Neither Hope nor Depression nor Outrage

A reflection...

Neither hope nor depression nor outrage is a strategy. What is required is a plan, a good design containing downstream alternatives so that it survives contact with the enemy. In a society where depression and outrage are only faintly counterbalanced by impotent hope, the only plans finding success are those whose chief aim is the destruction of that society.

If we reject that outcome then we must determine how to reason together and fight for the survival of our society instead of only fighting each other. An important first step is getting our emotions under control.

It looks just like THAT Tuesday.

Tuesday, September 11, 2018. 

Out the window, it looks just like THAT Tuesday, seventeen years ago, a beautiful late summer day in northeastern Illinois, 728 miles from Ground Zero. 

Some say the world changed forever that day. For thousands of families, it did. By broader measures, I think it is about the same. Yes, many of us became suddenly more aware of the power of hatred combined with wealth, focused on an unprepared target. But the evil we saw that day remains at work in the world. It is still out there and it is still in here, right here, fighting for our souls every day.

On September 11, 2001 we experienced a massive and extreme example of "us and them" thinking. I doubt that anyone reading this identifies with the depth of hatred and anger that led to the events of that day, but we are ALL subject to "us and them" thinking. Read what people post here. It won't take long to find who is their "us". It's natural and convenient to identify ourselves by our groups. But when we identify any other person by their group, we start to devalue them as people. We become more able to make them a target.

I am a member of many groups. You and I are in some of the same groups - gender, race, religion, nationality, first language, family history, education level, political philosophy, and so on. We have some of those groups in common. In some groups however, you are in and I am out. In others, I am in and you are out.

We can focus on our groups - the ways that we are in and others are out. But there is a better way. Not forgetting who we are or what makes us unique, let us see each other first as individuals, as neighbors, as members of the greatest "in group" to which we all belong - the group of all souls in which all are valuable beyond measure and lovable. If we orient our hearts this way, and make our first impulse to love each other, our neighbors, and even our enemies, then the world will have changed forever.

An earlier version of this post first appeared on Facebook on September 11, 2018.

D-Day. June 6, 1944 + 72 years

The knowledge of history changes.

 

 

My parents' generation understood it first hand. My uncle was wounded when his ship was sunk by German fire in the English Channel. My generation knows of it because our parents and grandparents knew of it and spoke of it. Our children's generation may have some of this second-hand awareness if their grandparents had spoken of it. Subsequent generations know of it mostly from history books, museums, documentaries, and Hollywood storytelling.

The knowledge of history changes. History does not change. It only tends to repeat itself for those whose knowledge of it is incomplete. 

D-Day. June 6, 1944 + 72 years 

Image courtesy of US Army. 

US Army D-Day Site

World's 7th Largest Economy Going Dry?

According to many estimates, the State of California, if it were a country, is close to becoming the world's 7th largest economy, passing Brazil this year, and the Russian Federation and Italy about a year ago.

Some key facts:

• California's GDP in 2013: $2.20 trillion, trend: expanding
• Brazil's GDP in 2013: $2.25 trillion, trend: steady or slight decline
• Investments in publicly traded California-based companies returned investors 119% in the three years ended 12/31/2014. The average company in the S&P 500 returned 96% in the same period.

But there's a big problem in the Golden State. California may be in serious danger of running out of water sometime in 2016 or not long thereafter. Much of the California economy depends on the famous names like Apple, Inc. and The Walt Disney Company, but much of it also depends on agriculture. Farming requires water. Did you know that it takes five gallons of water to produce one walnut?  It takes about one gallon to produce a single almond. You know, those "California Almonds."

The California dairy industry has been aggressively advertising California cheese in a battle of titans with my neighbors to the north, the folks across the Cheddar Curtain. (That's Wisconsin, if you didn't know.) Dairy cattle and other livestock require water, if you didn't know. And... for the record, the average Californian requires water every day, if you didn't know. A California gone dry would be a huge problem. Now you know.

