Wednesday, July 13, 2011
New Posts
It has been a very long time since I paid attention to this site. When I started it, I was going to light the world on fire, and then things happened and I got sidetracked. I was out of work for an extended period of time I did some posting, but mainly sat around feeling sorry for myself, but then started a new job and pushed it all to the back burner. I have realized one thing, and that is my thoughts don't stop. Instead of a blog this could be called ramblings becasue I shift from one subject to another, but they are all near and dear to my heart. I am vowing now to start all over again and be more faithful to my writing. I am going to ask for accountability partners to keep me on track of at a minimum 1 blog per week but hopefully one per day. SO watch for some great stuf to be coming out of my head.
Geting Oldr and Older
It has been three years since I wrote the following blog about when Did I Get Old, and I am amazed at how much has happened the orginal post was this.....
Several things happened to me recently that made me ask myself this question. When did I get old? When did life speed by and leave me in the past? My daughter asked me to volunteer and help the Kingswood Ski Team setting up the race courses the other day. In a previous time I would have been to busy to be bothered with such mundane stuff, but in recent times I have realized how important it is to be able to do the small things with your family and friends. So I told her to tell the coach I would help. We got to the ski area and I rushed to get my equipment on, and proceeded up the mountain and with a special “wrench” in hand I proceeded to screw down the gates for the slalom course. It didn’t take to long for me to realize I am not as young as I used to be, my legs ached from standing on skis on such a steep incline, my shoulders ached from turning the wrench to force the screw on the bottom of the gate into the frozen snow. I wondered when the task would ever end as I looked down the mountain at the long snaking line of gates running to the finish line. I realize I am not as young as many with children my age as I was in my early thirties when Khrys was born. Later that day I was skiing down a black diamond with my daughter, I was at the top of the trail and Khrys started down the hill, I followed behind her watching her carve a line down the mountain. I believe I blinked once, and when I looked down the mountain she was gone.
I realized how that is with our children. We raise them and think they will always be there, but when we blink, and our eyes reopen they are grown and gone starting a life of their own independent of us. All we can hope is that we raised them properly and equipped them to live a life that would make us proud as parents. I remembered this little girl at my side when I was first teaching her how to ski. She held my hand and looked up at me with trusting eyes, as we waited for the chair lift to come around and take us up the mountain. Like most protective fathers, when the chair came around and hit me in the back of the calf, and forced us to sit in the seat, I reached in front of her to make sure she didn’t slip from the chair, as I brought the safety bar down. I took her down the mountain prodding her to remember her turns instead of barreling straight down the mountain. She was the headstrong one, and she tried my patience as we worked our way down the mountain. I then realized that I should put her in lessons. She was little more advanced than a straight beginner, but not yet up to the next level, so I sprung for private lessons for her, but being the protective Dad I hung back behind the lesson and watched her listen to the instructor and do as she was told. When her lesson was over I talked to the instructor, and he told me that this little girl with wide blue eyes had a natural talent when it came to putting skis on her feet. I remembered that as I looked down the trail and saw the graceful curves of her trail going down the snow. She is a natural at life, she takes things in stride, and moves on with pride and determination that she is going to make her mark on life in her own way. She is no longer that little girl that holds my hand and trusts I will make everything okay and safe for her. I realized then that I had grown older, and was no longer the required leader I her life, but in many ways a bystander, standing back watching her meet life head on. In many ways I realize she still does need me, but I also realize that I have to stand back and let her make her way in life.
I then look at my own fallibility and frailness as I reflect back on slipping on the ice and giving myself a concussion, with the headache that accompanies it. Then I was told by my wife that a friend of the family had passed away form a heart attack in his garage. I realize how short life really is. Earlier in December the music director from the high school’s life ebbed out after a battle with cancer. Time is short and we grow old and deteriorate, so take life one day at a time, and enjoy each and every moment as if it could be your last.
