Practicing Medicine

This is what modern doctors do. They practice the art and science of medicine upon their patients. Doctors take the knowledge they have been taught, they look at your situation, and they practice what they have learned in hopes of finding a cure or treatment for your individual ailment. It is far from a perfect answer to all medical problems, as doctors and modern science have yet to learn everything there is to know about the human body and mind. In fact, what they think they know changes almost daily. So, they practice and hopefully they get it right. It can be quite a disconcerting thought if you are laying on a gurney in the emergency room that the people who are possibly responsible for your life or death are just 'practicing.' Practice is something we normally equate with something that is done in preparation for the 'real thing.' Most people consider their lives to be the real thing, having no fake life to compare it with. This is not to disparage doctors or anybody in the medical professions. They often do the very best they can with the knowledge and tools at their disposal and there have been many times I have been extremely thankful for their services. But still...their knowledge is limited and they don't always have all the answers for every ailment they are presented with.

This realization has very recently hit very close to home for me. Most people don't know that for a number of years now I have been living with a yet to be determined auto-immune disorder. I also lived through (obviously) a heart attack in 2010. My daily life is a long slog through sometimes severe pain and extreme fatigue. Despite being now unemployed as a result of this, I do attempt to make the best I can of every day God gives me. A couple weeks back my condition took a nasty turn as my fatigue increased dramatically and I have begun experiencing chest and back pain. Well, as is common nowadays, it took me two weeks before I could get an appointment with my doctor. In the meantime, blood-work was done so my doctor could see what was going on to some degree inside this amazing human machine which their files list as 'Sanders, Steven E. - Male - Age 49.' The results were not very positive in many respects. There is a suspicion that perhaps the stent in my artery is becoming clogged again. So, with all the haste of a snail-driven chariot, it has been arranged for me to see my cardiologist in about another month. He will then most likely draw upon his limited knowledge, poke around inside my vital organs and blood vessels, and, gaining some more practice for himself, hopefully come out of it all with a successful fix or treatment for what is ailing me. However, it is not my medical problems that I wanted to talk about. It is the Christian spiritual subject of Practicing Medicine that is on my mind today.

I think most Christians, and those of some other religions as well, would agree that human beings are more than simply physical entities. It is my personal belief that men and women are spirits (spiritual beings) who possess a soul and are temporarily encased in an earthly body. I think this view is supported by the Bible in such verses as 1 Thessalonians 5:23 in which the apostle Paul says, "I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." If this is the case, certainly this trinity of human existence is not always in perfect balance just as our earthly body is rarely in its optimal state. So I got to thinking this morning, which is always a dangerous thing in itself, if our earthly bodies are very often in need of the practice of medicine, how much more must our spiritual bodies require similar attention? After all, our material bodies are only temporary, whereas our spiritual bodies are potentially eternal. The question then becomes, what type of treatment is fitting for our spiritual selves and who is the doctor to provide such crucial care?

While whole books can be and have been written on the subject of spiritual maintenance and well-being, I would simply refer again to Paul who said in Ephesians 4:23-24, " and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.…" and in Romans 12:2,"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will." Paul also told us in 2 Corinthians 4:16, "That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day." Jesus Christ Himself told us plainly who our doctor would be. John 14:26 says, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." So clearly we are to be renewed and transformed daily in our spiritual nature and the Holy Spirit of God is the one who will be there to teach us and guide us through our daily treatments.

One thing I find so encouraging about this is that, unlike the imperfect practicing of bodily medicine that we receive from our earthly doctors, who must draw upon the limited knowledge of their learning, the Holy Spirit draws upon and passes on to us the knowledge of God Almighty. He has created all and knows all. That wisdom that we receive from Him and put into practice daily is 100% reliable. We have no need for further tests or consultations from other specialists. God knows exactly what you need and when you need it. If only we stay in daily consultation with Him through the Holy Spirit and through the studying of His word, we can be sure that the health of our spiritual being will be in tip-top shape! However, the key phrase in our success is daily consultation. Every once in awhile will not get it and will often, as is common, result in repeated visits to the spiritual emergency room when we find ourselves suffering from one sort of inner sickness or another. So, as we go about our daily lives, perhaps we should consider practicing medicine of the most valuable kind. " My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body." - Proverbs 4:20-22

Have a blessed day!!!