Who says California is running out of water? Crackpot doomsdayers, conspiracy theorists, or other alarmist nut jobs? Hardly. A NASA study released in December, 2014 says California was 11 trillion gallons short as a result of the prolonged drought.

NASA satellite data reveal the severity of California’s drought on water resources across the state. This map shows the trend in water storage between September 2011 and September 2014. Image Credit: NASA JPL

In an Op-Ed piece for the LA Times on March 13, 2015, Jay Famiglietti, Hydrologist, UC Irvine Professor and JPL Senior Water Scientist, wrote:

"Right now the state has only about one year of water supply left in its reservoirs, and our strategic backup supply, groundwater, is rapidly disappearing. California has no contingency plan for a persistent drought like this one (let alone a 20-plus-year mega-drought), except, apparently, staying in emergency mode and praying for rain."

This drought is a natural event, perhaps exacerbated by global warming, perhaps a result of human activity. Can human activity fix it? Unlikely. There are no potential human activities known that could dramatically improve this situation in less than a few decades time, if at all. Maybe praying for rain isn't such a bad idea.

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
    and do not return there but water the earth,
    making it bring forth and sprout,
    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
    so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
    it shall not return to me empty,
   but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it."

- Isaiah 55:9-11 

References
Brown’s California Overtakes Brazil With Companies Leading World. Bloomberg News, January 15, 2015
California Ranks As World’s 8th Largest Economy, Overtaking Russia And Italy KPBS, July 8, 2014
Needed: 11 Trillion Gallons to Replenish California Drought NASA, December 16, 2014
Op-Ed California has about one year of water stored. Will you ration now? LA Times,

Memory, Habits, and Adaptability - A Personal Experiment

Lately, I've been experimenting on myself and testing my adaptability in routine activities. It all started when American Airlines​ changed my AAdvantage number after 30+ years because of a data privacy concern. It took longer than I would have hoped to memorize it. So, I started making other innocuous changes. For example, several days ago, I switched my socks drawer with my underwear drawer. They had been in the same order for about 30 years. I'm fine if I think about it, but if I walk up to my dresser in the morning, half asleep, I'm still likely to open the wrong one. My theory is this. If I keep this up, I should be able to more quickly internalize each change. I'll let you know.

The Burden Of Hate

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear."

What is hate? 

What is love? 

Paul the Apostle wrote to the Corinthians,

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 

1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13 (ESV) 

What then, is hate? Perhaps this,

Hate is impatient and unkind; hate is envious and boastful; it is arrogant and rude. It insists on its own way; it is irritable and resentful; hate rejoices at wrongdoing, and flees from the truth. Hate stands only for itself, believes in nothing, hopes for nothing, endures nothing. It is unfaithful. It is hopeless.

Impatient, envious, arrogant, insisting on its own way? Irritable and resentful? Unfaithful? Hopeless? Clearly, a burden too great to bear.

1 Corinthians 13

Five Holiday Shopping Alternatives: Giving With Purpose

Looking for something different? 

Want to give with purpose? 

Sick and tired of the malls, the crowds, the frenzy? 

Try one or more of these alternatives.

Compassion International
Gifts that change lives

All gifts in the catalog are great for year-round giving as well as for Christmas. Consider donating a gift in honor of a friend or family member for a birthday, anniversary, graduation, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Grandparents Day — and we offer special Honor Cards to commemorate gifts for many occasions throughout the year. To learn more, go to: compassion.com/catalog.htm

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Heifer International
The Most Important Gift Catalog In The World

Choose a meaningful gift to give a loved one and help children and families around the world receive training and animal gifts that help them become self-reliant. Honor your loved ones with a free card from Heifer with every donation. To learn more, go to: heifer.org/gift-catalog/index.html 

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Oxfam America Unwrapped
Gifts that give back

Oxfam America is a global organization working to right the wrongs of poverty, hunger, and injustice. As one of 17 members of the international Oxfam confederation, we work with people in more than 90 countries to create lasting solutions. Oxfam saves lives, develops long-term solutions to poverty, and campaigns for social change. To learn more, go to oxfamamerica.org.