In the time that ela[sed since I wrote this post...my oldewst has come back from college, bought her first car and started her first "full time" job and taken over her own bills. The little girl I wrote about in the original blog has gone off to college, made Deans list her first Semester of college life , gone to New Orleans to work work on the Katrina Revitalization program during a school break, serves on the student senate at Johnson Statte College,a dn co-ordinate volunterr effort programs at the school. She is a self imposed perfectionist that strives to be the best at what she does. My youngest is in Middle School and developing into quite the woman she displays dignity and poise along with compassion and love in everything she does. What hurts is I don't want to give up that role of protector and guardian, and stand back and watch them make their mark on the world. It makes me proud to do this but also makes me feel ancient, and unneeded anymore. I am no longer the man who carried a screaming baby on my back up and down the street becasue it was the only way to get her to quiet down. I am no longer the man that the girls reach up and take his hand when they are scared, and frankly I am not adjusting well to the new role in my life. I miss th littel girls in pig tails and mud boots, but I am so proud of the ladies they have become. I love you all, maybe a little differently but I love them all the same
Several things happened to me recently that made me ask myself this question. When did I get old? When did life speed by and leave me in the past? My daughter asked me to volunteer and help the Kingswood Ski Team setting up the race courses the other day. In a previous time I would have been to busy to be bothered with such mundane stuff, but in recent times I have realized how important it is to be able to do the small things with your family and friends. So I told her to tell the coach I would help. We got to the ski area and I rushed to get my equipment on, and proceeded up the mountain and with a special “wrench” in hand I proceeded to screw down the gates for the slalom course. It didn’t take to long for me to realize I am not as young as I used to be, my legs ached from standing on skis on such a steep incline, my shoulders ached from turning the wrench to force the screw on the bottom of the gate into the frozen snow. I wondered when the task would ever end as I looked down the mountain at the long snaking line of gates running to the finish line. I realize I am not as young as many with children my age as I was in my early thirties when Khrys was born. Later that day I was skiing down a black diamond with my daughter, I was at the top of the trail and Khrys started down the hill, I followed behind her watching her carve a line down the mountain. I believe I blinked once, and when I looked down the mountain she was gone.
I realized how that is with our children. We raise them and think they will always be there, but when we blink, and our eyes reopen they are grown and gone starting a life of their own independent of us. All we can hope is that we raised them properly and equipped them to live a life that would make us proud as parents. I remembered this little girl at my side when I was first teaching her how to ski. She held my hand and looked up at me with trusting eyes, as we waited for the chair lift to come around and take us up the mountain. Like most protective fathers, when the chair came around and hit me in the back of the calf, and forced us to sit in the seat, I reached in front of her to make sure she didn’t slip from the chair, as I brought the safety bar down. I took her down the mountain prodding her to remember her turns instead of barreling straight down the mountain. She was the headstrong one, and she tried my patience as we worked our way down the mountain. I then realized that I should put her in lessons. She was little more advanced than a straight beginner, but not yet up to the next level, so I sprung for private lessons for her, but being the protective Dad I hung back behind the lesson and watched her listen to the instructor and do as she was told. When her lesson was over I talked to the instructor, and he told me that this little girl with wide blue eyes had a natural talent when it came to putting skis on her feet. I remembered that as I looked down the trail and saw the graceful curves of her trail going down the snow. She is a natural at life, she takes things in stride, and moves on with pride and determination that she is going to make her mark on life in her own way. She is no longer that little girl that holds my hand and trusts I will make everything okay and safe for her. I realized then that I had grown older, and was no longer the required leader I her life, but in many ways a bystander, standing back watching her meet life head on. In many ways I realize she still does need me, but I also realize that I have to stand back and let her make her way in life.
I then look at my own fallibility and frailness as I reflect back on slipping on the ice and giving myself a concussion, with the headache that accompanies it. Then I was told by my wife that a friend of the family had passed away form a heart attack in his garage. I realize how short life really is. Earlier in December the music director from the high school’s life ebbed out after a battle with cancer. Time is short and we grow old and deteriorate, so take life one day at a time, and enjoy each and every moment as if it could be your last.
In the time that ela[sed since I wrote this post...my oldewst has come back from college, bought her first car and started her first "full time" job and taken over her own bills. The little girl I wrote about in the original blog has gone off to college, made Deans list her first Semester of college life , gone to New Orleans to work work on the Katrina Revitalization program during a school break, serves on the student senate at Johnson Statte College,a dn co-ordinate volunterr effort programs at the school. She is a self imposed perfectionist that strives to be the best at what she does. My youngest is in Middle School and developing into quite the woman she displays dignity and poise along with compassion and love in everything she does. What hurts is I don't want to give up that role of protector and guardian, and stand back and watch them make their mark on the world. It makes me proud to do this but also makes me feel ancient, and unneeded anymore. I am no longer the man who carried a screaming baby on my back up and down the street becasue it was the only way to get her to quiet down. I am no longer the man that the girls reach up and take his hand when they are scared, and frankly I am not adjusting well to the new role in my life. I miss th littel girls in pig tails and mud boots, but I am so proud of the ladies they have become. I love you all, maybe a little differently but I love them all the same
America: How We Got this Way
It is hard to miss that the united States is in an economic and social mess in this day and age. High unemployment haunts us at every turn, and does not seem to want to rebound. Foreclosures at extreme highs, real estate prices plummeting and not regaining. Every one points fingers as who is to blame, The Obamites blame Bush, the Bushites blame Clinton and Obama.
