Author: AR

I find myself pondering last week and the weeks ahead…

… the racial tension…
… the intentional ambushing of police…
… the Republican and Democrat national conventions…
… the attempted coup and crackdown in Turkey…
… more details surrounding the terrorist attack in France…
… the continued evil acts of ISIS and lack of containment…
… the awful rhetoric justified on our airwaves…
… the people who go after each other in social media…
… all who want to tell us how unethical Hillary Clinton is, ignoring any “unethical” in Donald Trump…
… all who want to tell us how unethical Donald Trump is, ignoring any “unethical” in Hillary Clinton…
… the tension…
… blinders…
… grief…
… and great strife…

I find myself sitting here thinking we are focusing too much on too little. We get so caught up in an aspect or angle, and then such becomes the only thing we can see or think about. It becomes the only thing that’s important to us. And thus, respect, listening, healthy dialogue, etc., they get thrown way behind on the priority back burner.

Let me be clear. By no means am I suggesting that any of the above are unimportant. Of course not. Each deserves our time, attention, reflection, and prayer. What I am instead posing is that sometimes we become so wrapped up — even in one thing that’s important — that we allow all else to crumble to the ground…

… We unfriend people… after a heated exchange, we suggest “we never knew them”…

… We justify insult…

… We say we don’t care who we hurt…

And then we do. We hurt other people. It’s the whole “mad as hell and not going to take it anymore” attitude. (Note: such attitude tends not to do well on the “winning friends and influencing people” idea. Just saying.) 

On my recent birthday, after years of desire, I was given a long coveted watch. It was significantly pricier than most, but it was a splurge by my spouse wanting to honor me in a thoughtful, unordinary way. Three days after his gift, still moved by my hub’s generosity, I dropped the delicate timepiece in the wrong way at the wrong time at the wrong place, immediately smashing it into countless pieces. I was shocked…

I was shocked and mad and teary and upset, and I couldn’t believe what had just happened. I craved that for so long!!

And then I lost it.

After an extended gasp and a quick call to my spouse, he (demonstrating one of the multiple, wonderful reasons why I married him), immediately reminded me to keep what’s most important, most important… Don’t let it take on a life all of it’s own… Don’t let it totally derail you… Don’t let it cause you to lose sight of all else.

Yes, I am understandably very sad about my once new watch. Even though material, it was important to me. I don’t know if we will replace it.

But such circumstance and all the justified, accompanying emotion will not stand in the way of those many other important things…

… that still deserve my time, attention, reflection, and prayer.

Respectfully…
AR

So it’s true… over the weekend was my birthday. Not the birthday of the Intramuralist (which, by the way shall turn 8 in November — which we will excitedly speak of then!), but my own date of birth.

A fascinating phenomena took place, no less…

Via cards, calls, texts, tweets, emails and Facebook wall posts, I was able to speak with several of you. That means a lot to me.

Years ago I can remember thinking something along the lines of… My time with each person on this Earth is limited… I want to make the most of every opportunity — maximize each moment… so whether at the salad bar in the grocery or sitting in those sweet and sweaty baseball stands, my desire is to utilize my God-given gifts to listen to and encourage whoever else may be there…

Maybe it’s the result of the strong, enduring influence by my parents and grandparents — including a wise preacher, teacher, and bartender. But every interaction is important to me. My desire is to encourage and sharpen well.

I thought about what I might wish for on my birthday… if I could wish anything…

Dream with me, if you will…

I want us to get along.

Call me sappy, sentimental, wishy-washy, you-name-it, but it’s my birthday; I get to choose what I want.

I’m truthfully not too keen on the idea — in this messy, messy world — that we can all somehow get along utilizing some of the more Band-Aid-like mantras — like, “let’s agree to disagree.” No, that doesn’t cut it for me. You see, the reality of the agree-to-disagree idea is that in the back of our minds, we know there’s still something we can’t talk about… You be there and I’ll be here, and we will never ever discuss that because I can’t stand the way you feel (… Hear the immediate “grrrrr” succeeding that thought…).

Hence, I don’t believe the agree-to-disagree mentality is a successful approach to our desire to somehow all get along.

