Things That Make You Go Hmmm

Things that make you go, “Hmmm?”

In the early nineties when Arsenio Hall had his own show he had a fun segment called “Things that make you go hmmm.” That is what this post is about things from the political landscape that make me go hmmm.

Scott brown: Tea Party folks tend to be almost violently opposed to abortion. Yet they are deliriously happy about the election of Scott Brown, who is pro choice. Hmmm?

People who don’t realize that Medicare IS government supplied health care. When  people say things like, “Get the government out of my health care.” And by that mean Medicare, it definitely makes me go, “Hmmm?”

President Reagan was an amazing communicator and well liked by many, he also has a mythical aura about him. He is known for cutting taxes, but his 1981 tax cut was quickly followed by tax hikes that we rarely hear about. While he spoke of shrinking government, the government pay role actually grew under Reagan, as did the national debt. Hmmm.

I know people who firmly believe and loudly say things like this: Take back our country from the socialist/welfare Obama state! Yet some of these very folks happily receive extended unemployment benefits and free (federally subsidized no less) school lunches for their kids. Hmmm?

It was reported yesterday that conservative Republican Senator Shelby, AL, has placed a hold on 70 nominations brought to that body by the Obama administration. Why? Because he wants millions in lucrative contracts to come to his state. And until he has that guarantee, he has placed a hold on accepting any of the 70 nominees. Isn’t he part of the party who spoke out so loudly against that kind of thing associated with the health care bill? Can anyone say politics as usual? Hmmm.

When W was the president and Republicans ran things in Washington DC, our country was running up a lot of debt (1.2 trillion of which we still have). During that time I heard Rush Limbaugh explain why deficit spending is Ok and even necessary for our economy; my how times have changed. These days he has changed his tune. I guess it depends on who is at the helm when deficit spending happens. Hmmm.

Both Democrats and Republicans use the language of “helping the people” and both sides seem quite interested in just keeping their jobs (as opposed to actually helping the people). So I wonder what life would be like if Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul types would run the congress. Hmmm.

I Am Frustrated: A Modest Proposal for Health Crae Reform

I have several frustrations and then a modest proposal to make for health care reform.

I am frustrated that the Democrats in congress cannot manage to get health care reform off the ground. Good grief! George W. rammed all kind of stuff through congress, including the transfer of millions to the wealthy and a war in the wrong country, with less of a majority you are going to have even after Scott Brown joins your ranks. One would think you could govern a little better than you have. Stop playing politics and work for the people!

I am frustrated that Republicans in congress relish the role of obstructionism over getting almost anything done. I have the feeling you would vote against Jesus if he had a D beside his name. Obama could raise the dead and you would object that it is a socialist plot to make people get up against their will.  And some of the things you object to now are the kinds of things you used to applaud. Stop playing politics and work for the people!

I am frustrated with politicians who rant and rave about the evils of a federally funded health care system while enjoying all the benefits of such a system.

I am frustrated with Scott Brown of Massachusetts bragging how he will be the 41st vote to stop health care reform, when he enjoys some of the same health care coverage in his state that he is so eager to stop nationally.

I am frustrated that we will likely miss this opportunity to see health care reform happen when it was finally a real possibility for the first time in my life.

So I have a modest proposal to make. Every sitting congress person (and I include Scott Brown in that number) should be denied health care coverage until real health care reform happens for the rest of the country. They have the best health care coverage imaginable; federally funded, single payer, and they get to choose where they want to go for their care.

Until the rest of the country gets that kind of coverage they should all have to pay through the nose like most of the rest of us. Let them go to clinics like those who have no health care coverage at all. Let them wait in line. Let them pay thousands of dollars out of pocket. Let them fight to have necessary doctor visits/procedures covered. Let them be charged more for a procedure if they have no insurance then they would be charged for the same procedure if they do have insurance (that is a bass ackwards system if I ever saw one). Let them be denied coverage because of pre-existing condition. Let them have to choose between food and medicine. Heck let them eat cake for all I care. But until they get this thing right, until they put serious energy into true health care reform, let them go through the same hassle as the rest of us.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I am not an anarchist. I do not believe simplistically that if we just “throw the bums out” all will be well. I am not one of the tea bag folks shouting down other voices. I am not spouting off about “taking out country back and defeating socialism.” I do not believe that our constitution has been any more shredded under this administration than the previous administration. And I am certainly not talking about stocking guns for the revolution. But I am frustrated at the lack of will among our elected officials to get their heads together and help bring our country’s health care system into the 21st century with virtually all other western countries. It can’t be that difficult.