The truth is the Presidency while having some effect is not the total cause of the situation. Yes there were roots inthe Carter Administration that set the whole thing in motion when the edict came down that every American should be able to own a house, and as time worked its way around, and lending restrictions relaxed making way for the undocumented loans and sub prime loans as well as interest only payments the housing crash and economic demolition did begin. However if you dig deeper, you find the root cause of the problem. It is the people's greed. No longer happy with a small house with a master bedroom and the kids sharing a room, then a family room, kitchen and maybe a dining room, we started demanding a master suite with 1 bedroom for each kid, a play room living room, and ore and more space, much of which actually went underused. small 1000 square foot houses made way for 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 and even 5,000 square foot houses while average family size actually decreased. Add on top of that we want televisions in every room, and the kitchen has to have stainless steel appliances, imported marble countertops, and custom made tile floors, with pantries large enough to sleep in. Bathrooms have to have whirlpool tubs seperate shower stalls, and more. We could go on and on Closets have to be filled with shoes and clothes, but if you look at the labels, you find what used to be made in the U.S. is now made in China, Malayasia, Mexico, Guatamala, and other remote places. Our neighbors get more, so we want more becasue heaven forbid we can't fall behind. We demand raises and higher and higher minimum wages, thus driving the price of the products we make higher and higher, while we demand more and ore goods, so the manufacturers find countries with lower and lower wages and less restrictions to keep the cost down. What was once an extravagance susch as microwave ovens and mega sound systmes, become a neccesity we have to have them or we just can't survive, thus looking for cheaper and cheaper goods. We become a disposable society shoes we wera once or twice then go the back of the closet and eventually thrown out, so China's economy grows and our manufacturing base continues to shrink. If every American bought pair of American made shoes we could reopen most of the shoe factories in Maine and remploy thousands of people, but we won't because they cost to much and who can live with only one or two pair of shoes...(I have a pair of sneakers, a pair of work boots, work shoes 1 pair of dress shoes, and a pair of beach shoes,and my winter boots, that is it, Oh I almost forgot my one pair of well worn hiking boots that have hiked many New Hampshire Mountains, American made, and 36 years old but still look and feel in pretty good shape.) If we bought American made clothes, from natural fibers such as cotton or linen we would put farmers back to work, we would put textile mills back in operation. If we repaired clothes instead of throwing them out we would employ more seamstresses, and tailors. If we would buy 1 or 2 American made Televisions rather than having to have one in every room we would open more factories. Just think about it. If we bought more domestic goods rather than foriegn goods our economy would rebound very quickly. I we gave people hands up instead of hand outs we would have a very robust work force.
I hear the cry Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, where are the jobs the government promised us....face it folks the governement does not have the power to create jobs that are meaningful and self sustaining, they can expand governmment departments but those are tax dependent jobs. Only we can be the force to create more meaningful jobs b demanding American made products, thus putting more of our fellow countrymen back to work.The choice is ours, and ours alone. We were once a mighty manufacturing giant, but where are we now...those facotries sit vacant or are being demolished. Do we allow this to contiue to happen, or do we get offour asses and do soemthing about it, and rebuild this mighty country.
