Celtic Knot

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Thanksgiving #26

Well ... here we are. The end of the thanksgiving posts. It wasn't as hard as I thought and the past couple of days I have been bummed, so I didn't feel like posting.

And maybe it sounds odd, but I've learned to embrace the hard times. Quite a few years ago, I shed the idealism of youth while still in my youth. I needed to. I learned through hard knocks that you need to be thankful for the hard times. They teach you about yourself, others and the ins and outs of life.

Much of my growth has been attributed to a then 21 year old girl and now to a 41 year old whack job man. But not just those two psychos. Also myself, my own worst psycho enemy. Although I don't like hard times, my spin and view of them has changed. And although I'm not the best Christian - Lord, most of you can attest to that - I do the best I can with lots of room for growth.

So when I read this verse from the brother of Jesus, things seem a little clearer.

James 1:2-4 (New International Version)
Trials and Temptations
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.




I'm thankful for the hard times in my life.







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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

It’s our own fault.

image This may be longer than 5 paragraphs.

Recently someone posted a very insightful comment on FB. Unfortunately, I’m not able to find the exact quote or the genius to attribute it to. But, I believe this comment speaks VOLUMES about our society. In a nutshell, the comment was something like this:

The greatest act we can do for women’s rights is to teach our sons to be better men.

And from watching how boys in their early teens to early 20’s behave I am in whole hearted agreement. I hear first hand from Knot Major about how poorly boys behave. Not “young men” because they are truly juvenile in their actions.

The other day I witnessed some true stupidity as I was leaving work. My office is a renovated girl’s dorm. As I was leaving the grand front facade, two students were talking. The young girl wanted the young boy on the bike to wait for her. He said he had to pick something up and he would be right back. Her response was, “Ok, well I hate you.” Her tone was joking, but her immaturity was at the surface.

That to say, women are much more mature than men these days especially in their 20’s. We expect so little from boys and chalk it up to, “Oh he’s just being a boy.” Frankly, I think that’s one of the biggest cop outs of our times. It’s really parents with little or no morals letting their sons do what they want.

This isn’t a race issue. White parents are horrible about teaching their kids not only manners but proper behavior with women. Black kids rarely have a solid father figure in their life, Hispanics teach their kids male dominance in a their culture and that women should not go to college, just stay home and make babies. Asians seem to be the only ones I can tell that get it close to correct.

Of course there are exceptions. There are always exceptions. Always. There are good kids. But they seem to be getting fewer and fewer. It would be easy to point my finger and say, “Oh well, this is to blame,” but being a Dallas Cowboys fan has taught me that there is always more than one reasons for stupidity.

Look, I believe the Bible. And it’s gotten a bad rap lately for this little verse:

Ephesians 5:21 "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord."

That verse has been taken so out of context and I can understand why women are angry about it. They are angry because men behave like spoiled little pigs most of the time. Especially the younger ones. Not all of them, but a good majority. What people fail to do is read that entire passage.

The verses just before state, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and [died]for it;" and later, “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.” (emphasis added)

That is a direct charge to treat your wife better. A later verse goes on to say:

25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing[a] her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30for we are members of his body. 31"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."[b] 32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (emphasis added)

image If that’s not chalked full of, “Dude, treat your woman better!” I don’t know what is.

The bulk of the work should be on men. Women get one sentence, men get a laundry list. We’re failing to teach young men to be a man.

We’ve put way too much emphasis on women doing all the work lately and way too little on men doing their part. HOLY CRAP, men, pick it up! Teach your boys to respect women. And I’m pretty sure we need to teach our little girls that they don’t need to accept anything less than proper and good behavior from the boys in their life. I would bet money women would knock down doors for a man who treats them with love and respect.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Not good ...

Things are sad around the compound. Very tense, lots of opportunity for sadness. Lots of antidepressants being consumed. Not much I can do about it all.

Thanksgiving #23

I'm thankful for having a stable mind.



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Thanksgiving #22

I had a busy day yesterday playing music in church, which is my thanksgiving. I started down the music road when I was 12 or 13 and my sister and mom wisely pointed me to be in the band. Through that. Without that I would have never made friends or gotten the opportunity to travel. Many doors were opened with music.


I'm thankful thankful I learned to play a musical instrument.




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Saturday, November 21, 2009

Healthcare Debate

I'm not getting into the healthcare debate ... well maybe for a minute.

I read a plastic surgery blog and, at one point in my life, wanted to be a surgeon. And I would have loved being a plastic surgeon. No insurance, regular customers ... no illness ... and on and on. Only greater gig is radiology or anesthesiology.

The latest debate is how to pay for socialized medicine (come on people, let's call it what it is). The new debate is taxing plastic surgery. The blog I read lays out the cons of this. Again, you know I'm not a Democrat, and a pretty poor Republican, but these arguments pretty much sum up how little homework politicians do. Below are the arguments, but I encourage you to take a look at the complete article. All of 2 minutes of your time.

1. This tax disproportionately targets women, who make up 90% of plastic surgery patients.

2. It is not a tax on the rich, since plastic surgery patients are represented in every socioeconomic group. Arguably, the people who are earn less money will suffer more, since many of them take out loans or save for years to pay for their surgery.

3. They were initially considering a 10% tax on plastic surgery, but dropped it to 5% after aggressive lobbying.

4. A similar initiative in New Jersey has been considered a complete failure by many.

5. Is plastic surgery considered a 'sin', like cigarettes and alcohol, and therefore subject to taxing? It is far from it.

Thanksgiving #21

I thought I would give you one today so I don't forget it tomorrow. I'm glad I'm a Gen X'er. Very happy to be part of that small group sandwiched between two larger groups of whiners! If you rocked the 90's in your 20's at some point and remember flannel and spandex and Reagan, here's to you. Not many generations like us, but we are the generation.


I'm thankful I'm a Gen X'er






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Friday, November 20, 2009

Thanksgiving #20

I woke this morning to the sound of the Count Basie Orchestra playing "Here's That Rainy Day" and the sound of rain on my roof. Smooth ...


I'm thankful for jazz music and rain.










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Thursday, November 19, 2009

It occurred to me ...

Yesterday I had a conversation with a co-worker about a car he is going to buy. He's also retiring soon. It struck me last night that the thought going through his mind might be, "This is the last car I will own before I die."

We all talk about retiring "one day" and finally sleeping in and all, but the reality is, I won't. I'll work until I drop just because I'm screwed up in the Benjamin category. But the thought of, "This is the last time I ________ before I leave this earth," is both comforting to me and troubling. I think about the people I know who have these thoughts. Their life is still partially ahead of them, but the majority of their time to contribute is behind them.

That's sad. I will be there in very short order. It will pass quickly. I hope to be in a nice light brown cardigan watching TV while my daughter brings her kids over and gives me kisses on the head as she asks how my day was.

As it stands, I don't know how it will shape up. I don't, none of us do. I do know I won't buy a Toyota for my last car.

Thanksgiving #19

I have gotten to date my fair share of women. More than my fair share. Mostly in my late teens. Each of them taught me something. Sometimes I even learned a few things about myself. Most are now moms. I’m grateful they didn’t kill me.

 

I’m thankful for ex-girlfriends

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* PS the requirement for being an ex is pretty much “we made out at least once”

 

 

 

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