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Ten Thousand Villages

Fair Trade Retailer Since 1946

More than 60 years ago Edna Ruth Byler, a pioneering businesswoman, began selling handcrafted products from Puerto Rico out of the trunk of her car to help eradicate poverty. Today a global network of social entrepreneurs works to empower artisans in developing countries. To learn more, go to tenthousandvillages.com/

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UNICEF
Every Gift You Purchase Helps Save Children's Lives

UNICEF Market offers beautifully crafted items, including gifts and cards, with part of the proceeds going to talented artisans and to help UNICEF save and protect children. To learn more, go to: market.unicefusa.org/

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A couple of notes...

For friends outside the USA, the links provided here are for shopping and delivery with the United States. However, all of these are international organizations. Many have links to sites designed for your country. If you have suggestions about how I can make that easier, please leave a comment.

Did I miss a good one? Post a comment with your suggestion. If it is in keeping with the theme, I'll update the list!

5 Minute Reflection #14.10: Jargon, Brand Names And The Obfuscation of The Important

The letters and words of our language can be arranged in countless combinations. In spite of that theoretical possibility, sometimes words are re-used in surprising ways and abbreviations and acronyms mean different things in different contexts. Sometimes, in our Orwellian technologically immersive culture, we approach the limits of language to say what we mean without extra effort to establish context, especially where technical jargon, brand names and other usage patterns reinvent words and reshape their meanings.

Case in point: Microsoft Office - Project. While having lunch, I noticed something about MS-Project on the TV in the restaurant. Really? Microsoft is running a commercial for their project management software? That seems awfully expensive for a niche title. They rarely run commercials for the common MS-Office titles like MS-Word or MS-Excel. 

I looked more closely. The graphic on the TV referred to The MS Project, not MS-Project. The MS Project is a collection of things created to raise awareness about something really important - Multiple Sclerosis. Consisting of a book, a website, apparel, and an iPhone app these elements are bringing renewed attention to this serious disease, educating people, and creating community among its sufferers, their families and others. 

How inconsequential does MS-Project seem by comparison to The MS-Project? For more information visit, The MS Project on the web. (http://themsproject.com) In the meantime, I'll try to be more careful and not let important things elude my attention just because they sound like something else.

5 Minute Reflection #14.09: Blessed Are The Cool Kids

The cool kids at NBC Chicago Channel 5 TV

Who are the "cool kids"?

The Cool Kids is an alternative hip hop duo, composed of rappers Antoine "Sir Michael Rocks" Reed and Evan "Chuck Inglish" Ingersoll. 

In high school, the cool kids are the leading athletes, the leading scholars (sometimes) , the prom king and queen and their entourages. They have the teacher's ear. At work, the cool kids have the boss's ear. At church, the cool kids have the pastor's ear. 

The cool kids are the movie stars, the professional athletes, the TV personalities and the hot shot entrepreneurs.

The cool kids are also the teenager who delivers your pizza, the mother of three working the midnight shift at the oatmeal factory, the fellow who dries your windows at the car wash, the soldier, the sailor, the police officer and the flight attendant.The cool kids are everywhere. They serve their country, their families, and you. The cool kids are also the woman at the well, the widow with only pennies to her name, the men on the bridges over the Chicago River, dependent on the generosity of strangers. 

The cool kids are those who serve, those who have served but can no longer serve and those who never could but wanted to.

If we could ask Jesus, "Who are the cool kids"" he might say,

The cool kids are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

The cool kids are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 

The cool kids are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 

The cool kids are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 

The cool kids are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 

The cool kids are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 

The cool kids are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons and daughters of God. 

The cool kids are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

The cool kids are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 

5 Minute Reflection #14.08: Change a life in 5 minutes or less

Has a friend or family member ever passed away or left your life permanently in some other way before you had the opportunity or the courage to say something important - something that you now wish you would have said? It happens to all of us. 

