Another day in the neighborhood. We find when we look behind door number one it is
Thursday, July 2, 2020. It's pretty clear that people typically vote for their feelings at the ballot box. I saw something the other day that said a very small percentage of Americans think things are going well. The current administration is attempting to portray the positives even in the current difficulties. The other side, as it always goes, regardless of party, is attempting to herald all the negatives. They want people to be downtrodden, sad, and forlorn. Sad to say but, gloom, doom, and despair sell during difficult days. I remember how President Reagan promoted everything good and decent about the United States of America. He wanted people to feel good about their country. One of the things I think that may be different is the relentless emphasis on how we should be hating ourselves, be ashamed of our founding, angry about our history along with the people who sacrificed to establish our nation. This particular approach to trying to manipulate feelings is very sad to me. We have plenty of bad in our past. We have even more good. We have been a nation blessed from above, and, I, for one, am thankful for God's provision. Imperfect, warts and all, I love my country and continue to believe God has a purpose for us.
Amen.
My dad passed away on January 2, 1954. I recently listened to the Jack Benny program broadcast on Sunday evening, January 3, 1954. They were talking about the Rose Bowl game that was played on the previous Saturday, the day dad passed away. (Michigan State beat UCLA 28 to 20.) There were nearly 100,000 in attendance and Jack was dreaming about the money at an average ticket price of $5. Today that average is somewhere around $320 with the cheapest seats at $178. It reminds us all that when our lives seemingly come to a catastrophic stall, the world continues. The other day we were watching one of the Wexford detective episodes and when they interviewed a lady whose husband had been murdered she remarked how when she looked out the window she noticed people were continuing to go about their daily activities. No one seemed to recognize her world had fallen apart. That my friend is an excellent description of how I felt during times when we were dealing with a family tragedy. The Jack Benny Program was sponsored by Lucky Strike cigarettes. Those cigarettes featured LSMFT, Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco. Ironically, I have dad's last unopened pack of Lucky's upstairs in my office. The good news is how God was with us even when we couldn't get a hold on that truth. He has promised to never leave us. Regardless. No matter what.
Amen.
When a web-based social media platform asked folks to share what they had learned about their parents during the quarantine, they received some interesting comments. ~ "My mom is attempting to learn how to crochet and my dad is begging her to crochet a rat tail and ears for him. In short, my parents have gone stir-crazy." ~ "My mom secretly kills/replaces the plants she hates in my parents' yard because my dad won’t plant more colorful ones. She calls it 'Backyard Conspiracies'." ~ "Every day around 3:30 after my dad finishes all his meetings, he turns on some country music and sings at the top of his lungs in his office in the basement. I’m pretty sure he thinks we can’t hear him, but it’s basically all we can hear." ~ "My mum is a completely different person on video chats. She turns into this cool person (yes, I just described my mother as cool) who I actually would want to work with! And my step-dad shouts on the phone. You can hear him from a mile away!" ~ I'm thinking about asking our kids what they have learned about us during these past few months. Thinking about it. I'm not sure I want to know. Have a great rest of the day and may God bless us one and all.
Amen. ....More later.
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