Technology has advanced; not so much us as a people

While watching a video on a popular site awhile ago, I seen a concert where young men were gathered around arguing, and a fight about to brew. Standing aside were several people witnessing this spectacle, not trying to deescalate the situation, but standing there recording it on their cellphones. Now, I can understand not wanting to get involved to some degree. In today's world, someone could have had a knife or a gun, and it just wasn't worth getting involved from that standpoint. However, there was a time someone might have tried to stop the fight or to ask them to separate. Instead, we had people just standing around recording the incident so they could play it on the Facebook pages.

Now we have selfies and  photo bombs, where we have to interject ourselves into everything. Every personal moment, reunion, surprise, and engagement now has to be documented for the world to see, share, and comment. There seem to be very little we can call private moments, and humility is no longer a virtue.

What is a Leader?

What is a Leader? Is it someone on top of an organizational table, or ornamentation on a collar? I had spent years in a campus security department, and then a younger guy with a lot of experience came in. His police background overshadowed mine, and felt I was being marginalized. Eventually I realized that in my own way, I could make a difference, and was really a blessing. I didn't get the headaches of administrative problems and related issues.


I felt when people seemed happy to see me, it was because they felt safe in my presence. When someone called me for help, they knew I would be there to assist them and make the situation right. Maybe I wasn't a leader among  my peers, but I felt I was among the people who looked to me for protection, and didn't need to prove anything. Maybe that is what really matters the most.

To be a hero

To be a hero. Not a superhero, with unlimited powers, fearless, and superhuman strength.

Someone a person can look up to.

To always live a life where you don't behave in a way to let people down.

To never call attention to yourself.

To be humble.

That respect of younger people and being a role model means more than gold.

To go beyond what others require, or expect, from you.

Looking out for the other person despite whatever demons you are going through.

Maybe these qualities aren't glamorous, and perhaps no one would go to a comic-con to seek an autograph from such a person. But these heroes are  what we need more of, instead of the video game variety.

A New FCC Test

The FCC, as part of its regulatory mission, has created a written test for those who use wireless devices. Much like a written test to become a ham radio operator, one must pass  a written test with at least 75 % answers written correctly. Below are some sample questions that applicants must answer  before the FCC will grant a person to obtain a wireless device.

1. If you are in a group of people you came with,

A. Do you talk to them and enjoy their company, or

B. Text other people without acknowledging them.

2. When you receive a call in a restaurant, do you

A. Answer it and talk loudly for an extended period, or

B. Do you answer it and tell them you are in a restaurant and will call them back when you are done.

3. When you are walking about on a nice day, do you:

A. Enjoy the walk and surroundings, or do you

B. Walk ahead while continuously looking at your texts and texting, and never looking ahead, and thereby creating a hazard to yourself and others?

4. When create a ringtone, do you

A. make it least offensive with a soft tone to those around you, or do you
B. Create one that is offensive, annoying and screams "ME!"

5. When you listen to your playlist, do you:

A. Use ear buds to keep the sound to yourself, or do you
B. Play the music out loud, because you feel the need to share you musical taste with everyone in a     two square block area.

The test will be administered at a designated location chosen by the FCC, and those who fail will not be allowed to purchase a device until being able to pass the test. The law requiring the testing will be in effect April 1st.

 

Courage takes different forms

When courage is talked about, it is usually the blustery type that wants to fight everyone in bar rooms. The quiet, everyday courage many people fight in the face of grinding adversity is rarely celebrated. That kind of courage often is overlooked in favor of "masculine" and "glamorous" courage, such as movies and bar room talk. We see the fruits of this supposed courage today in ghettos with gun violence at a tragic level with young people dead, and families forever torn apart by dead loved ones.

People fighting disabilities in wheelchairs and blindness with dignity, people who can smile in the throes of black depression, people who fight in face of popular opinion at the expense of relationships, business, and security,  people who punch in to work everyday for two jobs, people who stick together to raise families despite poverty and ambition, show courage.

People such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King were not explosive tempered people quick to fight physically, but faced down violence and threats against overwhelming odds in make positive change without resorting to their enemies' level, but rather love. We need more of that courage to take root today.

A Pastor's Surprising Rebuke

I read an article where a pastor expressed disappointment that no one asked him his name when he visited a church while on vacation. Being a pastor, I thought he would give his fellow clergyman a break, since he should know how tough it is being in pastoral ministry. After all, many fault churches as being cliquish and unwelcoming to "outsiders." He went on to state that know one else asked his name, or made him feel welcome.

It reminds me of the phrase "if you want a friend, be a friend." Perhaps he could have initiated the contact, or put himself in their shoes if the positions were reversed. Sometimes we get wrapped up in life and seeing friends we don't always acknowledge or recognize another person in our midst that needs a hand, a voice of encouragement, or a simple "hello." As an introvert myself, this is not an issue to me, as I prefer focusing on worship, rather than socializing that I find sometimes contrived or uncomfortable.

I hope he remembers his lesson when he returned to his own church, and that newcomers present and sought greetings and were not recognized, were more forgiving than he.

A Christmas Party

Fatigued by the rush of the holiday season, finding the right gifts, as well as the usual frustrations of life, I looked forward to a Christmas party among coworkers. I didn't socialize much with them outside of the workplace, and here was my chance to see them away from their jobs in a social setting, and enjoy a respite of holiday anxiety and depression

It started out small, and I wondered if the turnout would be decent. Slowly, however, more people started arriving, and joyous energy began emerging in a scene of tinsel, pine, and brightly colored Christmas gifts. Everyone started enjoying companionship among each other, and difficulties that arose in a work environment dissipated. I suppose when people have the opportunity to sit down and break bread together, enjoy a refreshment, and talk to one another, you see each other as just people, instead of coworkers, rivals, competitors, Democrats, Republicans, conservatives, or any other label/stereotype you choose to apply. I seen the people there as regular people trying to get by in their lives, instead of people jockeying for better assignments.

In the end we all had a good time, made new memories, reestablished new friendships, and exchanged gifts. All the pettiness and other interpersonal nonsense eventually melted away. Perhaps if everyone else could join together over a meal and talk, it could address some of our worse problems.