Back to work and other change.................

Well I have completed four shifts so far this week. I am back at work attempting to condition myself to the daily rigours of work life. It's been a little tough at times and I have only just begun (eew the Carpenters). That's a completely different story isn't it? I place them in the same context as ABBA.

Oh well, work is helping with the recovery process. I plan on achieving full throttle by the week of September 27/10 and then will have a few weeks before the next change happens.

I applied for a new position with this organization (where I have worked for 24 1/2 years) during the summer. I gave it some serious thought and prayer and since I have not applied for a job in some time (1993), I did a lot of research on the process and the new position. It has been an interesting journey. For a portion of the preparatory time, I considered just withdrawing from the competition. I was focused on caring for my friend who was battling cancer and wondered aloud if I should just forget about it. Thanks to my beloved and a few other close people I decided to stay in the competition and completed a "work sample" and an interview and finally got an answer yesterday. I got it!

So, more changes are ahead. Change is not a bad thing, how we handle change is one depiction of who we are or say we are. This should be fun and challenging. It will require my having to be certified(keep the jokes to yourselves) by a federal agency to demonstrate the professionalism of the group of people doing the job.

I go into it with some hesitation. Is this the place for me? Is this going to lead me anywhere but just a job? Will there be opportunities to broaden my horizons? What will be there for me besides a place to do work and earn a pay cheque? I want more out of life, don't you? There's got to be more than the daily grind and I don't mean the coffee.

I've determined that life and the jobs I do are so much more than a comfortable chair to warm my bum. This change might bring me closer to my "Alaska" and for an explanation see my posts on "into the wild". If it doesn't then what? When I experience change either by imposition or by choice I must use the opportunity to assess and reflect the affect of the change on me, my family and my surroundings. If it just happens, then there is no learning. The apathy of "why bother" creeps into my consciousness but there has to be a reason.

What was the reason and what are the learning's from 2008? With the outrageous damage inflicted upon so many of us by one man's bad behaviour, we must learn and grow. We have to hold onto what is dear and love and forgive. If we do not we learn nothing from the last 2 1/4 years. Words that were spoken in angst sounded nice but were truly evil. Taking the high road has to be for all, not just one. Change is happening, it's not easy, it's tough. Forgiveness is not easy, but it is required to help make the changes be significant and relevant. Maybe to forgive is to be open to change, to reflect and to see the better part of someone.

So, what's it going to be?

"You Lie"

Wow, never have two little words created such a stir.

While the words may have been out of place, maybe a lack of decorum and even inappropriate these two words expressed the truth. A brief review of the things this person has said have shown significant lack of integrity in his ability to maintain the truth. And in the land of the free and the home of the brave where freedom of speech is so firmly ensconced in the national fibre, the attacks on the individual who spoke them is tremendous.

I am not a fan or supporter of either the Republican or Democrat party in the good ole U. S. of A, fortunately. I am also not a citizen of the US, I am Canadian. According to the leader of the US, that country is not a Christian nation, but one made up of citizens.................. duh aren't we all citizens, well maybe all of us except illegal immigrants, but that's another post.

Anyway, with regards to the sacred notion of free speech, I guess it is when you speak things that are approved, or are aligned with the correct group (or the politically correct). Fpr a comparison, what happened when the previous president Bush was booed during the "state of the nation address"? Did the world go into such a a tizzy as this? of course not, this is going to be used as a smoke screen so that Obama care and the fairness doctrine will be passed by the bleating sheep in the house and congress.

One day, there will be a reckoning.

You lie, no kidding, he does, I do and so do all of you. Now as to the lack of decorum, some of the things I have read from those who wish to make Mr. Wilson a saint and those who think he is a demon lack more than decorum, they lack what they themselves have, forgiveness and the freedom of speech.

Tuesday Musings # 51

Happy Tuesday everyone

Much of my thought life this week has already been shadowed by Sept.11, 2001. I have no idea why, but I have been haunted by the images that I saw 8 years ago. I knew no one, I know no one and I have never met anyone who was related to anyone in those attacks. I have been afraid much of my life, I think I have to unwrap that little sentence sometime, but the attacks that day made me more afraid. Afraid of what? That is the question (sorry Bill).

That day is etched in my mind (and we're not talking etch a sketch. I remember where I was when I first heard the initial news, I remember what customers I was visiting, I remember the day and I remember vividly the discussions on the radio as I travelled back to the office. I recall the tv in the office and Bob trying to attach "rabbit ears" so we could see. My primary thought that day was I need to be at home with my family and I wanted to hug my wife and kids. Josh was 14 and Alex was 10.

Why do some zealots determine it "right" to kill innocent people? Are we not all innocent, with the exception of the Manson's of the world and others who we know are guilty of murder? Does anyone deserve death via suicide bomber? Before you take umbrage with my "one sided" rant yes, I am aware of atrocities committed by so called christians in the past. Did people deserve death by "inquisition" and the crusades? No, of course not. And what about the feuding parties in Northern Ireland that I was a child of that hatred does not escape me, ever.

When does it stop? When do we stop? When do I stop? It is up to me, to love my neighbour even though I may not like him or her (or them).

And who is my neighbour?

Jesus, in response to a question from a religion scholar about getting eternal life said:

"what is written in God's law"

and the scholar said

"That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence-and that you love your neighbour as yourself"

the scholar trying to trick Jesus said:

"and just how would you define neighbour"

and Jesus proceeded to tell the parable about the Good Samaritan:

"There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man.

"A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man's condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I'll pay you on my way back.' "

"What do you think?" Jesus said, "Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?"

"The one who treated him kindly," the religion scholar responded.

Jesus said, "Go and do the same."

The message is for all of us. The Samaritans were hated by the Jewish people and yet this man treated those who hated him with kindness. The question of eternal life is not to be answered by the number of virgins that await us at Martyrdom, all people particularly women should be offended by that. Beyond anything it is selfish. Rather the question is what and how will we treat those we do not like now.

I am not a fan of war (have never been) or war movies (anymore). I have tired of any real life depiction of violence in the last few years and significantly more since April 2008. I recall listening to this piece of music at the end of Platoon in 1986 and being transfixed by it. The sadness expressed by the writer and the platform from which it is being played leaves me with tears at the horror and beauty of the world that we live in. Until we all see each other as neighbours, the dissonant notes of terrorism will remain.

Happy Tuesday everyone

Tuesday Musings # 49

Happy Tuesday everyone

I had an early morning appointment today and as often as I can, I listen to the satellite radio in the car particularly to hear a preacher/speaker by the name of Chuck Swindoll. Since I was in and out of the car I was only able to listen to some of hat he said.

One quote, regarding maturity, went something like this: "we need to move from thin skinned and hard hearts to thick skinned and soft hearts". The path to maturity is more than just the passage of years. It is more than just an external experience, it includes the changes that are required in the heart of every person, including me and you.

I was raised to respect my elders for they have had more life experiences than I have and when I was a youngster. Those elders remembered the first and second world wars as well as the Irish civil war and the English occupation. They had many shared memories but were they mature?

I recall the vitriolic hatred of anything British or related to the crown because of the behaviour of the members of the occupying forces which included the death of my grandfather and other atrocities. I still see no forgiveness and that too is a lack of maturity.

The wonderful thing about "Tuesday musing" is that I never plan where I will go , I hear or think something and I "allow" the keys to take me where my thoughts are to go. Maturity is eternally linked with forgiveness. If we cannot forgive, then no matter how much we posture about our so called intelligence, we are not mature and if the definition above is correct then our existence remains of thin skins and hard hearts. Now where is the love in all that?

Happy Tuesday everyone