The truth is the Presidency while having some effect is not the total cause of the situation. Yes there were roots inthe Carter Administration that set the whole thing in motion when the edict came down that every American should be able to own a house, and as time worked its way around, and lending restrictions relaxed making way for the undocumented loans and sub prime loans as well as interest only payments the housing crash and economic demolition did begin. However if you dig deeper, you find the root cause of the problem. It is the people's greed. No longer happy with a small house with a master bedroom and the kids sharing a room, then a family room, kitchen and maybe a dining room, we started demanding a master suite with 1 bedroom for each kid, a play room living room, and ore and more space, much of which actually went underused. small 1000 square foot houses made way for 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 and even 5,000 square foot houses while average family size actually decreased. Add on top of that we want televisions in every room, and the kitchen has to have stainless steel appliances, imported marble countertops, and custom made tile floors, with pantries large enough to sleep in. Bathrooms have to have whirlpool tubs seperate shower stalls, and more. We could go on and on Closets have to be filled with shoes and clothes, but if you look at the labels, you find what used to be made in the U.S. is now made in China, Malayasia, Mexico, Guatamala, and other remote places. Our neighbors get more, so we want more becasue heaven forbid we can't fall behind. We demand raises and higher and higher minimum wages, thus driving the price of the products we make higher and higher, while we demand more and ore goods, so the manufacturers find countries with lower and lower wages and less restrictions to keep the cost down. What was once an extravagance susch as microwave ovens and mega sound systmes, become a neccesity we have to have them or we just can't survive, thus looking for cheaper and cheaper goods. We become a disposable society shoes we wera once or twice then go the back of the closet and eventually thrown out, so China's economy grows and our manufacturing base continues to shrink. If every American bought pair of American made shoes we could reopen most of the shoe factories in Maine and remploy thousands of people, but we won't because they cost to much and who can live with only one or two pair of shoes...(I have a pair of sneakers, a pair of work boots, work shoes 1 pair of dress shoes, and a pair of beach shoes,and my winter boots, that is it, Oh I almost forgot my one pair of well worn hiking boots that have hiked many New Hampshire Mountains, American made, and 36 years old but still look and feel in pretty good shape.) If we bought American made clothes, from natural fibers such as cotton or linen we would put farmers back to work, we would put textile mills back in operation. If we repaired clothes instead of throwing them out we would employ more seamstresses, and tailors. If we would buy 1 or 2 American made Televisions rather than having to have one in every room we would open more factories. Just think about it. If we bought more domestic goods rather than foriegn goods our economy would rebound very quickly. I we gave people hands up instead of hand outs we would have a very robust work force.
I hear the cry Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, where are the jobs the government promised us....face it folks the governement does not have the power to create jobs that are meaningful and self sustaining, they can expand governmment departments but those are tax dependent jobs. Only we can be the force to create more meaningful jobs b demanding American made products, thus putting more of our fellow countrymen back to work.The choice is ours, and ours alone. We were once a mighty manufacturing giant, but where are we now...those facotries sit vacant or are being demolished. Do we allow this to contiue to happen, or do we get offour asses and do soemthing about it, and rebuild this mighty country.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Change The Channel
Has life got you down?
Do you drag yourself out of bed?
Does it seem the world is against you?
My friend it is time
To change the channel of your life.
Change the channel of your life!
Face the life from the positive,
And see how your outlook does change.
Turn off the negativity,
And instead of dwellin in the wrongs,
Count the blessings,
God has bestowed upon you,
For even when it appears,
Bleak and darkest in our lives,
God is raining blessings,
Down upon you.
So I say unto you,
Dwell not on the pitfalls,
But call upon possibilities.
So wake up my friends,
Change the channel on your life.
All is not doom and gloom,
God is with us all our days,
Wanting the best inour lives.
Change the channel in your soul,
Face the day in a whole new light,
Let us look at what we have,
Instead of dwelling on that which we don't.
Change the channel of our lives,
Form darkness and despair,
To that of light and hope.
Paul H. Bartoswicz
Do you drag yourself out of bed?
Does it seem the world is against you?
My friend it is time
To change the channel of your life.
Change the channel of your life!
Face the life from the positive,
And see how your outlook does change.
Turn off the negativity,
And instead of dwellin in the wrongs,
Count the blessings,
God has bestowed upon you,
For even when it appears,
Bleak and darkest in our lives,
God is raining blessings,
Down upon you.
So I say unto you,
Dwell not on the pitfalls,
But call upon possibilities.
So wake up my friends,
Change the channel on your life.
All is not doom and gloom,
God is with us all our days,
Wanting the best inour lives.
Change the channel in your soul,
Face the day in a whole new light,
Let us look at what we have,
Instead of dwelling on that which we don't.
Change the channel of our lives,
Form darkness and despair,
To that of light and hope.