I'm not talking about things you think you should have said to make yourself feel better, to vent some anger, or for other negative or self-serving purpose. I'm talking about the short, affirming conversations that can positively change another person's perspective, maybe even alter the trajectory of their life. 

I will be forever grateful for a friend who in about fifteen words and less than ten seconds changed the way I think about my voice, my right to speak up and my self-confidence.

Is there anything like that remaining unsaid between you and a friend, a family member, or anybody else who values your opinion? Think about it. There's probably somebody you should call tomorrow. Maybe there's more than one. Maybe you have a whole list. Spend five minutes right now thinking about it. Then make an appointment with yourself to initiate that conversation. Your investment of five minutes might change a life. Do not delay.

5 Minute Reflection #14.07: Faith, unmasked

Every day for the last few months I have posted an affirmation of faith via Facebook and Twitter. For the first several weeks it read like, "This day is a gift from God. Let me live like I believe it." In more recent weeks the affirmation contains a tiny but significant difference, "This day is a gift from God. Let me love like I believe it." This shift is simply an acknowledgement of the first and greatest commandments, "Love God. Love Others."

You might ask, how sincere can these affirmations be? Is it really possible to live and love consistently and with such a spirit of gratitude day in and day out? Could these sayings be a sort of mask? Could I be hiding my doubts and uncertainties?

Here's how this works. Of course I have doubts and uncertainties from time to time. No thinking person of faith has no doubts. No honest, thinking person of faith should claim to have no doubts. That would be a mask. Billy Graham has said, "“Doubts are a normal part of life. We doubt things on earth, so its easy to doubt things of God.” In fact, doubts are necessary to the definition of faith. Logically, if we can prove something beyond all doubt, faith is unnecessary. So faith is a choice, a decision that what is believed and hoped for is more compelling and of greater value than the alternative presented by doubt.

Lee Strobel says, “For many Christians, merely having doubts of any kind can be scary. They wonder whether their questions disqualify them being a follower of Christ. They feel insecure because they’re not sure whether it’s permissible to express uncertainty about God, Jesus, or the Bible." What happens when we give in to that fear and put on the "no doubts" mask? Strobel says, "they keep their questions to themselves and inside, unanswered." Their unanswered questions "grow and fester . . . until they eventually succeed in choking out their faith.”

There it is. No masks. No pretending that I never, ever have any doubts. Even so, I choose faith and I choose to affirm it every day.

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1 NIV)

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A useful although relatively inactive site about dealing with doubt is here: Dealing With Doubt

"This day is a gift from God. Let me live like I believe it."  is borrowed from Mark Elfstrand, former host of The Morning Ride on WMBI-FM. Mark used to sign off every morning saying ""This day is a gift from God. Let's live like we believe it." You can find Mark's blog here: The Way WE Work

5 Minute Reflection #14.06: Do you think God sits in a box seat?

All men's miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone. - Blaise Pascal “And when you come before God, don’t turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat? Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace." (Matthew 6:5-6 The Message)  What if you spent some time alone with God today?

5 Minute Reflection #14.05: Every great dream begins with a dreamer.

Harriet Tubman passed away 101 years ago today. We know that she was born between 1819 and 1825, but we don't know exactly when. Tubman herself didn't know. Having been born into slavery, she was a nobody. Of her own origins she said, "I grew up like a neglected weed - ignorant of liberty, having no experience of it."

Tubman escaped slavery and made at least nineteen missions to rescue more than 300 slaves through the network of abolitionists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. She helped John Brown recruit men for the raid on Harpers Ferry.

During the American Civil War, Tubman was a cook and nurse for the Union Army, and later an armed scout and spy. She was the first woman to lead an armed expedition in the war, guiding the Combahee River Raid, which liberated more than 700 slaves in South Carolina. 