So since it’s my birthday — or it at least was — let me share with you what I most want…

I want us to get along… by… respecting… where each of us currently is.

That’s it. We keep fighting. We keep speaking past each other. Our leaders keep speaking past each other. They and many of the current candidates seem to think the best way to solve the problems is to criticize and drown out the opposition, thinking solution only comes by winning more people to our so-called side.

 I don’t believe that. I mean, my sense, is if you trounce me to get what you want, I will lose respect for you in the process. That’s not unity; that’s a unified facade.

I want us to respect where another is by allowing for the so-called evolution of opinion. While no doubt some have arguably used said terminology for perceived political expediency, I admit: some of my opinions have evolved through the years. Some things have become more important to me; some have become lesser.

 But what’s so damning and damaging to our livelihood and unity is that we give no freedom for a person to evolve. We demand that they “feel like me now” (!!) — and when they don’t, we look down on them as if they are either ignorant, stupid, or something judgmentally worse.

Where is the freedom to evolve?

To me, that’s respect… recognizing that we’re not all on the same page at the same time and being ok with that.

That’s what I want.

(Yes, Happy Birthday.)

Respectfully… always…
AR

Just because we believe something to be true, does not make it true. Let me say that another way: belief is not synonymous with truth.

That said… emotions accompany our beliefs. But… since beliefs are not synonymous with truth, our emotions may also not be indicative of reality.

Hence, it depends what we’re putting into our heads and hearts.

What’s the ole’ saying? … “garbage in, garbage out”?

What we put into our heads and hearts matters. The challenge is that it’s hard to put in what’s actually true. We are inconsistent in our objectivity.

Take the current racial conflict, for example. How do we get to the truth about what’s really happening? … what’s an accurate perspective?

Simply sorting through a couple recent days’ headlines, I found this:

1. Injustices by Police Against Blacks Must Be Addressed
2. Time to End the Demonizing of Police
3. It’s Time for White People to Reckon With Racism
4. If You Don’t Want Cops to Shoot You, Don’t Resist Arrest
5. Why Black Americans Say Racism Persists: The Cops
6. The Big Racial Lie of the Anti-Cop Left
7. Enough Already With “All Lives Matter”
8. President Obama & the False Premises of Black Lives Matter
9. Black Lives Matter Is Our Civil Rights Movement
10. Black Lives Matter Spells Trouble for Democrats
11. Is a White Life Still Worth More Than a Black One?
12. Has Barack Obama Hurt Race Relations?
13. How We Got to the Brink of Civil War; How to Stop It
14. Racially Divisive Liberalism Comes Home to Roost
15. BlackLivesMatter’s Violent Tone Alienating Liberals Like Me

So tell me: how can we discern what’s true?

Driving through the Windy City last weekend, I saw one person’s bumper sticker that read: “TURN OFF FOX NEWS!” (… yes, it was in shouting form…). I get it. FOX is a known conservative news source. Here’s the problem. The sticker did not read: “TURN OFF FOX NEWS AND MSNBC!” It only called for the turning off of one.

MSNBC, among others, is a known progressive news source. If people believe that the only bias necessary to be turned off and tuned out is “only one,” then they are limiting what gets put into their heads and their hearts. There is thus an increased likelihood that their perspective surrounding a certain scenario is based more on bias than on truth.

Let me add that part of the challenge for each of us is that it’s hard to discern objective news and a consistently objective news source. Ironically, all of the headlines shared above are from a singular source (www.RealClearPolitics.com). But at least by looking at both the left and the right, I can form a hopefully more objective, accurate perspective.

Objectivity is key.

Still looking for that on a bumper sticker.

Respectfully…
AR

As I watch the events of recent days unfold — and even more so, watch people respond to recent events, sometimes wisely, sometimes not —  my thoughts are a bit in overdrive… “How do we solve this? How do we fix the problems? And what exactly is/are the problems?” … And every now and then a person avers with all certainty exactly what we are to do to fix the problem. They typically blame a singular people group. I contend that rarely, is a single people group to blame.

