"Most important for Republicans now is to commit themselves to that larger purpose, a society of equality of opportunity where all can rise. Limiting government, although as important as ever in an era of spiraling debt, can't just be an end in itself. It must be joined to a larger vision of a dynamic, fluid society."
Rich Lowry, Lincoln Unbound
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Just Sayin', Part 2
More from Lincoln Unbound by Rich Lowry:
"In her book What Money Can't Buy, University of Chicago poverty expert Susan Mayer found that once basic needs were met in poor households, it is the values of the parents, rather than additional income, that are the most important to the prospects of the children. Even if their families are poor, children whose parents are honest, diligent, and reliable--among other things--tend to do well. Basically, they benefit from middle-class values before they are middle class"
"In her book What Money Can't Buy, University of Chicago poverty expert Susan Mayer found that once basic needs were met in poor households, it is the values of the parents, rather than additional income, that are the most important to the prospects of the children. Even if their families are poor, children whose parents are honest, diligent, and reliable--among other things--tend to do well. Basically, they benefit from middle-class values before they are middle class"
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Friday Night Football Games
This year I have a new job and another that I haven't done for many years. I agreed to help on the chain gang for the JV football games. Haven't done this task since college. I asked a friend with a grandson on the team to help, advertising to him that he'll never get a better seat to watch his grandson play. He bit, and it's been a great time. And we get paid with dinner to boot.
After the first game, I got asked to also be a spotter for the announcer. I get to sit up in the pressbox and call out numbers or names of players involved in each particular play. Not rocket science, but another job adults perform that make it possible for young people to have a game.
This past Friday our school was playing another local team and I started thinking about how blessed I and my family have been. It was thirteen summers ago that our oldest son was hit by a car while riding his bike. He was in a coma for 6 days, and 6 weeks in the area children's hospital until he was able to to come home. Rehabilitation continued for quite a while and we learned that some things would never return the same. We have been blessed with a son that, though he lost hearing in one ear and has a different personality, has been with us these thirteen years.
While we were living at the hospital we met many wonderful people and experienced the goodness of our community through their help. We saw the dedicated kindness of the staff that treated the patients with mercy and good, even when the patient didn't always earn that effort. We went through the tragedy of the drowning of a young man from our town, seeing community members come then leave as that untimely death unfolded at the hospital. We also met other parents and shared moments of joy and sadness.
Through it all we have felt blessed. We watched our son graduate from high school then college. We watched him marry his sweetheart. We have watched him go through the highs and lows of life. So I was feeling blessed last Friday to be watching this football game against this particular school because a couple we met in the hospital had a son playing for this school.
For the first time in thirteen years I reintroduced myself to the father and mother. This man helped coach the football team and many times I started across the field to talk to him. Each time I stopped for various reasons. Friday I didn't stop. For about a week thirteen years ago, we spent time with this couple when we both weren't tending to our children in the hospital. Then the situation changed. Our son stayed in the hospital and their son went home, to God. Evan was six months old when he died.
So Friday night as I hesitantly walked up to the father, I was anxious. I shouldn't have been. I introduced myself and said some things. He called his wife over and we all talked. We talked about their children and his coaching. They asked about our son and what he's done and is doing. What a wonderful example of grace. As we parted and I walked away I had the distinct feeling of being blessed by others actions.
I was reminded that I am continually blessed, even if I don't recognize it.
After the first game, I got asked to also be a spotter for the announcer. I get to sit up in the pressbox and call out numbers or names of players involved in each particular play. Not rocket science, but another job adults perform that make it possible for young people to have a game.
This past Friday our school was playing another local team and I started thinking about how blessed I and my family have been. It was thirteen summers ago that our oldest son was hit by a car while riding his bike. He was in a coma for 6 days, and 6 weeks in the area children's hospital until he was able to to come home. Rehabilitation continued for quite a while and we learned that some things would never return the same. We have been blessed with a son that, though he lost hearing in one ear and has a different personality, has been with us these thirteen years.
While we were living at the hospital we met many wonderful people and experienced the goodness of our community through their help. We saw the dedicated kindness of the staff that treated the patients with mercy and good, even when the patient didn't always earn that effort. We went through the tragedy of the drowning of a young man from our town, seeing community members come then leave as that untimely death unfolded at the hospital. We also met other parents and shared moments of joy and sadness.
Through it all we have felt blessed. We watched our son graduate from high school then college. We watched him marry his sweetheart. We have watched him go through the highs and lows of life. So I was feeling blessed last Friday to be watching this football game against this particular school because a couple we met in the hospital had a son playing for this school.
For the first time in thirteen years I reintroduced myself to the father and mother. This man helped coach the football team and many times I started across the field to talk to him. Each time I stopped for various reasons. Friday I didn't stop. For about a week thirteen years ago, we spent time with this couple when we both weren't tending to our children in the hospital. Then the situation changed. Our son stayed in the hospital and their son went home, to God. Evan was six months old when he died.
So Friday night as I hesitantly walked up to the father, I was anxious. I shouldn't have been. I introduced myself and said some things. He called his wife over and we all talked. We talked about their children and his coaching. They asked about our son and what he's done and is doing. What a wonderful example of grace. As we parted and I walked away I had the distinct feeling of being blessed by others actions.
I was reminded that I am continually blessed, even if I don't recognize it.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Just Sayin'
I've been reading Lincoln Unbound by Rich Lowry lately. He is the editor of the magazine, The National Review. I listened to a local public radio broadcaster interview him about the book and politics. The book sounded interesting, the premise being that Lincoln saved the Union once and we are in dire straights now, so what would Lincoln do today?