 

5 Reasons The Obama Presidency Has Failed

On January 20, 2009, the people of the United States of America handed over the keys to the kingdom to their new leader, Barack Hussein Obama. For so many, there was a vibrant feeling of optimism in the air. Obama promised Hope and Change, a fundamental transformation of politics as usual, and a strong recovery from the flailing economy. Yet almost four years later, a large number of Americans are feeling hopeless, the change that was promised is far from what they envisioned, the country is far more divided, the politics of Washington is dirtier than ever, and the economy is without a doubt in far worse shape than when our country started down the road of Obamanism.  How could this happen? We were told that Obama was the smartest, most eloquent, and most capable man to lead our country in a new direction full of hope and prosperity. Despite the arguably good intentions of this administration, I believe there are at least 5 basic principles that have been ignored, or bungled, by this president that have brought about the demise of his once lofty ambitions.

1. Honesty -  From Day 1, this administration promised to be the most transparent ever seen in modern times. We were told the healthcare debates would be televised for all to see. There were promises of a reasonable time of review for all legislation. Guantanamo Bay would be closed and our federal debt would be cut in half in just three years. Needless to say, none of these things, or the many other promises made, has ever come to pass. In fact, the Obama administration has done just the opposite. No matter what the subject, the president and his minions and czars have done just about everything possible to obfuscate the truth or just outright lie to the American people. From Healthcare to Immigration or the Economy to the latest revelations about the Islamist attacks on our consulate in Benghazi, Obama has used every tactic imaginable to try and make the people believe that his actions were right and just. Even his own past is shrouded in a legally protected cloud of mystery. He has hidden behind a wall of lawyers to protect the full truth of his personal history from being discovered. From birth certificates to school records to his own social security number, Obama has ducked and dodged every attempt to get at the truth. While he has been quite open about his past as a frequent illegal drug user, he has kept hidden his past activities as a socialist and his ties to radical communists. The American people are far beyond expecting perfection in their national leaders, but they do expect all the cards to be laid out on the table. Obama's lack of honesty in his actions as a president and about his past have soiled his reputation with the people.

2. Likeability - Just recently, former Obama aide,Neera Tanden, told the press that "he really doesn't like people." For anyone who has watched the President over the past four years, this is not any great surprise. Barack Obama cannot be said to be someone who plays well with others. It is clear the man has an ego problem. When he talks to others he comes across more as if he is lecturing than holding a discussion. Obama is a person who is easily offended when others disagree with him and he expects everything he says to be considered truthful and correct. We witnessed his inability to work with others in his hot-tempered fiasco with John Boehner over economic policy. He is quick to walk out on an uncomfortable situation and does not like to answer questions about his actions. Let's face it, for an incumbent president to be in a dead heat or even behind in the polls to Mitt Romney at this point in the election process shows a serious problem with the likeability factor. Romney is no Care Bear of a person. Even many Republicans do not like Mitt that much. Obama's charm of 2008 has proved to be a superficial mask that is more for political show than reality.

3. Strength - At the time Obama took office in 2009, the world economy was spiralling downward and America was heavily engaged in two wars. What our country, and the world, needed was an American president who could display qualities of strength that would lead our allies to believe we would soon be returning to prosperity. More importantly, we needed a leader who would let our enemies know we were unyielding in our commitment to fight them and that we had every expectation of solidly defeating them. What we got was a failure in both areas. Obama's economic policies have worsened the American and world economies and he has shown that he clearly has no plan for turning the ship around anytime soon. His foreign policy has been one designed to "understand" and appease our enemies. There are very few in the Obama administration who have any military experience, and it shows. He does not understand how wars are fought or won. Worse yet, he has ignored the advice of his military leaders and put many of our courageous servicemen and women in great danger on the battlefield. For a wartime president, his greatest achievements have been to allow gay soldiers to come out of the closet and to take personal credit for making the no-brainer call to take out Osama bin Laden. He squandered every strategical advantage handed to him by the Bush surges and is now responsible for basically the loss of both wars. He tried to show his muscle by following the French into supporting Al Quaeda-backed rebels in the overthrow of Moammar Gadhafi in Libya. We have seen how well this has worked out, with the death of Ambassador Stevens and several others and the unabashed attacks on our embassies throughout the Middle East. He has invited the terrorist leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood to the White House while adeptly avoiding the leader of our greatest ally in the region, Israel. His kowtowing to Islamic leaders and his attempts to appease the savage sensibilities of our enemies has lead to our country being viewed as weak and ineffective. Many people have said that George W. Bush ruined our reputation with the other nations of the world. According to most international polls, under Obama we are now viewed in an even more unfavorable light than ever before. Barack Obama's strength appears to be mere bravado that folds quickly under the pressure of real-world confrontations.

