad streaming options.  

The things in media that tended to unify the American culture are now fragmented to the point that people now live in media silos – narrow places where there is unity only among a smaller and smaller group.

I will talk more about this phenomenon in future blogs. Meanwhile, enjoy the Davy Crockett theme song. You’re welcome!  

A gentle response defuses anger,
    but a sharp tongue kindles a temper-fire.                                                           Proverbs 15:1 (The Message)

The Bible is full of wisdom. Just the passage above is a good indicator that there is sound wisdom and psychological depth contributed by Bible writers over the years. Of course there are many writers, spread over centuries, translated by others, and passed on orally at times. The Bible, as we know it, is a collection of writings that can be used for the good of humankind.

The Bible is not a history book, nor is it a science book. It is a book of wisdom. The New Testament specifically, is a book about Jesus who is the culmination of the book and the plan God set forth from eternity.

The Bible should be understood in context, knowing the audience for whom it was written at the time, and the message to be conveyed to that audience. The Bible should be honored, but not worshipped. Let’s understand that the point of the Bible is to understand God and his plan.

It points us to the One to be worshipped.  

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the guidance that we can find in the Bible, Amen

When three of Job’s friends heard of the tragedy he had suffered, they got together and traveled from their homes to comfort and console him.

Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words.

Job 2: 11,13

There was a movie decades ago starring Peter Sellers titled, Being There. It was vintage Peter Sellers, a veteran comic who had been in the very successful Pink Panther movie series in the 1960’s. In the movie Being There, he played a clueless gardener who was taken, because of his silence and naivete, to somehow be a brilliant, wise person.

The movie was funny, but it pointed to a larger truth. Silence, often just by itself, is golden. In the book of Job, Job was beset by calamities right and left. He refused to be shaken by it, but he was comforted, at least initially, by friends who agreed together to visit their friend Job, and just be with him.   

They were a wonderful comfort to him with their presence. Then they decided to weigh in on why he was having troubles. That is where they made their mistake. Instead of being a comfort, they became a source of irritation. They tried to judge his actions, and ascribe to those actions why God was punishing Job. They meant well, I suppose, but they had become terrible “comforters”.

When they just sat with Job and were sad and lamented with him, they were of great comfort. When they started judging, they became the problem.  

So, the lesson is- just being there for someone, not offering advice or solutions, is a great gift. Do not discount the value of “being there”.

Prayer: Help us Lord not to discount the value of just “being there” with friends, Amen

Generation after generation stands in awe of your work; each one tells stories of your mighty acts                                                                                               Psalm 145:4 (The Message)

I have written in this space in the past that there is power in sharing personal stories. I just completed an interview with a fellow church member who has a remarkable recovery story. He outlines his personal story of addiction to alcohol, subsequent recovery (40+ years sober), and his eventual spiritual conversion when he was at the end of himself.

Finally, he told of forgiving his father- the one who had abused him for years and had run him out of the house with a shotgun. Yes, heavy stuff! But how uplifting to see the power of surrender to Jesus. How refreshing to see the freedom of forgiveness.

The early church lived on stories of trust and conversion. There was no “New Testament” scripture at that time, just powerful stories. Everyone likes a good story, right?

We just need more of them.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the courage to share stories of forgiveness and restoration, Amen.

Love and truth form a good leader; sound leadership is founded on loving integrity.                                     Proverbs 20:28 (The Message)

On March 15, 1783, Washington delivered his Newburgh Address to the senior officers of the Continental Army. The speech contained important themes that would later reemerge in the Washington presidency – national duty, the submission of military to civil authority, and the importance of dispassionate and good faith debate. He reminded them of their duty to the American Republic and of his own personal sacrifices for the nation. “A grateful sense of the confidence you have ever placed in me—a recollection of the cheerful assistance, prompt obedience I have experienced from you, … and the sincere affection I feel for an army I have so long had the honor to command, will oblige me to declare… the great duty I owe my Country, and those powers we are bound to respect.”

At the end of his speech, Washington reached into his pocket and put on a pair of spectacles to read a letter from Congress. “Gentlemen,” he said softly, “You will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray but almost blind in the service of my country.”

According to later accounts, many of the soldiers who heard the speech were moved to tears. As one veteran of the war recalled, “I have ever considered that the United States are indebted for their republican form of government solely to the firm and determined republicanism of George Washington at this time.”

Compliments of National Constitution Center (constitutioncenter.org)

I often use George Washington as a model for leadership when I teach on the subject. He was an imperfect man, as are we all, but his wisdom and foresight paved the way for a fledging country to be born. The excerpt above indicates his sense of duty. In fact, when he delivered this speech to his old soldiers who had fought and bled with him during the Revolution, the future of this new Republic was far from certain. These same men who Washington addressed were angry (they had not been paid for months, some even years), and they were armed! They were in no mood to submit themselves to a civil authority which had not treated them well.

Yet Washington was a visionary and he was a strong and courageous leader. He implored those men to have faith and patience in a dream that they could not yet see. He had the vulnerability to let them see the frailty he had as a result of his service to his country. He had the courage to face them, and shame them into not acting in their own self-interest, but in the interest of a larger goal- a new country.

Leadership is about acting in the interest of a cause larger than ourselves.

I yearn for that type of leadership today.