In the post-war era Tubman worked with Susan B. Anthony in the struggle for women's suffrage. A lifelong Christian, Tubman was heavily involved with the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Although she spent most of her life in poverty, going mostly unpaid for her service to others and with no meaningful compensation for her service to the Union Army, she eventually owned a parcel of land which she gave to the church in 1903 for a home for "aged and indigent colored people."

By the time of her death in 1913, she had become recognized as one of the greatest civilian leaders in American history with stature equal to names like Paul Revere and Betsy Ross. She was buried with full military honors in Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn, New York.

"Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world."

"I'm going to hold steady on you and you've got to see me through." - Harriet Tubman's Prayer

5 Minute Reflection #14.04: Messages To A Time We Will Not See

This post is a little different than most of mine. It's not like an essay with a beginning, middle and end. Instead it is a collection of thoughts and images about children. In some cases the ideas are familiar. In some cases, the contrast between one image and another is jarring. Most who read this are in a position to make a difference in the life of at least one child. Draw your own conclusions about what that means.

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"Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see." John W. Whitehead

"Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They came through you but not from you and though they are with you yet they belong not to you." - Khalil Gibran

Children are the future of civilization, or humanity, or whatever you want to call it. Without a future, civilization is without purpose. 

"It is more than existence and reproduction - it is about living - there is a joy to existence and children enrich the experience - we are all social beings and gather and interact well beyond the exigencies of existence - there is a nurturing side to us that relishes sharing our inner selves." - D. R. Guzmán

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Mumbai (The Guardian)

"God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them." - Bono

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"A person's a person, no matter how small." - Dr. Seuss

"How is it that something so simple as a baby's smile can just make my heart want to burst?" - Tamara Ahmed

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More than a million Syrian children are refugees.
Photograph: Nabil Mounzer/EPA via The Guardian

"The Syrian children refugee crisis is an embarrassment to humanity."- Harry Tucker

"One father in Zaatari (Lebanon) refugee camp was so worried about the safety of his daughters he made them stay in their tent for the entire month they lived in the camp. Noor, 13, and her sister passed the time playing with rocks." - The Guardian

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Photo courtesy Tamara Ahmed

What do we see when we look at a sleeping baby? A totally dependent, totally trusting human being, a reflection of the position of every one of us enjoys before God when we acknowledge Him.

"People brought babies to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. When the disciples saw it, they shooed them off. Jesus called them back. “Let these children alone. Don’t get between them and me. These children are the kingdom’s pride and joy. Mark this: Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.” (Luke 18:15-17 The Message)

The difference that you make in the life of a child today is the message that you send to the future.

5 Minute Reflection #14.03: Why You Are Here

During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said,  

Salt and Light

Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage. 

A City On A Hill

Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16, The Message) 

• Be salt and light. Let your light shine.
• Share the good news. Don't hide it like a secret.
• Be open and generous with your lives.

That's why you are here.

5 Minute Reflection #14.02: If You See Something, Say Something

"If you see something, say something." We hear that continuously in airports, train stations and other public places. It's about fighting terrorism. It's about trusting no person, no parcel, no behavior that appears out of place. It's also about resisting the temptation to look the other way, the temptation to avoid involvement. 

Today is the 30th anniversary of the death of Martin Niemöller, a German Lutheran pastor known for his outspoken pacifism. Ironically, Niemöller was a successful and decorated U-Boat commander in World War I. After the war, following in his father's footsteps, he took a sharp turn and was ordained a Lutheran Minister in 1924. Niemöller wrote about this journey in a book called, Vom U-Boot zur Kanzel (From U-boat to Pulpit). 

First a supporter of Hitler and the Third Reich, he took another sharp turn and became an outspoken opponent. Niemöller was arrested several times and spent eight years in concentration camps until the liberation of Dachau in 1945. He was a contemporary and colleague of theologians Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer in the Confessional Church and the Pastors' Emergency League, respectively. For his anti-Nazi activities, Bonhoeffer was executed by hanging in the Flossenbürg concentration camp at dawn on April 9, 1945, just two weeks before the camp's liberation. 

