Month: February 2022

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Friend or Foe?

Wind always fascinated me. My 7-year-old hand became an airplane as I stuck it out the window while Dad drove the 1952 Hudson Hornet at the break-neck speed of 60 miles per hour. I enjoyed watching the wind blow water across the neighborhood as water shot high into the air from our garden hose. Wind was my friend. (The Hornet in this picture is not the car Dad drove. I saw it recently at the Enchanted Trails RV Park in Albuquerque, NM.)

Earlier in life, I enjoyed being outdoors. I was 12 years old. It was Saturday morning with a good breeze blowing across our back yard in El Cajon, California. After breakfast, I assembled my kite, tore up an old pillowcase and made the tail, and gave the kite a test flight. I could have bought a 425-foot-long roll of Megalon string, but dad allowed only 300-foot rolls; so I bought 3 rolls. I named my kite Bird. It took off fast – but nose-dived! Ouch!

I made one adjustment to the tail and tried it again. Beautiful!

I waited for a good gust of wind and launched my Bird. Within a half hour, I had used up one roll of string. Tying the string to a stick, I wondered, why not add another roll of string?

I tied the string securely to the beginning of a new roll. Working the Bird very carefully, I released the second roll of string. I had never put a kite up that far. I was happy, but my natural curiosity began working overtime.

Would I be able to take it up another 300 feet? Let’s try it!

I attached the third roll of string and slowly let it out. At this point, allowing for the angle of the kite’s ascent, the kite was probably 750 feet above the ground and in the main air flow that blew above El Cajon Valley. The Bird was tugging firmly on the stick that the string was tied to.

“Eugene, Mom said it’s time to come in for lunch.”

I don’t remember who the messenger was, but what should I do with the Bird? There was no way I could bring it down in time for lunch. Could I tie it to the fence by the telephone pole and see if it’s still flying in an hour? Why not? What happens if the wind stops blowing? I don’t know, but Mom’s calling, so I’ll find out later.

After lunch, I hurried back outside to check on the experiment. I could hardly believe it! The wind had picked up, and the high-flying Bird was not about to come down. And now I began pondering….

I’ve never had a kite that well-balanced. Probably never will again. I’ve never put a kite up that high. Probably never will again. I’ll never be challenged to fly a kite again. I’ve done it!

After I stood there for about 10 minutes looking at the sight, I cut her loose. It was amazing to watch the Bird fly higher and across the valley until it disappeared out of sight. Did it come down in town somewhere? Maybe. But probably on one of the hills surrounding the valley.

The wind is normally a friend to kite-flyers. Years later I taught my boys to fly kites, but they never matched my experiment with the Bird. Wind also turns the giant turbines on wind farms across the plains which generate electricity.

However, most people also understand that the wind can be an enemy. Trucks and trailers are blown over and their contents get scattered all over the highways. Tornados and hurricanes destroy hundreds, if not thousands, of homes and businesses every year. The wind kicks up tremendous haboobs – dust and sandstorms up to 100 feet high – which cover towns and cities with thick layers of dust and sand.

But wind isn’t the only thing that blows across our lives that either help or hurt us. Our words and attitudes can benefit or destroy people. We can either make their day or ruin it. We can either bless others and help them improve their lives or curse them and send them into a spiral of despair. Look at three verses in Proverbs 15.

Verse 13, “Happiness makes a person smile, but sadness can break a person’s spirit”

Verse 18, “People with quick tempers cause trouble, but those who control their tempers stop a quarrel.”

Verse 28, “Good people think before they speak, but foolish people pour out foolishness.”

Don’t speak words that kick up storms or create devastation; use your words to help people. Be a friend, not a foe. Be a blessing to your community, and God may bless you.

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Who Are You?

I recently heard a portion of a conversation. A man named John went to a hospital to visit a bed-ridden, dying man. The name of the man in bed was Tom. (The names have been changed.)

In the early portion of the visit, Tom perceived that his visitor was troubled concerning his vocation. Not wanting to be nosey or pushy, the dying man realized, however, that John was the one who needed to be encouraged. Also, Tom noticed that John was an up-front, forthright kind of man, so Tom jumped right in. As close as I can recall, here is what I heard.

“John, who are you?”

That took John off guard. “Uh, I’m a basketball coach. Why do you ask?”

“If basketball went away, who would you be?”

John thought about it, then mentioned his other vocations, adding that he is a father, a lay-leader at church, and ….”

“John, you’re missing the point of my question. All those things are what you do or have done, and every one of those things will someday not be so any longer. I’m asking you one simple question. WHO are you? If you became an invalid, as I am, who would you be?”