Paul H. Bartoswicz
The Honor Guard
On July 4th I had the honor of marching with the color guard in the Ossipee July 4th Parade. I use the term marcning loosely, because what this middle aged man with a damaged knee did could hardly be called marching even in the loosest sense of the word. It was more like a limping stroll down Moultonville Rd. It was the first time I had participated in the Parade in this capacity, and it was heartwarming to hear the applause from the viewers lining the side of the road. The warmth and sincerity was music to my ears. The girl who came up to me at the end of the parade and handed me a pin of the American Flag, and the smile on her face as I asked her to pin it on my shirt, and the hug she blessed me with afterward set a warm rush through my heart. What did bother me during the parade, and frankly it bothers me all the time when the flag is presented, is the lack of respect our national flag seems to get and how it seems to deteriorate every year. I was bought up to respect the flag, stand when it goes by, take my hat off and hold it over my heart. I was taught to sing the National Anthem with gusto and pride even though I couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. When I joined the Navy I was taught to salute the flag even before requesting permission to board the ship. I was taught to treat it with honor and dignity, fold it with care, carry it with reverence, and above all to protect it with my life. I took those edicts very seriously,and still do. When many look at the flag they see a piece of cloth flapping in the breeze, when I look at the flag, I see the signers of the Declaration who were signing their own death warrant if things turned out differently. I see the men who shed their blood in places like Lexington and Concord, fighting a vastly superior army with much more training I see families who through the sweat of their brow and daily toils who carved out a little place for themselves in the American wilderness. I see the blood and carnage of Antietam, Bull Run, and Gettysburg. I see the bandages and the carnage in places like Flanders Field and the trenches of Europe in a world torn apart by war. I see the anguish caused by places like Normandy, Pearl Harbor, and the Phillipines. I see the pride in a group of Marines raising the flag on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima. I see places like Pusan, Inchon, Quesang, Da Nang. I see mighty war ships with 16 inch guns, I see PT boats with their hit and run tactics. I see swift boats plying the brown waters of the rivers in Vietnam. When I see the flag I see mothers who are burying their sons, I see the tears in a fathers eyes as he sends his son off to war. I see 240 caskets lined up side by side and end to end for the peacekeepers in Beirut.
When I see a flag I see a country that rolled up its sleeves and worked together to get done what had to be done. I see a country who got together and pulled itself through the great depression. I see a flag that represents a country that looked to the stars and said what is out there, then worked hard to find out. I see a country that is able to overcome any adversity that is put in its way if we only work together instead of fighting each other. I see a country who proudly sends help when they see a neighbor inneed but does not ask for help in return.
My friends, that is what I see when I look at those colors go by or fly from a flagpole in front of some building. I don't just see a piece of colored cloth flapping in the breeze, I see 235 years of history. And when I render honors to those wonderful colors, I render honor to every man and woman who through the sweat of their brow worked to make this country as great as it is. Please think of this next time some middle aged guy limping along goes by in an honor guard with the American Flag proudly held out leading the way.
When I see a flag I see a country that rolled up its sleeves and worked together to get done what had to be done. I see a country who got together and pulled itself through the great depression. I see a flag that represents a country that looked to the stars and said what is out there, then worked hard to find out. I see a country that is able to overcome any adversity that is put in its way if we only work together instead of fighting each other. I see a country who proudly sends help when they see a neighbor inneed but does not ask for help in return.
My friends, that is what I see when I look at those colors go by or fly from a flagpole in front of some building. I don't just see a piece of colored cloth flapping in the breeze, I see 235 years of history. And when I render honors to those wonderful colors, I render honor to every man and woman who through the sweat of their brow worked to make this country as great as it is. Please think of this next time some middle aged guy limping along goes by in an honor guard with the American Flag proudly held out leading the way.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Common Courtesy
Something has been bothering me a lot over the years and it has come to a head lately as I look around me in life, and that is common courtesy. Somethings I can see being a little more relaxed at, but others I still believe is common courtesy to others. What brought this to a head for me was two separate events over the weekend. On Saturday evening my Mother in Law took my family out to a bean supper. I was wearing my ball cap to the supper as I usually do when I am outside, and upon entering the fellowship room of the church I removed my hat and with lack of space around the table I clipped my hat to my belt loop and proceeded to sit down at the table. Down the table from me sat two men I would say in their 3's or early 40's both wearing their ball caps during the meal. Then the other stark contrast was my 19 year old daughter was asking people to please pass the beans or other meal items,and thanking them for it when she received it. The older couple across the table made the comment about her politeness,and it made me feel very good about the way I tried to raise my girls. The second event that irritated me this weekend was the next day at church they had the seating arranged in a circle around the communion table which I enjoyed, and a benefit to this is you could see more people around you during the service, instead of just the back of a bunch of heads. I looked over during the service and there was this one young man about the same age as my middle daughter and that s 19, and he was wearing his hat during church, not only wearing his hat but wearing it sideways in that ridiculous "gangstah" style that the young kids seem to want to emulate today. I can tolerate the relaxed style of dress prevelant at church today even though I was brought up that you wore your Sunday Best to church Sunday morning, and I even enjoy being able to go to church in a more relaxed style, but I also feel that this relaxed style should not override common courtesy.