Niemöller has been criticized for early alignment with Hitler and for various apparently anti-Semitic statements. However, former cellmate Leo Stein having escaped to America, wrote a 1941 article about Niemöller for The National Jewish Monthly. Stein's article suggests that Niemöller's repudiation of the Nazi Regime and all of its policies was ultimately complete and unequivocal. Nevertheless, Niemöller himself never denied his own guilt during the early years of the Nazi regime. In 1959, asked about his former attitudes by Alfred Wiener, a Jewish researcher into racism and war crimes, Niemöller stated that his eight-year imprisonment by the Nazis became the sharp turning point in his life, after which he viewed things differently.

Today, Niemöller is remembered for the following saying:

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out — 
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out — 
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out — 
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out — 
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me — 
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

May I suggest two points of reflection?

1. Never be afraid to take a sharp turn in your point of view. It would be a shame to require seven years in a concentration camp to rise above the fog.
2. If you see something, say something.

5 Minute Reflection #14.01: A Perfect Day For A Funeral

Every once in a while the distinctions blur between symbols and the things they represent. Metaphors materialize and ordinary events take on transcendent meaning. I attended a funeral this morning. It was a perfect day for it - heavy snow showers, a blustery wind and bitter cold. Colorless buildings, roads, cars, and pedestrians were dimly seen through the falling snow under a canvas painted in shades of white and gray stretched from horizon to horizon. It was the kind of day that makes mourning easy. It was also Ash Wednesday, for Christians an observance and reminder of human mortality - ashes to ashes and dust to dust.

By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken;for dust you are and to dust you will return. (Genesis 3:19 NIV)

Yet, we believe that this is not the end of the story. Although we live in the shadow of the winter and death, we look ahead with hope to the of end of winter, to the Resurrection and ultimately to a "new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade." (1 Peter 1:3-4)

Resolve To Start At The Beginning

Most people don't do particularly well keeping their New Year resolutions. Why? Is it because the resolutions are too ambitious? Is it because we don't really intend to keep them? To both questions, I say no. I suggest that starting with resolutions is like starting a trip in the middle. It simply doesn't work.
Here's an alternative. Start with a change in direction. Make a broad statement about how you want to change yourself or your life. Understand why it is important. Sell yourself on the idea. Maybe you want to improve your fitness and sense of well-being. Great! Start there. The key is being clear about your central purpose.
Once you are committed to a direction, make a small number of specific resolutions (five or less) that move you toward the goal. Be specific. What measurable outcome do you expect for each resolution? How will you define success? Now you have the beginning of a roadmap.
Finally, plan. You have a broad goal, and the specific outcomes that represent its attainment. Now you must answer the question, how? Take some time and plan. What concrete actions are needed to carry out each resolution? What must you stop, start, or continue? What resources beyond your own resolve do you need? How will you measure progress? How will you make adjustments along the way? As the saying goes, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
There it is. No more empty resolutions for you. Set goals that have motivating power. That is where must start. Once you understand your motives and can envision your goal, make logical, achievable resolutions that define your journey. Plan the specific steps. Follow your plan.
In short, here's the formula that I suggest for your consideration:
1. (Why?) Define your central purpose or goal.
2. (What?) Elaborate on it on the form of resolutions.
3. (How? When?) Make a realistic plan and follow it.
Now go. You can do it. Create a turning point and be blessed in 2014. Happy New Year!

Time Travel And The Day After Christmas

We already know that retail marketers are shape-shifters, perhaps not quite like Odo, the Star Trek character played by René Auberjonois, but they are ever-shifting, ever-adapting, and ever in our faces with some reason to buy, buy, buy, on their schedule, not ours.