The first two thirds was Lincoln history setting up the end of the book. I have to admit I've been intrigued about Lincoln and wanted to learn more. I did. Some is different than legend and some the same. He was known for splitting logs and farm work, but despised working in such a manner. He got out as soon as he could to work at anything else, but this formed a core of his belief, a person should profit from their own labors, not someone else. He believed slavery took many forms, not just the industry he destroyed.
I'm going to share some of Lowry's guesses of what Lincoln would do today. I'll spread them out over a few days. This is as much for me to remember them as you to read them.
Writing about Social Renewal: "It is well established that adherence to rudimentary cultural norms is the most effective of all antipoverty programs. It the head of a family graduates from high school, works full-time, and waits until age twenty-one and marries before having children, it almost guarantees his family will avoid poverty. According to Ron Haskins and Isabel Sawhill, only 2 percent of the families who adhered to all three of these norms were poor in 2007 ( a year of low unemployment, it must be stipulated). Of the families who adhered to one or two, 26.9 percent were poor. Of the families who adhered to none, 76 percent were poor."
"It [the government] has launched effective crusades against drunk driving, domestic violence, and smoking and on behalf of recycling. Yet government is neutral or implicitly hostile toward the twin bedrocks of American aspiration: work and family"
Makes me wonder.
The first two thirds was Lincoln history setting up the end of the book. I have to admit I've been intrigued about Lincoln and wanted to learn more. I did. Some is different than legend and some the same. He was known for splitting logs and farm work, but despised working in such a manner. He got out as soon as he could to work at anything else, but this formed a core of his belief, a person should profit from their own labors, not someone else. He believed slavery took many forms, not just the industry he destroyed.
I'm going to share some of Lowry's guesses of what Lincoln would do today. I'll spread them out over a few days. This is as much for me to remember them as you to read them.
Writing about Social Renewal: "It is well established that adherence to rudimentary cultural norms is the most effective of all antipoverty programs. It the head of a family graduates from high school, works full-time, and waits until age twenty-one and marries before having children, it almost guarantees his family will avoid poverty. According to Ron Haskins and Isabel Sawhill, only 2 percent of the families who adhered to all three of these norms were poor in 2007 ( a year of low unemployment, it must be stipulated). Of the families who adhered to one or two, 26.9 percent were poor. Of the families who adhered to none, 76 percent were poor."
"It [the government] has launched effective crusades against drunk driving, domestic violence, and smoking and on behalf of recycling. Yet government is neutral or implicitly hostile toward the twin bedrocks of American aspiration: work and family"
Makes me wonder.
Friday, October 4, 2013
What a Week
This week is homecoming. Longtime high school teachers come to homecoming with mixed feelings, or at least I do. Dress up days, classroom interruptions, strange schedules, high expectations by some seniors, low rewards for some seniors, many adults running around trying to make student's lives special. The King's and Queen's assembly has become the bellweather event of ignorant excess. This year at least the girls wore dresses that covered most of their bodies and the boys weren't imitating porn stars too much. I use the term ignorant many times and get strange looks. Its definition is from its Greek Root meanings: no or lack of knowledge. People just don't know what they are saying or what they are doing. And in this day of internet knowledge access that is alarming. A world of information is at your fingertips, but if you don't use those tools, you are just as your grandparents were before the www.
So this year the distressing lack of knowledge was displayed in the names given to the nominated couples. The theme was The Hunger Games. I haven't seen the movie, but I gathered that a pair of "contestants" were selected from various districts to "compete." In the movie I was told the districts were numbered. Our Leadership Class didn't number the couples; they let the couples choose names. Maybe I'm a bit sensitive but Brown Skinned Bombers, Westside Whiteys and Crackers don't seem appropriate for public consumption at a high school. And the couples that chose these names were celebrating their choices. I usually call that reveling in their ignorance. But I guess if our leaders in the capitol are doing the same, why shouldn't we in the lowlands do the same.
For me the bigger news was the deaths of two women that helped shape my life. The first was a neighbor. Always calm and steady. Her son, my brother and I roamed the block growing up. She, and my mother, were the steady influence in my early years. This woman's former husband was one of my baseball coaches. Once she was a teacher for a bit in the 5th grade, and I got to see her calmness in the classroom. One of those school memories that may have guided me into teaching.
The second woman and her generosity came at a tumultuous time in high school. Her youngest son and I were classmates and teammates. Her influence showed me the Christian way of helping others. I was invited to family dinners after Sunday church that showed the love of Christ. The last time I saw her was a few years ago and she still was the same. For someone I hadn't seen much of in years, this one hurts.
So we move on to the end of another week
So this year the distressing lack of knowledge was displayed in the names given to the nominated couples. The theme was The Hunger Games. I haven't seen the movie, but I gathered that a pair of "contestants" were selected from various districts to "compete." In the movie I was told the districts were numbered. Our Leadership Class didn't number the couples; they let the couples choose names. Maybe I'm a bit sensitive but Brown Skinned Bombers, Westside Whiteys and Crackers don't seem appropriate for public consumption at a high school. And the couples that chose these names were celebrating their choices. I usually call that reveling in their ignorance. But I guess if our leaders in the capitol are doing the same, why shouldn't we in the lowlands do the same.
For me the bigger news was the deaths of two women that helped shape my life. The first was a neighbor. Always calm and steady. Her son, my brother and I roamed the block growing up. She, and my mother, were the steady influence in my early years. This woman's former husband was one of my baseball coaches. Once she was a teacher for a bit in the 5th grade, and I got to see her calmness in the classroom. One of those school memories that may have guided me into teaching.
The second woman and her generosity came at a tumultuous time in high school. Her youngest son and I were classmates and teammates. Her influence showed me the Christian way of helping others. I was invited to family dinners after Sunday church that showed the love of Christ. The last time I saw her was a few years ago and she still was the same. For someone I hadn't seen much of in years, this one hurts.
So we move on to the end of another week
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