4. Values - Let's face the facts. President Obama does not and probably never has shared the traditional American values that most citizens hold to be the foundations of our society. He is the product of two Muslim fathers, Barack Obama, Sr. and Lolo Soetoro. He spent a good part of his youth being schooled in a Muslim madrassah in the Philippines. His mother and grandparents were ardent communists. He was mentored through his youth and young adulthood by people like Frank Marshall Davis, a communist activist and pornographer, and William Ayres, a convicted domestic terrorist who, to this day, is unrepentant of his crimes. His only real connection with Christianity was his attendance and mentoring at the church of Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Wright's brand of Chistianity at Trinity United Church of Christ is one of Black Liberation Theology that has been clearly displayed as anti-semitic and racist. These are all parts of his past that Obama attempts to sweep under the rug. The fact is that Barack Obama's values are mostly a mystery to the American people. His attempts to use oratorial eloquence to blend in with whatever crowd he is speaking with denote a man who is a chameleon, ever changing to display whatever values are needed to garner the influence he wishes to exert. What little background information we do have about Obama show a man who has contempt for the Constitution, capitalism, and the traditional Judeo-Christian values that our country was founded on. Barack Obama's values are far from those of most mainstream Americans.

5. Leadership - Perhaps one of the greatest qualities needed in an effective president is that of leadership. Great leadership involves the ability to bring people together to work together towards a common vision. As expressed above, Obama's value system, if truthfully told, does not put forth the kind of vision most Americans would want for our future. Regardless, Barack Obama has not been effective at all in laying out a clear goal or vision for the future of this country. His administration has been one of haphazardly moving from one issue to the next without regard for the rule of law or the desires of the American public. It is my suspicion that if his true vision for this country were known he would swiftly be run out of town on a rail. Instead of uniting this country behind a common goal, his tactics and policies have been to play differering segements of society against each other; rich against poor, black against white, and liberal against conservative. In this way he hopes to weaken any large united front against his administration and play to each group individually to win votes. He will again be the chameleon, becoming whatever it is each group wants him to be. Obama does not lead, he manipulates.

It is my belief that Barack Obama is a man who lacks a moral compass to guide him. His agenda and values are kept hidden from the public. He holds none of the requisite qualities needed to be an effective and upstanding leader. Considering that a man like this currently holds the most powerful position in the world is extremely frightening. What is even more frightening is the thought of what he might try to do with four more years of virtually unbridled power.

My Own Lance Armstrong Confession

NOTE: This blog is obviously a work of fiction. However, with the farce of an investigation that has recently been brought against Lance Armstrong, I couldn't resist a little farce of my own. If you have no interest in cycling, this probably won't mean anything to you and you should probably skip it.


Now that the USADA case against Lance Armstrong has come to a close, and everybody from George Hincapie to Dave "Buy My Junk" Zabriskie is coming forward with their own confessions of doping, I figure it is about time I came clean about my own involvement with Lance Armstrong and the USPS organization. It is a sordid tale indeed...one I'm not proud of. In retrospect, I should have known better.