A contrast in this was several weeks ago I went to a concert at the church in Union by two very talented musicians. After this concert I was talking to a young lady who happens to be the mother of a classmate of my youngest daughters. This lady kept calling me sir and Mr. Bartoswicz. When I made the comment that I wished sh would call me by my first name she responded back that she did not feel comfortable doing so for two reasons, first I was an officer in the military and she was enlisted and second I am substantially older than she and she was taught at a young age that you showed respect to those older than you by calling them Ma'am or sir and by the title Mr. or Mrs..
We have lost so much of this courtesy in our society today, our children call our friends by their first names, we walk by people struggling with packages without offering to help or even hold the door for them. Men do not treat ladies with respect or dignity, nor do women expect it anymore, sometimes even degrading a man for doing it. It is common courtesy to hold a door for any person. I tell my daughters that if they have a date pick them up at the house and the young man just sits in the driveway and honks the horn they are not going out for them, for if the young man can not get out of the car and come to the door to escort them out of the house, he is not worth the effort of your being seen with him., But I would expect them to do the same thing if they were picking the young man up at his house to go somewhere, because it is common courtesy.
I say it is time to make a difference and let's bring back some courtesy and manners back into society. Let us make this a more sociable place to live where we express gratitude when people do things for us, and we help others in our day to day lives rather than just being selfish and expecting the world to do for us all the time. We are connected to each other in more ways than we know, and the more we do for others, and the more we treat others with dignity, the more we are doing for ourselves, and treating ourselves with dignity.
A contrast in this was several weeks ago I went to a concert at the church in Union by two very talented musicians. After this concert I was talking to a young lady who happens to be the mother of a classmate of my youngest daughters. This lady kept calling me sir and Mr. Bartoswicz. When I made the comment that I wished sh would call me by my first name she responded back that she did not feel comfortable doing so for two reasons, first I was an officer in the military and she was enlisted and second I am substantially older than she and she was taught at a young age that you showed respect to those older than you by calling them Ma'am or sir and by the title Mr. or Mrs..
We have lost so much of this courtesy in our society today, our children call our friends by their first names, we walk by people struggling with packages without offering to help or even hold the door for them. Men do not treat ladies with respect or dignity, nor do women expect it anymore, sometimes even degrading a man for doing it. It is common courtesy to hold a door for any person. I tell my daughters that if they have a date pick them up at the house and the young man just sits in the driveway and honks the horn they are not going out for them, for if the young man can not get out of the car and come to the door to escort them out of the house, he is not worth the effort of your being seen with him., But I would expect them to do the same thing if they were picking the young man up at his house to go somewhere, because it is common courtesy.
I say it is time to make a difference and let's bring back some courtesy and manners back into society. Let us make this a more sociable place to live where we express gratitude when people do things for us, and we help others in our day to day lives rather than just being selfish and expecting the world to do for us all the time. We are connected to each other in more ways than we know, and the more we do for others, and the more we treat others with dignity, the more we are doing for ourselves, and treating ourselves with dignity.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
From Gale Farm Ministries Web Site blog
This is a repost of my blog page from my ministry website that I feel compelled to post here today
I have been trying very hard not to get political on this website, because I firmly believe that republican, democrat, independent, libretarian, all believers are still brothers and sisters in Christ, and I will not expound on my political stance beyond to say I vote in every election because I believe it is not only the right thing to do, but part of our duties as American Citizens.