John is like most of us – he never thought of that before. But Tom wasn’t through. He had one more question.

“My friend, here’s how you can figure out who you are. When you die, as I will soon, you will be none of those things you mentioned. As you enter heaven, none of those titles, jobs, and positions you filled will be part of you. None of your importance, influence, prestige, reputation, or money will go with you. Who will you be then? Think about it, John. Who are you?”

John left the hospital perplexed, and that question began rolling around the corridors of my mind. Who am I? I’ll come back to that in a minute.

Dear reader, you and I could spend several days or weeks trying to impress each other about our jobs, our accomplishments, how we’ve changed our company, church, or society. We also have a culturally imbedded idea that what we do is who we are. I am the president of this. I’m the CEO of that. I started this company. I am a pastor. I’m the chief mechanic over this operation. On and on we could go because we strongly identify with what we do.

But is any of that who we are? If we sleep in a garage, does that make us a car?

Bed-ridden, dying Tom was pointing to eternal reality. When all the temporary things in life vanish, when we breath our last, the eternal question is: who will we be? If we can answer that question, we’ll know who we are.

So, who am I? I’ve learned not to tell folks about my accomplishments because it could be considered a matter of pride. Even while I was a pastor, I truthfully said that I didn’t have a ministry. Why? The Ministry belongs to God, and He graciously allowed me to be a part of what He was doing.

Who am I? I am a King’s Kid. I am an adopted son of the Living, Loving, Eternal, Creative, Almighty God. That’s who I am. And I’ll be that forever.

I remember a 1796 song written by Charlotte Elliott. The first verse is: “Just as I am without one plea, But that thy blood was shed for me, And that thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.”

I asked the Lord to accept me into His family when I was five years old, and I’ve never turned my back on Jesus. Do I sin? Yes, but when I realize it, I ask the Lord to forgive me. And He does. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Today, I listened to a 1992 song written by Mosie Lister. In addition to being a song-writer, he was a great pianist. The words to the chorus are, “Beyond the Cross is a tomb that is empty, you won’t find Me there anymore. And beyond the tomb is life ever-lasting, and hope forever more.”

Jesus died for us, but He raised back to life three days later. He is alive, and I’ll be alive with Him forever. Who am I? I am an adopted son of God!

Friend, who are you?

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The Head-Banger

Have you ever found yourself banging your head against a wall? How’d it feel? Did it help the situation? A friend of mine in New Mexico got so upset one day that he broke the sheet rock wall in his house with his head. After recovering from the concussion, he paid someone to repair the wall; but the situation he reacted to didn’t change because HE didn’t change.

Several weeks ago, Carol and I were finishing breakfast when I heard the unmistakable sound of someone banging its head against a solid object. This guy wasn’t upset or angry. He was hungry and looking for food. He was pounding away on the branch making bits of bark fly as he was gathering ants and other bugs with his long, barbed tongue.

It was a woodpecker.

I’m not an ornithologist, but this bird looked like a large Pileated Woodpecker. These guys can grow to almost 20 inches long, have a wingspan up to 29 inches, and weigh up to 12 ounces. It was drumming on one of our branches, grabbing nourishment with its tongue, and apparently taking it to someone in a nest because it made eight or nine trips to a distant tree while we were watching. I read that some woodpeckers have up to 9-inch tongues, but the Pileated Woodpecker’s tongue is only about 4 inches long.

These birds are members of the Picidae family, and peck like a jackhammer at about 20 hits per second! Compare that to a good machine-gun that fires 1,000 bullets per minute, which is16 per second.

The International Ornithological Congress says 236 species of woodpeckers make up the Picidae family world-wide, but only 23 species inhabit the United States.

How do woodpeckers survive the banging without getting headaches or concussions? God provided them with amazing safety features.

The beak consists of three-layers. The tough outer cover is called rhamphotheca made of scales from keratin, a middle layer of porous bone, and an inner fibrous layer made of mineralized collagen. Its structure absorbs and distributes much of the impact throughout the body which reduces the strain on the brain.

The skull is made of sponge-like bone, and liquid surrounds the brain. Both skull and liquid absorb a lot of the rapid-fire shock, and a safety belt called the hyoid bone that wraps around the brain keeps the brain from rattling. While pounding the tree, a thick nictitating membrane covers the eyes, protecting them from flying shrapnel. Also, the slitted nose is protected with special feathers.

Many of these critters are antisocial and don’t mix well with others. In this sense, “Birds of a feather flock together” doesn’t always hold true. Most are territorial and are jealous of their turf.

I read that wild woodpeckers live from 4 to 12 years, but under ideal conditions they might live 25 to 30 years.