My involvement with USPS started innocently enough. I was a regular purchaser of postage stamps sold by USPS that, in part, went to fund the activities of Lance Armstrong and the USPS cycling team. Living in a rural area as I do, I had a regular habit of buying my stamps directly from my mail carrier instead of driving into town to get them. Every month, exactly on the 15th, when I got paid I would meet my letter carrier at the mailbox to buy myself a roll of stamps. It was on October 15th of 1999 that my life changed forever. It was that day that I willingly joined the "dark side" of the competitive cycling world.

On that day, instead of being met at my mailbox by my regular letter carrier, there was a dark-haired stranger behind the wheel of the USPS mail truck. When I greeted him and he responded, I noticed he had an odd accent. I asked him where he was from. He replied cryptically, "I come from the land of the Stroopwafel." Before I could question him further, he began to congratulate me on my regular and generous contributions to the USPS cycling team and asked me if I would like to help them out in a more substantial way. Having just months before watched Lance Armstrong win his first Tour de France victory in Paris, I was awestruck and felt honored to be invited to play even a small part in such a prestigious organization. I didn't realize then how deeply I would be getting involved.

The stranger explained to me that twice a month, a box addressed to Juan Pelota would be delivered to my house...along with my regular order of postage stamps which, thanks to my participation, would now be free of charge. I was to deliver this box personally to Lance in Texas. It was explained to me that the contents of this box would greatly help Lance win more races, but that he was not exactly supposed to have it while cycling, which was why discretion was most important. I was instructed that if I should ever be stopped by the authorities, the origin or destination of the parcel must never be revealed. I was immediately suspicious but, in the end, the temptation of receiving free postage won out over my better judgement.

So, all during the off-seasons of 1999-2004, I would make two runs a month to deliver the boxes to Lance. The boxes, when shaken, made the sound of glass containers clinking together. As the boxes were heavily sealed with packing tape, I never dared to open them and take a look inside. That is, except only once, in 2003 when my curiosity got the better of me and I made a small cut with a box knife and removed one small glass vial. I kept the container safely hidden away and nothing was ever said about its absence from the box. My meetings with Lance followed a set routine. I would meet him exactly at noon in the parking lot of the X-rated video store just across the Oklahoma-Texas border. He always arrived on a Trek racing bike with an odd cargo rack over the back wheel to which he secured the box I would give him. He was never very talkative and always seemed in a hurry. I asked him once why he was in such a rush. He replied that it was important for him to make it back to Austin before the contents of the box got too warm or else they would be no good. I took advantage of this opening to ask him about what was in the box. He paused for a long moment and then smiled. He told me that the "magical oil" that was in those boxes allowed him to race and win without ever having to train. He laughed as he told me that just a little of that stuff would give him more than enough energy to leave Ullrich, Basso, and Pantani "in the dust." Seeing that perhaps he had said too much, our conversation was quickly over and he proceeded to do as always. He opened the box, took out one vial and "used" it, attached the box to his bike and sped off south, quickly disappearing into the distance.

Despite the oddity of my arrangement with Lance and the USPS, I never worried much about the legality of what I was doing. The free postage kept rolling in and I figured, with all the members on the team, certainly I wasn't the only one doing this. There must be others making such deliveries. and if this what it took to see the boys in blue on the podium in Paris, I would do my little part. It wasn't until I received a subpoena to testify in an investigation of Lance Armstrong and the USPS team for defrauding the federal government. Oh good Lord! I was frightened beyond all belief. I was being implicated in participating in an organized doping ring! I was threatened with major jail time and even worse, a lifetime suspension from free postage!

It is to my shame that I did not stay loyal to Lance and the team. Yet, I knew, what I had been doing was wrong. And I had my family and career to think about. I told the feds everything. About the boxes, the deliveries, and...about the one vial of "magic oil" I had hidden away at home. I've never seen people so happy. The investigators jumped and danced and hugged each other! There were high-fives being given all around. They explained that once they tested the contents of that vial, they would have a slam dunk case against Lance and the whole USPS cycling organization. They escorted me home to retrieve the evidence and held me in custody at the lab as they tested the mysterious substance.