We Must Remember

We have all seen images of the earthquake devastation in Haiti. Most everyone who is down there has said something like, “The pictures simply cannot capture the full extent of the suffering and destruction.”

I have a hard time grasping the level of trauma those who experienced the earthquake must be experiencing. Humans simply are not “programmed” to process that kind of tragedy. I am not sure they can process the massive trauma, and they are in the midst of it. I have seen people just sitting, staring into nothingness. Others wail out in grief. Whereas most of us can change the channel or look away; those who live in Port-au- Prince, those who are involved in rescue and relief aid, don’t get a reprieve, they have to live it.

If experience teaches us anything this tragic natural disaster will be in the headlines for several weeks and then slowly fade away from public consciousness. By the time of the Super Bowl most of us will no longer feel the pain of our neighbors in Haiti. Kinda sad isn’t it.

While no one knows yet how many people have died, I have seen numbers suggesting as many as 200,000 deaths. Wow! It takes your breath away to even try and comprehend that kind of loss of life. I tried to put that in terms I can somewhat understand. The population of Haiti is around 9,000,000.  If 200,000 people have died that is right at 2.2% of the population. If we translate that into the U.S. context that would be 6.7 million people. Put another way, one in every 45 people in this country would have died. If each of us knows around 150 people, three of them would now be dead.

Remember 9/11? Less than 3,000 people were killed, and yet the depth of that tragedy is still with us. For those of us who have lost loved ones, even one death impacts us for the rest of our lives. Imagine if three of your friends/family would be killed at the same time.

We must remember! For the sake of our common humanity we must remember. Six months from now we must remember. Six years from now we must remember. Once everything is cleaned up and restored we must remember. And we must remember all such situations of devastation, whether man made, economic, or natural disaster. God help us to know how to reach out to our suffering world.

Neighborhood Bully

On January 8, 1999 a neighborhood bully named Death walked up, knocked me down and took my wife. I had run into this bully before, and I saw him coming this time, but there was nothing I could do to fight him off.

Some of the most difficult days of my life came in the wake of the bully’s actions. Today, eleven years later, I can look back and remember without pain, but man I hope I never go through that kind of experience again.

December 27, 2009

Having a birthday two days after Christmas means that not many of them stand out in my memory. I have always been overshadowed by Jesus’ birthday, if you know what I mean.  But as I lay in the darkness this morning thinking and remembering I thought back to specific times when December 27 remained alive in my memory.

Generally mom would make a cake, and grab one of the Christmas gifts and tell me it was for my birthday. Often I would get the gift on Christmas anyway. So my birthday never really stood out as special. That being said I do remember several birthdays from over the years.

One birthday ( I was around 4-5) I received a book with farm animals in it. It was a very low tech affair by today’s standards, but if you pushed each page hard enough the sound that came out was supposed to sound like the animal pictured. Looking back I supposed they all sounded the same, but for some reason I remember that book. I also remember getting a Fischer Price type barn with farm animals that year.

I recall the Sunday evening when we were all sitting around in the living room and I was getting antsy. Dad was reading the paper, my brother was there, I was in my mid-teens. Suddenly the door popped open and a bunch of friends came in singing. Mom had organized a surprise party for me. That had never happened before so it was a huge deal!

Once my sister in law baked me a pecan pie and told me I didn’t have to share it with anyone. I think I did eat the whole thing over a period of several days.

While living in Germany in the 80’s friends surprised me by stopping by with Champaign, and taking me out to see The Little Prince as a theater production. That was quite the evening!

In 1996 my first wife told me that her extended family was getting together because her grandmother was visiting. When I arrived it was a huge celebration for my 40^th birthday! It was also about six months removed from December 27 so I had no suspicions at all!

Exactly ten years ago today I was in Mexico with my first wife. She had lung cancer and Doctors here informed us there was no hope (for more on that era of life see the following posts: http://beinganddoing.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/125/, http://beinganddoing.wordpress.com/2009/04/11/death/,  http://beinganddoing.wordpress.com/2008/11/22/november-22-the-day-my-world-changed-forever/,  http://beinganddoing.wordpress.com/2008/01/07/today-i-remember/). So, with nothing to lose, we went to an experimental hospital in Mexico. That night my father-in-law took me out to dinner and when we returned my wife had arranged with the hospital staff and a few other patients to have a cake and a party. While it was very special, that was not the most fun I ever had at a surprise birthday party. Kinda hard to celebrate life, when one of you is dying.