Prayer: Lord, you have given us many gifts, but they will fail if we do not use them in the service of others, Amen

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, …                                                                Ecclesiastes 3

As I sit on my patio writing this blog, I am soaking in the beauty of summer. The pond is clear and babbling with a gentle waterfall. My resident frogs hop warily on the lily pads, waiting for evening dinners of moths and any other unlucky critters that fly near the lights. Flowers surround the pond and the trees in the background sway gently in a warm evening breeze.

Then I think about the brevity of summer. Yes, this is wonderful, but it will pass all too soon. Indeed, our lives will be passing as well. Such is the circle of life.

I recall a breakfast many years ago with my mentor who was twenty years my senior. At one point he said, “You know, I have about four hundred or five hundred more Saturdays left, maybe less.”

This took me aback as he said it so dispassionately and matter-of-factly. He had calculated that maybe he had 8, or maybe 10 years left in his life. He had decided to treasure each of those Saturdays. It was not a morbid thought for him and he did not intend it to be for me. He was simply acknowledging that his time was growing relatively short.

Seasons come and go, and the older we get, the faster they go. Actually, there is a scientific reason that time does seem to go faster as we age, but that is a blog for another time.

The point is, we are subject to changing seasons. I love summer, and my family would attest to the fact that it is very hard to keep me indoors during the Spring and Summer (Autumn as well for that matter!) I have decided to soak in as much as each season has to offer. Enjoying each season as it comes helps us to live in the moment and not rue the passage of time.

So, enjoy this wonderful season. Soak in the beauty of flowers, long evenings, and all the Vitamin D that the sun has to offer!

Prayer: Lord, you have made this earth a scientific marvel of change and beauty!

The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life                                   Psalm 121:7

In their classic book Boundaries, Henry Cloud and John Townsend make a great analogy about the difference between “hurt” and “harm”. The give the analogy of going to the dentist. This was brought to mind recently when I went to the dentist to get a crown. The process included removal of a filling, then preparation for a crown.

My dentist is great, and she is ably assisted by a fine caring staff. However, the process involved some pain and a lot of discomfort. Nonetheless, the process was important for my general health. In fact, dental problems and/or poor dental hygiene are responsible for a number of significant health problems, including possible heart attacks and even brain infections.

Therefore, the Boundaries point was well made- some hurt was necessary to prevent greater harm. Sometimes we must do the hard things to avoid the catastrophic things, both physically and emotionally. So, that tough love that must be exercised with a loved one may save them from irreparable harm.

Great life lesson.

Prayer: Lord, help us to see the value of some pain in order to prevent harm, Amen

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
 My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.                                                                       Psalm 121:1-2

Look at the news around you. Better yet- don’t. The world is filled with suffering and bad news. The people of Gaza are suffering terribly from the actions of Hamas terrorists and the Israeli response attacks. The people of Ukraine are daily suffering from the exploits of Vladimir Putin’s war of aggression and terror. Untold thousand around the globe suffer from war, disease and poverty. If we keep our eyes on these atrocities, we get jaded and depressed. Perhaps outraged as well.

It all depends on where we look for relief. The Psalmist said that we must look up to the mountains, where we see God’s hand promised. Looking up is hard when we are distracted by looking around.

No, we cannot, and should not, ignore the suffering of those around us. Indeed, we are called to help in any way that we can. We donate to relief agencies in hope that some of the suffering we see around us may be somewhat ameliorated. It is a small gesture, but taken collectively, it helps.  

In the meantime, we must look up to where true relief is found.

Prayer: Lord, help those who are suffering in a world where hunger and pain abounds, Amen

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.  And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.

 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.  We love each other because he loved us first.

I John 4:16-19

I have always marveled at the truth and simplicity of these verses. What great mental health principles! One of the things I often tell my clients is that “It is better to go toward the good than  try to avoid the bad!”

I point out how weary and discouraged we can become if we are always trying to escape that thing chasing us. As hard as we run, that bad thing is going to eventually catch us we think. But if we are driven by a positive goal, an aspiration, we can find the energy to keep on.

So it is with love vs. fear. The natural consequence of living in fear is anger. People who live in constant fear end up with resentments and bitterness. Fear often is driven by a perceived loss or potential loss.

The natural consequence of living in love is gratitude. Understanding that God is love frees us to have security in him. It also frees us to love other people, and not to fear them.

Prayer: Lord, help us to lean into love, not fear, Amen

Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds                             Luke 12:24

As I have mentioned before, I feed birds- and secondarily squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons, ducks, and possibly a whole phylum of animals. Who knows who eats in my yard? The point is, I find it to be fun and entertaining to feed God’s creatures. It makes me think of the fact that they have no idea where the food comes from, they just know to show up and eat it.

In some ways, we eat off the land too. The process of how food comes about – the intricate chemistry of photosynthesis, the habits of the animals that we eventually consume as protein, are in many ways still unknown to us. Yes, we can produce crops, raise domestic animals, and even hunt wild animals for food, but the intricacies of nutrition are still being uncovered by humans.

So, I take the provision of my daily sustenance, my “daily bread” if you will, as being produced by God in ways that I do not fully understand. That is what sort of levels the playing field for me with the animals I feed. We are all simply grateful consumers in many ways!

Prayer: Lord, you provide for your creation in marvelous ways, Amen