The time spent sitting in the lab offices seemed to stretch on for hours. I pondered my own personal fate and cursed myself for my own greed. Yet the investigators laughed and joked and seemed very festive about the whole affair. After what seemed like an eternity, a lab technician stepped into the room. He was holding a single computer printout sheet which he handed to the lead investigator. This investigator who just moments ago was so bubbly and jubilant suddenly turned pale as he stared at the printout for a long moment. He turned slowly to his coworkers and said softly, "Case closed. Charges Dropped." He then approached me angrily and shoved the printout into my hands. "This never happened and I never want to see you again." I slowly scanned the piece of paper he had handed me. It said across the top, 'Lab Testing of Unknown Substance.' Below followed a list of indecipherable numbers and abbreviations. But at the bottom of the sheet was a single line of text. It said very simply, 'Identification of Unknown Substance - SHINER BOCK BEER.'

American....No Hyphen

Racism is once again at the top of the national news lately. Mostly stemming from an unfortunate incident in Sanford, FL between two men; Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman. Though very few except for Martin and Zimmerman really know the truth of what occurred between them, many people have taken strong positions on the issue, mostly divided across racial lines. Through the craziness of the sensationalistic news media, we have experienced a wide, but now predictable, involvement of racial players injecting themselves into the situation. We have seen the usual reactions from race-baiters such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, calling for widespread rallies and protests on behalf of the racial injustice allegedly perpetrated against Trayvon Martin, despite the fact they know no more than anybody else what really happened. We have seen those who immediately sought to portray Martin as a typical gangsta thug, as if they really knew who the young man was in real life. Especially crazy was the initial insistence that George Zimmerman was a white man, despite the fact that he is half hispanic and identifies himself as hispanic. But to perpetuate the typical white vs black racial myths, Zimmerman was then termed a "white-hispanic". This is as absurd as calling President Obama a "white-African-American", as he is half white as well. Most alarmingly, we have seen hate groups such as the New Black Panther Party calling for the kidnapping and murder of George Zimmerman. As full of hate and violence as the Ku Klux Klan, their actions are being protected by the politicos in power, much as the Klan's were during their heydays of murderous racism.

In light of all the racial posturing, debates, threats, and stereotypical accusations, it infuriates me that Americans keep allowing themselves to get drawn into the same old hate-filled patterns. We permit our thoughts to be controlled by those, of various racial backgrounds, who draw their power by perpetuating hate among the many races and cultures that make up our nation. You would think that by now, through pure experience, we would have moved past racial division. But here we are, once again, with talk of race wars topping the headlines, and the vulgar name calling of "whiteys" and "niggers". It sickens me!

 Why can't people get it through their heads that, biologically speaking, there are no such things as separate races? We are all one human race, despite really very minor differences in outward appearance. We will all bleed red whether our skin color is white, yellow, brown, black, or red. Are there cultural differences among various groups in this country? Certainly! But as Americans, deep down, we all share the same national culture. We want to be prosperous, to succeed in our endeavors, and to live in freedom in a place of safety. We all love our children and want to give them better lives than we had. We want to have the liberty to worship as we please and a chance to educate our children to build and perpetuate this nation, which, despite its faults and mistakes, has been a beacon of freedom and democracy to the world. That is why, even to this day, people from all nations still flock to the United States seeking a better life.

I wish that all Americans could have the experience that I have had...that of being privileged to serve in our nation's military forces. It was there that it became ingrained in me that as Americans, we are all brothers and sisters, regardless of race or religion, color or culture. We stood beside each other against the world and it made not one difference if a member of our platoon was black, white, Jewish, or Inuit...or a mixture of many different things. We risked our lives for each other and it mattered not whether somebody's ancestors came from Africa, Poland, or Puerto Rico. The only thing that mattered was that we were all Americans. We believed in our country and we believed in each other. How different would our national outlook be if American civilians could view each other this way?