The most famous woodpecker in America is the cartoon Woody Woodpecker that was created by Ben Hardaway in 1940. I always liked that cartoon. Hardaway styled Woody as a combination of several birds, including the Pileated Woodpecker.

Thinking back on my friend in New Mexico, he wasn’t created like a woodpecker, so he shouldn’t have physically banged his head. And he discovered that becoming a head-banger doesn’t do any good.

What about figuratively banging our heads? Normally, that means we are frustrated, angry, or worried. However, if we get upset, it blocks the creativity we need for correcting the situation. Rather than demanding that the situation change, we need to change our method of responding.

Storms of all sizes and types are an integral part of life. But as devastating as the storm may be, it is our reaction that exacerbates the problem. Getting upset and banging our heads only makes things worse.

So what should we do?

Because we have a difficult time changing our circumstances, we need to learn how to change ourselves. Romans 12:2 tells us don’t act like the world but ask God to help us change the way we think. Then we will learn to know God’s will for us. Interestingly, when we change the way we think and act, our circumstances often change.

Psalms and Proverbs provide the principles for handling almost any situation that life can present. You may scoff at that; but when you recognize and admit your need for help, God will be waiting for you. We don’t need to be a head-banger; leave that option for the woodpeckers.

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Simple Writing is Smart Writing

When I was in high school trying to write reports and term papers, I had a difficult time. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get anything to sound right. Asking dad for advice, he looked at my futile attempts and said, “You’re trying to sound smart.”

“Huh?”

“You’re trying to empress your teachers. Quit it, and make it sound like yourself. Do the research, know what you’re writing about, but make it sound like yourself.” He then taught me a lesson I never forgot.

The most widely read magazine at the time, Reader’s Digest, was written on the 8th-grade level. Although enjoyed by professionals and academics, it was read and understood by 10-year-old kids. “You do need to increase your vocabulary. That’s a fact. But don’t try to impress anyone. Just convey information in a meaningful way.” Dad was right, of course.

That made life much easier for me. And as I write this today, I am reminded of a humorous conversation between my brother-in-law, Paul Anderson, and a scientist in Los Alamos, NM. Paul is an expert auto mechanic and understands everyday life quite well.

The scientist drove up to Paul’s shop one day and said, “Mr. Anderson, There seems to be a protrusion in one of my tires that allowed the air to escape.”

Paul responded, “Oh, you mean you got a flat?”

Upon which the man replied, “Yes, I guess you could say that.”

Whether we are writing or speaking, we should use concepts, syllables, and phrases that convey our thoughts in a meaningful manner to the listener and reader. That’s called proper communication.

The rule of thumb is to say things simply. If people have to ask you what you meant, you may have miscommunicated, or you simply need to explain in more detail. When I teach, tell stories, preach, or write, I communicate in such a way that children as well as scientists can understand me.

New writers, as I was back in high school, tend to use long words and complicated writing styles. That works if the writer needs an extra 150 words to fulfill the writing assignment. But if the writer understands what he/she is writing about, fewer words give space for more content. Here’s a case in point.

Back in 2004 as I began writing Bible Question & Answer articles for a New Mexico newspaper, Ralph the editor told me I had a limit of 250 words per article; and 250 words included the question. I asked, “How can I fully answer a Bible question with approximately 225 words?”

Ralph responded, “Anyone who understands what he believes can respond in 225-250 words.”

That was possibly some of the best writing mentoring I ever received! And I worked at it.

After six months Ralph said, “You’re doing very well, and I’m upping your limit to 350 words. Keep avoiding excessive words while filling the added space with content.”

Ralph then suggested that I select up to 65 of those articles and format them into a book. Following that advice resulted in my first book titled Insights on Faith & History. It has been updated and published in a second edition called Reflections on Faith & History. (See my blog for last week.)

Quoting from a Princeton University Report: “Write as simply and plainly as possible and it’s more likely you’ll be thought of as intelligent.”

Combining the advice from Dad, Ralph, and Princeton – and applying it – changed my life.

Keep in mind that writing doesn’t necessarily mean writing books. People write and mail letters to friends. We also write emails, texts, tweets, and a lot more. But depressingly, a lot of that is very poorly written.

So, if any of you want to increase your writing skills, there are several options. Here are only three. 1. Find a writer’s club and join it. 2. Sit down and write something you’re interested in and ask a friend to critique it for you. Accept his or her advice and rewrite it. Ask others to critique it next time. Learn from them. 3. Go to the internet and simply type in: Help in writing better. You’ll get a lot of good advice.

Remember: Simple Writing is Smart Writing. Have a great day, and Happy Writing.

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