When I turned 50 my wife (I did get re-married) surprised me big time. It was after my son’s baptism. We had a meal afterward for a few friends and family who had come to the baptism. Someone got me to leave the room and while I wasn’t looking, friends from all over came, and the place was filled with people who meant so much to my life over the years. I didn’t suspect a thing! Again it was months removed from December 27 so I was clueless.

Today, as far as I know, there will be no surprises for me (unless the Redskins should happen to win, but that would surprise everybody). But I am happy to use my birthday as a lure to surprise several others with a wonderful gift. That will be fun. Still at the beginning of this birthday, I am filled with questions.  I wonder how long I will live? Will I be 80 and still remember that little farm animal book and the barn set? Will I ever forget the surprise parties my wives gave me (I sure hope not)? What does this next year hold? Not really questions one can answer.

But whatever comes in the next year, however long I will live, whatever memories this day will create for me to reflect on in the future, there are some things that remain constant.

So right now I will fix breakfast for my family.

Peace,

Leon

Silly Me: How Could I have Missed It?

Silly me: How Could I Have Missed It?

Well that is the question of the day as we near the end of the year. And as I reflect on the past year, I ask it on a couple of fronts.

Earlier in the year H1N1 was rampant and the discussion was all about the need to get the vaccine. About four or five months ago several friends of mine began warning of a government plot associated with both the H1N1 virus and vaccine. For some reason, that remained unexplained, the H1N1 virus was created by the government to depopulate the country. Barring the success of that effort, the H1N1 vaccine would also be part of ridding the U.S. of…certain people; maybe the tea party folks, I don’t know. There were dire warnings of being stopped at roadblocks and forced to take the H1N1 vaccine on the spot. When I voiced my doubts about all this I was directed to web sites where it was all but proven to be true (I guess the emphasis should be on the “all but” part). Silly me: how could I have missed it?

It has taken most of the year to vaccinate the tens of millions who have received the vaccine, but slowly the supplies have increased. And low and behold the vast majority of those who received the vaccine are alive and well! The predicted deaths I was told to watch for “in the coming months” didn’t happen. The roadblocks didn’t happen. And while thousands have died from the virus itself, evidence of the U.S. government being party to that conspiracy has not materialized.

Then there was the climate change meeting in Copenhagen. According to a climate change expert (who seems to be a self-made expert) that meeting was where President Obama was going to cede U.S. sovereignty, and sign away our freedoms. It was going to be the beginning of the end of life as we know it. The whole idea of global warming was declared to be nothing but a plot to take away our freedoms. And you know what. Some of the same friends who knew about the H1N1 plot knew about this one as well. And there was a web site for this too!

I tried to point out that this self-proclaimed champion for freedom was the same person who advocated that all people in the U.S. and the U.K. should be forced to have a blood test each month to check for HIV. And should anyone be found with to be HIV positive they should be quarantined from the rest of society for the remainder of their lives. The idea didn’t seem all that much like freedom for the downtrodden to me. I noted that our President does not have the authority to sign a bill into law without both houses of the congress first passing it. But I was told to read what the aforementioned “expert” had to say before passing judgment and, furthermore, I should  not to be so high and mighty, especially while a one world government is being proposed. Silly me: how could I have missed it?

Copenhagen has come and gone and the United States is still unfettered and doing her own thing. President Obama didn’t cede our sovereignty to anyone. If fact, precious little happened at Copenhagen to change life as we know it.

Then there is healthcare. Do I dare go there? I’ll allow myself just a few thoughts. I find it ironic that Medicare (which at one point was considered socialized medicine) is now fiercely protected by those who currently rail against expanding health care access as it is too close to being socialized medicine. For the record I think Medicare is great and want to see it managed better than ever! I have been told that there will be limits if the government is involved in health care delivery in any way. I tried to point out that under the existing system insurance companies already set limits, ration care, say what meds you can have, and get between the patient and health care provider. But somehow that was Ok. “They have to make money.” Silly me: how could I have missed it?

So to all my friends who have been thinking about buying guns to take back our country (you know who you are); to all who have ever thought of some sort armed revolution, to all who are sure that the health care reform bill (as imperfect as it is) will lead to Kenyan-born death panels, out to get old people, I say relax and enjoy the holidays.