I have been blessed in my life to have been exposed to people of many different cultures and colors. Thinking of specific friends, teachers, and mentors in my life, some are Eastern Indian, black, asian, european, Native-American and hispanic. I'm sure there are those of other backgrounds that I am forgetting. When we meet together, and we talk and share, we do not see each other as colors or cultures, but as human beings and Americans. We do not separate ourselves from each other by such things. It is my opinion that our country will never get over the contrived problems of racism until we stop dividing and identifying ourselves by race. We must do away with white supremacy, black pride, La Raza, NAACP, congressional caucuses separated by race, separate beauty contests and award shows, etc, etc, ad nauseum! We must stop teaching our children that this race is dangerous, or this race is trying to keep you down, or this race is lazy, etc....It is time to let go of the fear-based hatred of those who came before us. We all have the same nation to gain...or to lose. Although they were not talking directly about race, our founding fathers could not have been more correct by saying,"United we stand, divided we fall."
So...stop seeing other people as colors. Stop identifying yourself as a color. Treat others as human beings and....as Americans. No more hyphenated Americans! It is just my belief that when we die, our spirits that live on will not have colors. When we appear someday before our God we will not be judged according to a color. So why should we judge each other that way now?

On Being True to Yourself

The last couple of years have been very confusing and frightening for me, but also very enlightening as well. Most of my adult life has been spent performing primarily military, law enforcement, and intelligence work. However, after over 20 years in this career field, I began experiencing terrible attacks of anxiety and panic. I could not drive a vehicle by myself. I feared being around people, especially large groups. There were even some days I was too scared to even leave my home. There were also physical symptoms like dizziness, memory loss, high blood pressure, headaches, and poor balance. Why? I haven't the slightest idea. When these symptoms did not go away, I was eventually forced to say goodbye to everything I spent almost a lifetime developing. Doctors were useless, and psychiatrists were even worse. Eventually my condition became labeled as Anxiety, Panic, and Somatoform Disorders. The symptoms have lessened somewhat but they are still present. You might say I have just gotten better with recognizing them and learning to adjust. What it comes down to is that in my mid-40s, I am forced to re-create myself, to build a new career and life. That covers the confusing and frightening part, but how is all that enlightening? Let me explain.

When I was growing up, I was a totally different sort of person than I am now. The Steven Sanders of my youth was a musician, an artist, and a writer. I was compassionate to others. I began playing in the band and orchestra in the 3rd grade. I played the tuba, trombone, baritone horn and, later on, learned to play the guitar, bass guitar, and even a little piano. I sang in the chorus at school and the choir at church. Every summer, I went to a performing arts camp on Long Island in N.Y.. While other boys were getting in trouble for fighting at school, I would get notes sent home saying I was off in my own little world, humming and whistling music to myself in class. Besides music, I excelled in English. I read about any book I could get my hands on and wrote poetry and short stories. I wasn't a total nerd. I played soccer, little league baseball, and enjoyed playing football with my friends. But my passion was always for the arts. It came natural to me and it made me feel alive! So naturally, after graduating high school I joined the Army. Whaaat?!

Well, you see, my family never had alot of money. I never knew much about things like student loans, scholarships, or grants. So while I dreamed about becoming a musician, I had no idea how to make it a reality. The military seemed foreign to me, but it at least seemed a better option than working on the loading dock at the mall where I had been slaving away since graduation. My enlistment into the military would set the course for roughly the next 25 years of my life. I spent a number of years in the Army, worked private security of all sorts, and spent time working for government law enforcement and intelligence agencies. I learned how to be an authority figure. Much of my training was focused on observing people, profiling people, subduing people, and yes, killing people. I learned to be proficient with firearms and weapons of all sorts. My learning taught me the tactics and mindsets of the "bad guys". I even came to learn that some the "bad guys" were playing on our team. I have since come to realize that my own mindset had drastically changed as well. I became distrustful of almost everybody and everything. Inside I became hard and cold. When you live in a world where very little is as it seems, there is really very little to trust in.

While I was quite good at this kind of work,  I can't honestly say it came naturally to me. Were there enjoyable times? Certainly! There are also certain skill sets that serve me well in serving others. Life is what you make it, but most good memories over my past career had more to do with the people I worked with or with certain experiences, rather than the work itself. In the rare moments when I was honest with myself, I mostly felt like an impostor, like I was playing a role. And then...after all those years of training and service, I just sort of melted down. Now psychiatrists will theorize it was the result of too many years of bottled up trauma...too much exposure to death, danger, confrontation, and stress. Perhaps that played a part. But I think there is more to it than that, and it has to do with being true to yourself.