Tonight's evening news featured a story about a major State Street (Chicago) department store's unveiling of its Christmas window displays, the Governor of Illinois lighting its 45-foot Christmas tree, with thousands of lights and ornaments, and yes, somebody singing an over-the-top hopped up version of Jingle Bells - the kind of music that makes we wish that we Christians could just have another day altogether and leave this "holiday" for the marketers. Following that story was an ad for a home furnishings store's "Pre-Veterans' Day" sale. Let me get this straight. It's not yet Veterans' Day, but we're having a Veterans' Day furniture sale. This is of course, weeks before Thanksgiving, which is in turn weeks before Christmas, which we are already celebrating.

If we have to be bombarded by all of this commercial clap-trap for the next several weeks, can we please at least do it in sequence? One passerby, interviewed by the news crew covering the Christmas window unveiling said, "It's never too soon to start the holiday season."  Really? Would December 26th be too soon? Yes. November 2nd is also too soon, unless you are an adept manipulator of rifts in the space-time continuum. In that case, the calendar is irrelevant, holidays can come in any order, or all at once. Maybe that's the solution. Let's just line up all of the holidays, one after another, shop 'til we drop and be done with it by mid-January and start again around the 1st of March.

Gratitude for The American Revolution and Other Unintended Consequences

A humorous and memorable series of television commercials for the Dish Network asserts that unless you terminate your subscription to cable TV and switch to a satellite dish you may lose all of your life savings in Las Vegas, your house may explode, or you may simply end up in a ditch. Each commercial is a memorable short story linking, by cause and effect, a series of improbable events that begin with the decision to have cable TV instead of the dish and end in calamity for the cable subscriber. At the end of each tongue-in-cheek story, the very serious narrator exhorts the viewer to avoid losing your life savings, having your house explode, or ending up in a ditch simply by switching from cable to a satellite dish. Although the conclusion proposed by these commercials is based on an absurd generalization, the improbable sequences of events are not unlike real life. These stories are funny in part because they contain an element of truth. Most of what we have and who we are is the result of our own uniquely improbable sequence of events.
I worked for many years for Hart Schaffner and Marx, later Hartmarx Corporation, now-defunct, later HMX LLC, now-defunct. Although Hart Schaffner Marx, an iconic American brand of fine men's suits lives on through a new company, the enterprise is a faint shadow of what it was a generation ago. This is a direct result of the arrival of "business casual" – a change in cultural norms in the American workplace. In the 1940s men wore suits, ties and formal hats to see a baseball game at Wrigley Field. Today, some men don't even wear shirts. Today, we still refer to many occupations as white-collar jobs because a generation or two ago, the men holding those jobs were expected to wear a suit, tie and white shirt to work every day. Because of this evolution, many good people lost their jobs at companies like Hart Schaffner Marx and other makers and sellers of business apparel. What happened? What caused all this? In January of 1961, John F. Kennedy was the first person to be sworn in as President of the United States while not wearing a hat. Soon, consultants at Arthur Andersen were no longer required to wear hats to work. Eventually, employees at IBM were no longer required to wear white shirts every day. People started reporting to work on Friday without a tie. The term 'business casual" was coined. People stopped wearing suits to work. Many employees at Hart Schaffner Marx lost their jobs. Don't lose your job making suits. Insist that the President-elect wears a hat.
In 1674, Englishman George Ravenscroft invented lead glass, also known as lead crystal. Great Britain's King George III enjoyed port wine. His wine was stored in lead crystal decanters. The longer the wind stayed in the decanter the more lead leeched into the wine. King George developed lead poisoning. He lost his mind. He began treating his American colonial subjects badly. They rebelled. King George lost a large chunk of his empire. Don't make your King lose a large chunk of his empire. Don't let him store his wine in lead glass.
We celebrate the birthday of the United States of America today, on July 4th. We are grateful to our nation's founders and to all who have given so much to create our nation and to preserve it. Should we also in some small way be grateful to George Ravenscroft who inadvertently poisoned his King? Or should we simply be grateful, for all that we have, for all that we love and for the whole tapestry of our lives, woven together from innumerable threads of unforeseen causes and effects?
Be grateful that you have nor ended up in a ditch.