Unless, of course, I am just being silly and have missed it again.

Serbian Christmas Song: Christ is Born

From the time I first heard this Christmas song several years ago, I have been captivated by it’s haunting melody, lilting harmonies, and the passionate way it is sung. It is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. And the powers of the song is in the fact that even not being able to understand the words, the message comes through.

The cinematography shows all sorts of symbols having to do with the life and death of our Lord: bread, the cross, the birth narrative, Mary, on and on the story is told in image, sound, and words.

I know it has to do with the Savior being born, but I do not have the exact English translation. Someone once sent me a translation, but I do not know where it is right now. Perhaps someone will come across this post and be kind enough to enlighten those of us for whom this beautiful language is beyond our grasp.

Please enjoy this Christmas song.

Christ is born!

December 1, 1998

Once on the first of December I said I do. Then eight years later on a December first I learned a new word. It was December 1, 1998. We (my first wife and I) approached the Dr’s. office with a mixture of hope and dread. On the one hand we could not believe it could possibly happen to us, on the other we knew something was very wrong inside her body.

They had already told us there was a rather large spot on her left lung, but we were hoping it was a mucus plug, a benign anything, or some crazy artifact; we longed to hear words of comfort and have the good Dr. smile and say we had nothing to worry about. Instead he was about as serious as any human I have ever encountered.

He sat down and said, “The biopsy has returned. I’m afraid I have some bad news for you. Turning to Lena he said, “You have an adenocarcinoma.” It was both a clinical term and a statement of finality. At some level I had already accepted the fact that Lena would die, as a large spot on the lung spells big trouble. But I could not comprehend that this horrible adeno… whatever was now our reality.

I was at a loss for words. Lena asked in a very weak voice, “Is that like lymphoma?” naming what was probably the only technical name for cancer that she knew. Dr. E. sadly shook his head and said, “If only it was.” Then I knew that my worst fears would come true. Dr. E. was telling us, barring a miracle, this was the beginning of the end. He promised to put us in touch with an Oncologist and ushered us to the door. The whole thing took about 15 minutes.

We were stunned, numb, confused, scared, and trying to act normal in front of all the people in the waiting area. We still had to pay and fill out some papers. As we stood in line trying to act Ok, Lena said she didn’t feel very well, and suddenly began to collapse. I managed to get her to a chair and get someone to help as she lost consciousness. I have no idea what happened to the paperwork. And with that, the blur of what went on to become December 1998 began.

So on that December 1, I learned a new word, a deadly word: adenocarcinoma. It wasn’t clinical to me. It was personal! This word referred to my loved one.

On this December 1, I think back to that one. And I vow to learn, and use, other kinds of words; words that words that lift up my wife and family, words that communicate life and love, words that express appreciation and support, words that bring joy and laughter, words that inspire hope and desire, words that, as the scriptures teach us, are like honey.

While adneocarcinoma was thrust uninvited into my life, these other words are mine to go after, mine to share, mine to learn and use.

Grant this O Lord.
Peace,
Leon

I Hate the Word…

Savage! Now there’s a powerful word, but one you don’t hear everyday any more.

I remember reading the word a good bit when I was a kid. Native Americans were deemed to be savages in many of the books I read while growing up. At first it may have been because they were considered to be uncivilized by European standards. Later, Native Americans tended to respond in anger when their ancestral lands were over-run or when yet another solemn treaty was broken. But that word savage did its duty.  By designating Native Americans to be savages, by questioning if they even had a soul, their humanity was lost to those who felt the need to kill them. It is easier to kill someone who is savage then someone who is my equal in shared humanity.

Africans were other people who I read about/heard referred to as savages. They too were uncivilized as the story was told. But it was, in part, we civilized folk of European extraction who bought and sold others as slaves. That blatant mindset is not always so easily seen, but as I was growing up I heard of cross burnings in our community, and witnessed how as late as the sixties, having a black man in a restaurant could cause “problems.” It was all just a tame way of declaring African Americans to be savages. The most powerful and deliberate use of the term savage in that regard happened in a conversation I had once when I was fifteen or sixteen.

I was doing my best to hold my own in an argument with a much older, wiser gentleman. The topic was race relations, the setting Virginia in the early 70’s. This gentleman was a true southerner. On one hand a delightful man and on the other a racist. The end of our discussion came when he triumphantly stated these words.