I have given this great thought over the past few years. I have come to believe that God graces every person with certain gifts when they are born. Certainly we can learn skills and develop tendencies from parents, friends, and teachers. However, there are certain talents people have that come naturally to them, that bring out a passion in them, and cannot be explained by genetics or education alone. God's gifting can be witnessed in a pair of couch potato parents having a child who is an exceptional athlete, or a brilliant musician being born of parents who are, shall we say, rythym-impaired. How many youth are forced into careers by their parents for the stated objective of achieving a high standard of living, when the child has a passion and a gifting for something totally different? Every person has a gift or gifts that is unique to them. Wise parents will recognize these gifts in their children and  encourage them to develop them to their full potential. Smart youth will recognize their strengths and passions and run with them. To do anything less, to deny your giftings, is to be untrue to yourself. Worse yet, it is a denial of who God intended you to be and a waste of a gift from your creator.

So to the youth who may read this blog I would say this: Develop your strengths and follow that which brings you joy. Allow no one else to determine who you will be. And don't listen to people who tell you that you can't achieve something. They are usually people who never followed their God-gifts and just want you to be as miserable as they are. Believe in yourself...because God certainly does.

As for myself, I think there will be much more writing in my future. Who knows...I may be persuaded to pick up a musical instrument again. These things bring me joy. But my greatest joy is found in compassion and service. I want to spend what time I have left sharing from the wealth of my mistakes, to have compassion on those who struggle, and to help them find the joy that God has intended for their lives.

Walking in Faith

Abraham Lincoln once said, "I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for the day." This insightful quote seems very appropriate to my current state of mind. I am deciding whether or not I should consider this year to be possibly the worst ever of my life. Certainly there have been times of greater emotional pain and suffering, but never have I been at a place of such physical weakness and material need. So far this year I have experienced the death of a brother, a heart attack, having to rebuild the Jeep's transmission, A/C went out at the house and was fixed, the water has all but dried up at the house, we're being overrun by insects, and now the A/C has gone out again. This has left me with seemingly insurmountable debt and for the very first time in my life I honestly don't know how our family will make it through the next two weeks until I get paid again....or possibly longer as the government argues over the debt ceiling. Yes, I rely on disability as part of my income. I am not proud of it and am going through the long process of rehabilitation and retraining to be useful once again. For a man who has struggled and sacrificed his whole adult life to support his family, this is unfamiliar spiritual territory for me. There has always been something that I could do in the physical to solve our financial problems. Today, however, I feel totally helpless and at the mercy of the world.
Before anyone accuses me of being a whiner, let me state for the record that, despite my current circumstances, I consider myself to be greatly blessed.  For one, I am still alive and breathing, which was hammered home to me in several situations, is a blessing not to be taken for granted. I have an incredible family whom I love with all my heart and soul. It is because of my love for them that I feel much shame over not being able to be come up with the answers or resources during our current trials. As broken as it is, we have a nice home on a nice little piece of ground. And, so far, nobody in our home has ever had to go to bed hungry. I don't have to look far to find people who are dealing with far worse than our current troubles; people who are facing hunger, homelessness, crippling and fatal diseases, abuse, violence, death, and war. In a global perspective, our current problems are probably laughable. Yet, they are our problems and we struggle with them.
God has given me a wonderful wife who tries patiently to remind me, as I'm stressing and panicking, that the Lord has always been there for us and seen us through the hard times. It is a new thing for me but she reminds me that I should be faithfully speaking God's promises as we pray and seek answers for our difficulties. In my natural mind, there is anxiety, doubt and fear. Yet in my spirit, I know God is faithful. I do not understand why things do not always happen the way we would have them happen. I am not God's equal so I cannot totally understand His mind and His purposes. Yet I have seen His goodness and His mercy in my life and have experienced seemingly unthinkable results when I have pursued Him. I know that He is capable of anything and that He wishes goodness for all His children. So, despite my weaknesses of anxiety and fear, I stand fast on His promises as I pray and wait to see in what way He will move. Below are just a few of the scriptures that I am meditating on through these tough times. I hope that in sharing them you will be blessed by them. There are so many more. Feel free to share!