I haven’t yet organized my thoughts surrounding the events in Dallas and Minneapolis to a place where I can articulate them concisely and well (… I have noticed that others have also not, even though some have still qualified as social media rants). However, prior to these incidents, I was thinking of how often we think we’ve got it all figured out… “All we have to do is _____!” (… exclamation points always included…) And then we act as if we are so wise… we know so much. And I am reminded of the following wisdom…

“But you are a man and not a god…
though you think you are wise as a god.”

My sense is such words were not casually written, and yet, so much of me is quick to dismiss. I think…

Of course, I don’t think I’m wise as a god. What would ever give off that impression?

And yet again…

Sometimes I think I’m so right, there’s no way I could be wrong.

Sometimes I fully declare “this is the right thing to do” — and then entertain no serious consideration of varied opinion.

Sometimes I look down on other people… (… granted, sometimes I’m really good at hiding it… sometimes not…).

Sometimes I creatively chastise other people — maybe I’m clever about it — maybe not. And if not verbally, I may allow the disrespectful thoughts to flow fluidly through my brain. I often fail to take such thoughts captive.

Sometimes I announce my opinion in such a way that it makes others around me feel as something lesser… less valued, less respected, less smart.

Sometimes I don’t care that others feel lesser.

Sometimes I say I love and accept all people — only to love and accept only those who most often agree with me.

Sometimes I refuse to submit to anyone other than myself.

Sometimes, even, I think that “submission” is a bad word.

Sometimes I act as if unity isn’t important.

Sometimes still, I don’t give a crud who is hurt by my expressions… (…”If it’s my conviction, then I’m going to state it for all the world to hear, daggone-it…”).

Sometimes I just love to hear myself speak.

Sometimes I act as if I care about the entire world, when my articulations allude to caring most about me.

Sometimes “I/me/my/myself” are my most frequent prepositions.

Sometimes I fail to love others well.

Sometimes I don’t care that I don’t empathize with those I don’t love well.

…

Yes, sometimes I think I’m wise as a god. But I am not.

It’s important that we remember that now.

Respectfully…
AR

(Dare we wade into much rhetorically wrangled waters, allow me to humbly attempt to address the following…)

On Tuesday FBI Director James Comey announced that they would not be recommending criminal charges against presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. According to Comey — who is widely respected on all sides of the political aisle — Clinton’s activities were not criminal; they were, however, “extremely careless.”

The reason, no less, for my trepidatious step into this topic is because Hillary Clinton is one of those “hear-and-proclaim-what-you-want” kind of topics… For those who think she is as awful and evil as a radical Islamic terrorist, they will proclaim the vicious villain again escaped just consequence… For those who think she is as wonderful and selfless as Mother Theresa, they will proclaim the suffering public servant never meant any wrong.

Recognizing that compromise is not always wisest nor accurate — knowing, for example, that you can’t split a baby in half — allow me five takeaways…

#1 — Too much money was spent on this investigation. (Sadly, too much money is spent all the time in Washington.)

#2 — This was political. On all sides. For those who both fiercely support or oppose Clinton, politics is in play. I don’t, though, believe we can ascertain that statement about Dir. Comey. That cannot be known for certain from each of our limited vantage points.

#3 — Hillary Clinton is not guilty, but she is also not innocent. Comey contradicted her repeated claims that none of the emails were classified at the time she saw them. Clinton did not always tell the truth.

#4 — Intent is always difficult to measure; it’s so subjective, and none of us are in the head of another. Hence, an accurate assessment of Clinton’s utmost intent most likely parallels where she falls on one’s individually assessed, “vicious villain to suffering servant” spectrum.

I realize the above are challenging, given the volatility and lack of objectivity on this lightning-rod-like topic. Let me add, though, #5, my final, albeit still many-won’t-like-it analogy. Follow, my analogy from “March Madness”…

In March of each year, even the non-fanatical fan hangs out in front of their big screen TV to watch one of the year’s purest sporting events. We fill out our brackets, choose our upsets, and soon wad up the remnants as one by one, our selections succumb to the conference powerhouses and surprisingly mighty underdogs. It’s college basketball’s year end tournament: the annual national championship. Everyone’s watching and paying attention!

Near the end of many of these key games, there seems a desire to let the game play itself out. While a game might be closely refereed throughout most of the contest, as a tight game ekes into it’s closing seconds — with the game and fame totally on the line — the refs have a tendency to let the players play. They want this game to be won or lost based on actual play — not on some controversial, perceived to be major or minor development — even though the development is real.