“The white man has been civilized (there’s that word again) for millennia while the black man was a monkey eating savage in the jungle as little as 400 years ago.” I will never forget that short sentence. I turned and walked away. How was I to respond? I knew this didn’t feel right. That attitude, if not the actual words, were wrong, but I didn’t have the evidence to refute him. So I walked away.

Savages eh? The word still sucks the air out of my lungs today, just as it is intended to suck the humanity out of whomever it is heaped upon. What is more troubling to me than the conversation I had as a teenager is that the word seems to be coming back into vogue.

Recently, and on multiple occasions, I have heard Muslims and Islam being referred to as savage. The implication of that kind of language is to dehumanize them. They are merely savages! One person stated, “They should all be kicked out of the army” after the tragic events of Fort Hood. As U.S. congressman went on TV and stated that we should be concerned about them living among us. Sarah Palin flat out stated that some profiling should be done.

Haven’t we been here before in our history? Didn’t we start referring to people as savage and begin acting in ways that, to any unbiased student of history, was an abomination? In Germany, during the run up to the final solution, Jews and other “undesirables” received similar dehumanizing designations in. Before the Rwandan holocaust, people of different tribes used such language when speaking about the others. In fact they often referred to those they did not want associate with as “roaches.”

Terms of derision, dehumanizing terms, and demeaning language has a specific purpose. They help create a sense of superiority within ourselves and lower our opinion of the other. See if they are savages, then we are not. If they are roaches, then we are not. And finally, if they are less human than us, we can more easily treat them in inhuman ways, or perhaps even kill them.

Perhaps one way of thinking about this is to realize that people who commit acts of evil against other people, first regard them as not worthy of living. That is how our country has been viewed by some who have committed acts of terror. We rightly decry their violence. We rightly condemn all being painted with the same brush. But then we turn around and begin the cycle against them by calling them savage.

May the voice of reason once again call us to see all our fellow humans in the way God sees them. May the voice of God teach us how to refer to those who hold to different beliefs. And may God have mercy on us all. We need to be healed of the pride that causes us to elevate ourselves and devalue someone else.

Peace

Leon

Us and Them

One hears a lot of complaints about “the government” these days. There seems, at first blush, to be a very distinct line between us and them. Everyone from politicians to activists offer their thoughts about the relative merits of real America and the Washington D.C. government which is out of touch with the real American values.

As an aside, I find it kind of strange to hear politicians rant against the “out of touch government” while they work so hard to get inside the D.C. beltway. Rarely have I found any of them to perform noticeably different from their predecessors.

Anyway, back to the us against them mentality. To me it seems to be counterproductive at best and a denial of reality at worse. It is too simplistic to point our fingers towards those who have been elected as our leaders and tell them how they screwed things up.

To be sure government at all levels, federal, state and local, has, at times, demonstrated an amazing level of incompetence, inefficiency, self centeredness, sometimes stupidity, a lack of self-control, and even greed. But to sit back and blast away at them, as if they alone are the problem, is to display a collective lack of self-awareness.

Our founding fathers set up this system of government where the people are represented by elected officials; government by the people and for the people. So I submit if we really want Washington, or them, to change we need to change as a society. Rarely have I seen a society as litigious (greedy) as ours. We willingly live beyond our means and rack up massive amounts of consumer debt, and then wonder if there is a program to help us out of the mess (lack of self-control). We tend to be far more concerned about “us four and no more” than we are about the whole of society (self-centered). Even in the community of nations, our collective desire to live as if we are alone on the planet, comes through in less than helpful ways.

Of course you and I wouldn’t actually live that way. We live on a budget, we pay our taxes, and we do our part for the community. It’s the others who are selfish, irresponsible, stupid, and greedy; yeah, it the government and other people, but not us.

Really? Nope. We all carry tendencies towards being selfish and greedy! It is our collective problem and those we elect merely reflect the state of our negative failures along with the good values we hold dear.

I am not saying that everything about our society is bad! We have many admirable traits including generosity, selflessness, ingenuity, and bigheartedness! And I love the relative freedom we enjoy. I only want to point out that we seem to have drawn a line between the government (them) and we the people (us), and this line inhibits our ability to look closely into the failures of our own hearts.

So if, as I contend, there is no them that means there is only us. And if that is true then the only way to change the dysfunction in our government, is to change the dysfunction within our own hearts. And we need to work at it together as a society.

Lord have mercy.

Leon