• Jeremiah 29:13

  New International Version (NIV)
  ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

• 1 Chronicles 16:10

  New International Version (NIV)

  
  ¹⁰ Glory in his holy name;
  let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. 

• Isaiah 40:29

  New International Version (NIV)

  
  ²⁹ He gives strength to the weary
  and increases the power of the weak.

• 2 Corinthians 5:7

  New International Version (NIV)

  ⁷ For we live by faith, not by sight.

• Matthew 11:28

  New International Version (NIV)
  
  ²⁸ Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

• Psalm 46:1-3

  New International Version (NIV)

  
  

  ¹ God is our refuge and strength,
  an ever-present help in trouble.
  ² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
  and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
  ³ though its waters roar and foam
  and the mountains quake with their surging.^[

Libyan Lunacy

 I find it curious regarding the Libya situation that the press is reporting that Moammar Khadafi (Gadafi, Gaddafi, Kadafi) is attacking "civilians." Well...it's a civil war...of course he is. By definition, anyone not in the Libyan military, and not on the government side, is a civilian. It seems like the more common term for a person who fights against their government to be called a rebel or domestic terrorist. But I have some questions about these "civilians." Mainly because, from the pics and video I have seen, they are certainly the most heavily armed civilians I have ever seen. They have tanks, armored personnel carriers, rocket launchers, grenades, and heavy machine guns. Even for the U.S., that's pretty beefy weaponry for a civilian. Given the fact that Khaddafi has kept his country impoverished for many years, where did the average Mohammed on the street get the money to afford these toys? Has someone from the outside supplied the people with weapons? If so, why? What are these rebels wanting? How did this uprising start? What was the defining event that caused it? Who is leading the "civilians?"

Khaddafi, who is not necessarily trustworthy, says Al-Quaeda has taken over certain areas of his country and is fomenting this rebellion. This could be a lie, but let's look at that statement. Has this happened before? We know in Afghanistan the Taliban have taken control of certain regions of this nation. In Iraq there are many areas still under control by Islamist insurgents. So is it really that far fetched to believe that this couldn't be occurring in Libya? If that is the case, wouldn't Khaddafi be justified in fighting against insurgents who have stirred up rebellion among the people? And...by our supporting these unknown factions, aren't we fighting on the side of potential terrorists?

I think there are alot of questions that need to be answered here, certainly before we commit American lives to this conflict. Unfortunately, it appears that it is too late as the Obama administration has jumped into the fray, going   against the advisement of their military advisors. More questions. Should the president have sought congressional approval as he sought U.N. approval? What is his motivation for involving the U.S.? Did the relationship of Obama's mentors with Khaddafi play a role in his hesitation to act? What are our interests there? How long will we be there? What is the "end game?"  

Some are equating our involvement to President Bush's decision to attack Iraq. Not comparable in my view. With Iraq, there were over 48 separate violations of U.N. sanctions by Saddam Hussein. Long periods of national debate were spent on the subject before we got involved. Bush sought and got the approval of congress, a Democratic congress I might add. He did not worry about U.N. approval but was undoubtedly upholding the enforcement of their sanctions, which they themselves would not do. With Libya, we have a civil war that is only a few weeks old. Up until this point, the U.N. considered Khaddafi to be a peachy guy, even allowing Libya to hold a spot on the U.N. Human Rights Commission. He was a tyrant, although a very benign one. So there is a sudden and mysterious uprising, The Arab League speaks out, and suddenly the U.N. is moving with unprecedented speed toward taking military action against their buddy Moammar. Hold the phone! With Saddam, it took the U.N. years of debate and mountains of sanctions before action was taken against a dictator who abused his people, and even then not by the U.N. but by the U.S.. Hmmm...something's different here and it doesn't smell right.

Stay tuned kiddos...this is gonna get really messy before it gets better. And...oh yes...there will be blood! Blood that will be on American hands. Shouldn't we have a better idea of why and what for before we commit ourselves to killing people of a foreign nation? Just a thought.