However a quote I heard on the news this morning deeply saddened me. President Obama stood there and called those that disagree with him as the enemy. I found and thought what was great about this country was that we could disagree politically, go out an vote out conscience for the candidate we thought best represented us, and still be friends of those who we disagree with politically. A statement like the one that President Obama made goes a long way into driving a wedge between the political parties I thought one if his campaign promises was to find a way to work together with those who disagree with him and reach a common ground. A statement such as calling those that oppose you as the enemy does not reach across the aisle but builds a wall in that aisle that many would not want to take down. In this tme of economic crisis and national turmoil the president should be trying to find a way to build up relations and not tear them down. I even had a "friend" tell me a couple of months ago that he couldn't consider our realtionship a "friendship" anymore because of our political differences, I should inject here that we have many other things in common like our love for the state we live in, our love for the community, our interest in the trades and many other things but because we disagree fundamentally on the direction of the country as a whole we should no longer relate as friends. Is this really the direction we want this country to take to deepen that divide between red and blue as the news has dubbed it, or are we to be a country that works through our problems with a common discourse, and some give and take. what would happen if we heard..."Gee Harry I never looked at it that way, maybe there is some merit to that argument" or "You know Judd, now that you put it on paper and show me how this works I may not agree with everything you say, but this idea does have merit." Instead all we hear is how the Republicans want our seniors to eat pet food, and the democrats want to spend us into oblivion.
Let's get real folks, and think about the true question...and I am going to use a new slant to this becasue this is a Christian Website and look at this from a Christian perspective, let us ask ourselves in this case...."what would Jesus Do?" we have a tendency to look tot he government for answers, but we should really be looking inward, to the spirit that resides within us as Christians a part of the Holy Spirit. We have the power to change this mess the country is in, we have the power to make things right...we just need to focus on hwo to do it rather than pointing blame at everyone as to how we got into the mess. Let's get real folks God is our power God is our walking stick, we have to rely on Him to be our support in times of crisis, adn find common ground with those we disagree and find a way to fix the problem rather than be a part of it.
I'll come down off my soap box now and go out and cut wood to help keep my family warm during the winter, and think about the answeres to the questions I just raised. What will you do to help make the situation better.?
I have been trying very hard not to get political on this website, because I firmly believe that republican, democrat, independent, libretarian, all believers are still brothers and sisters in Christ, and I will not expound on my political stance beyond to say I vote in every election because I believe it is not only the right thing to do, but part of our duties as American Citizens.
However a quote I heard on the news this morning deeply saddened me. President Obama stood there and called those that disagree with him as the enemy. I found and thought what was great about this country was that we could disagree politically, go out an vote out conscience for the candidate we thought best represented us, and still be friends of those who we disagree with politically. A statement like the one that President Obama made goes a long way into driving a wedge between the political parties I thought one if his campaign promises was to find a way to work together with those who disagree with him and reach a common ground. A statement such as calling those that oppose you as the enemy does not reach across the aisle but builds a wall in that aisle that many would not want to take down. In this tme of economic crisis and national turmoil the president should be trying to find a way to build up relations and not tear them down. I even had a "friend" tell me a couple of months ago that he couldn't consider our realtionship a "friendship" anymore because of our political differences, I should inject here that we have many other things in common like our love for the state we live in, our love for the community, our interest in the trades and many other things but because we disagree fundamentally on the direction of the country as a whole we should no longer relate as friends. Is this really the direction we want this country to take to deepen that divide between red and blue as the news has dubbed it, or are we to be a country that works through our problems with a common discourse, and some give and take. what would happen if we heard..."Gee Harry I never looked at it that way, maybe there is some merit to that argument" or "You know Judd, now that you put it on paper and show me how this works I may not agree with everything you say, but this idea does have merit." Instead all we hear is how the Republicans want our seniors to eat pet food, and the democrats want to spend us into oblivion.
Let's get real folks, and think about the true question...and I am going to use a new slant to this becasue this is a Christian Website and look at this from a Christian perspective, let us ask ourselves in this case...."what would Jesus Do?" we have a tendency to look tot he government for answers, but we should really be looking inward, to the spirit that resides within us as Christians a part of the Holy Spirit. We have the power to change this mess the country is in, we have the power to make things right...we just need to focus on hwo to do it rather than pointing blame at everyone as to how we got into the mess. Let's get real folks God is our power God is our walking stick, we have to rely on Him to be our support in times of crisis, adn find common ground with those we disagree and find a way to fix the problem rather than be a part of it.
I'll come down off my soap box now and go out and cut wood to help keep my family warm during the winter, and think about the answeres to the questions I just raised. What will you do to help make the situation better.?
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