The main player drives hard down the lane, attempting to score, and there’s clearly, distinct physical contact — it’s a foul. But what do the refs do? Do they call the foul? Do they blow the whistle on something that everyone knows is not right, but they know will totally disrupt the flow of the game?

The refs often… let it go. The assessment of how bad the foul actually is then depends on who each fan was rooting for…

Half cry out, “Are you blind?? That’s egregious! That’s a foul!!”

The other half confidently adds, “It wasn’t that bad. Everybody does it.”

In other words, the “no call” ensures the end result is not significantly influenced by the referee.

(Note: they do call it “madness” for a reason.)

Respectfully…
AR

As often noted, every now and then I run across an editorial that strikes me as profoundly insightful, uniquely creative, or just a better way to say what I’m thinking. Perhaps each of these is true in the recent words of author Peggy Noonan.

Let me first say, as that semi-humble current events observer, I have the utmost respect for Noonan. She is an American author who has written several books on politics, religion, and culture. She has served previously as both a commentary writer for Dan Rather at CBS News and a speech writer for Ronald Reagan in the White House. Her words, in fact, after the space shuttle Challenger’s explosion — drawing upon the poet John Magee’s famous words about aviators who “slipped the surly bonds of earth… and touched the face of God” — is considered one of the best American political speeches of the 20th century. Noonan excels at articulating the heart of the matter.

Last week in her weekly column for the Wall Street Journal, Noonan reflected on the lack of strong leadership in the world today. She called it a “world in crisis” with “no genius in sight.”

Isn’t that part of the challenge these days? We crave authentic, wise, shepherding leadership; and yet it’s rare. Strong personalities, extensive resumes, and extraordinary talent are not enough; we crave something better and more.

For Noonan, this observation was most recently spurred on by what happened in Great Britain and the European Union — with Britain exiting the EU. She writes:

“The leaders of the world aren’t a very impressive group right now. There’s a sense with some of them of playing out a historical or cultural string, that they’re placeholders in some way. Many are young, yet so much around them feels tired.

Which has me thinking, again, of the concept of the genius cluster. They happen in history and no one knows why. It was a genius cluster that invented America. Somehow Franklin, Jefferson, Washington, Adams, Madison, Hamilton, Jay and Monroe came together in the same place at the same time and invented something new in the history of man. I asked a great historian about it once. How did that happen? He’d thought about it too. ‘Providence,’ he guessed.

There was a small genius cluster in World War II — FDR, Churchill, de Gaulle. I should note I’m speaking of different kinds of political genius. There was a genius cluster in the 1980s — John Paul II, Reagan, Thatcher, Vaclav Havel, Lech Walesa, Lee Kuan Yew in his last decade of leadership in Singapore.

The military genius cluster of World War II — Marshall, Eisenhower, Bradley, Montgomery, Patton, MacArthur, Nimitz, Bull Halsey, Stilwell — almost rivaled that of the Civil War — Grant, Lee, Stonewall, Sherman, Sheridan, Longstreet.

Obviously genius clusters require deep crises, otherwise their gifts are not revealed. Historic figures need historic circumstances. Also members of genius clusters tend to pursue shared goals.

We have those conditions now — the crises, and what should be shared goals.

Everything feels upended, the old order that has governed things for 70 years since World War II being swept away. Borders have disappeared before our eyes. Terrorism, waves of immigration transforming whole nations, Islam at war with itself and parts of it at war with the world. In the West, the epochal end of public faith in institutions, and a dreadful new tension between the leaders and the led. In both background and foreground is a technological revolution that has actually changed how people experience life.

It is a world crying out for bigness, wisdom, steady hands and steady eyes.
We could use a genius cluster.

I’m not quite seeing its members coming, are you? Maybe they’re off somewhere gaining strength. But the point we’re in feels more like what a Hollywood director said was the central tension at the heart of all great westerns: ‘the villain has arrived while the hero is evolving.’

Let’s hope some evolve soon.”

Yes, let’s hope.

Respectfully… and a Happy 4th…
AR