Once in a Lifetime

                Grand Rapids.  It’s not a half bad city.  It’s nicer than Detroit and it actually looks cool from the freeway.  Even so, I’d rather not be dragged there for the weekend. 

                My mom was raised by Republican farm folks in Montana who belted you for talking back.  My dad was raised by a drunken, disillusioned Vietnam vet and a mom who had to deal with a boatload of children.  Needless to say, both of them turned out to be strict parents.  There was no Xbox, no PlayStation, no Wii, no technology of any kind really until one year they finally gave in and got my sister and I each a Nintendo DS.  It was better than nothing.  I didn’t have a phone until 8^th Grade, and even then it was an old-fashioned flip phone.  I couldn’t be home alone until high school.  I have to do a sport or get a job.  My mom threatened me by saying I had to get a full ride scholarship or else I’d be going to OCC.  Luckily my dad calmed her down.

                I’ve seen movies and read stories about kids growing up to basically become their parents.  I don’t think that’s true.  I think that we are shaped as people not simply by the people around us, the events that happen to us, and the challenges that face us, but by how we choose to react to those pressures.  My mother reacted to her parents by joining a shady group of friends-but when that turned out the wrong way, she went back to the ways of her parents.  My father reacted by swearing he’d never be like his father.  He’s still paying off student loans from college.  He’s done arguably the best of any of his many siblings. 

                When it comes to life, you can choose the path you want to take.  You can accept that the challenge is too difficult and watch your happiness fade, or you can accept that challenges can be overcome.  It is those who overcome challenges who succeed.

                My parents have been overcoming challenges their whole life.  I understand where they’re coming from.  I understand that they want me to overcome the challenges too.

                I’d just rather not be dragged to Grand Rapids.  To me that seems counterproductive.  I guess I just don’t fit with my parents’ image of spending every waking hour thinking of the future and preparing for it.  I’d like to enjoy myself a little first.

                

                (Today's title is from the song Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads)

Wanderer Above a Sea of Fog

                “Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog” by Caspar David Friedrich

              

It had been a long walk;
Or, perhaps, it could be better described as a climb.

Now he is here.

The rocks below him are jagged.  What force of nature had driven them to be so?

Certainly nature has power but…what kind of creation is this?

Now as he stands above the abyss he can see the violent past of these rocks.

But nature attempts to hide this violence.  It covers the scars with a layer of fog,

So that the wanderer may not be disturbed by what he sees.

The wanderer however is not disturbed. 

The wanderer is awestruck by the beauty of nature’s creation.

Somehow from the violent past of these rocks has been born a truth.

The world is scarred.

And despite how the world tries to hide these scars every day,

It is exactly these scars that have made us who we are;

It is exactly these scars that make us, the human race, beautiful.

The wanderer could ask what’s underneath the fog,

But in truth he already knows. 

Underneath this fog is potential beauty.

It is beauty that we do not allow ourselves to see

Because we are afraid that we will poison it with our gaze.

There is no mystery here.  There is only beauty.

Angels Among Us

                The world needs heroes.

                And I believe they are out there.

                What is a hero?  Certainly there isn’t a Superman or a Captain America or a Batman out there.  But a hero doesn’t have to be super.  A hero doesn’t have to be the perfect definition of a human being.  For some the U.S. soldier is a hero.  I’m sure when a platoon in Afghanistan delivers Red Cross packages to children and then plays soccer with them for a while, those kids have a new hero.  For some people it’s their mom or their dad or their teacher or a kind neighbor or a brave firefighter.  It could be a friend or a stranger or God or a priest or anyone else who has touched their life.  Anyone could be a hero.  I doubt many heroes are perfect.  They each have their flaws, but that doesn’t make them any less a hero. 

                The title I chose today is the name of a song by the old country band Alabama.  It’s about how everyday people can be angels to others with something as simple as a kind word. 

                Although the people of this world doubt themselves and doubt each other, heroes exist.  We see what we want to see.  When we look for the faults, we can see only faults.  When we look for heroes…they aren’t hard to find at all.

Gone With the Wind

                Nancy Mairs might be a good person.  I haven’t seen any evidence against it, so I guess I have to assume she is.  But just because someone is a good person doesn’t mean I have to agree with them.

                Nancy Mairs wanted disabilities to be displayed in everyday life like commercials and TV shows in a way that makes them seem normal to the rest of society.

                There’s one problem with that.  Advertisers don’t care.  Television shows don’t care.  Pop culture in general DOESN’T CARE.

                This is one of those problems like atheists complaining about a Christmas tree in the White House.  They look for something “offensive” to complain about, formulate an argument, and try to gain followers for something as pointless as renaming a Christmas tree in the White House to the Holiday tree to “please” non-Christians.  In case you didn’t know, the Christmas tree is for Christmas-not Kwanzaa, Hanukah, or any other celebration of any religion.  If you wanted to honor another religion then put up a menorah or something in the White House.  That’s like social issues and television-they don’t mix.  TV shows do not have a responsibility to reflect modern society; they have a responsibility to entertain the masses. 

                I know how it feels to be told there’s something wrong with you.  I really do.  But just because something is wrong with you doesn’t mean that you’re suddenly entitled to change the world to suit your wishes.  Just like how there will always be racist people, there will always be people who see disability as irregular.  Trust me, we all know it exists, we already see plenty of it from day to day.  When it comes down to it though, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

(In case you didn’t know that last line is from Gone With the Wind)