Lessons for Living

An Open Letter to Talkers and Writers

To quote from a letter to me posted on January 13, 2011 at 06:07 PM EST:

We can teach them the value of tolerance – the practice of assuming the best, rather than the worst, about those around us. We can teach them to give others the benefit of the doubt, particularly those with whom they disagree.

That sounds like charity to me.

Are charity and tolerance synonymous, if not similar?

No. Way.

Nevertheless, I think the above statements present a standard which most folks calling for tolerance….

Oh, never mind. I think that paragraph may have been headed for not giving others the benefit of the doubt nor assuming the best about others.

Besides, it was teetering precariously on the edge of offering itself to political interpretation.

Can’t have that.

PS: I forgot to say: Talkers and writers, beware what you say and write. It creates a handy means by which to measure your life.

Southwest Airlines Pilot Holds Plane

The pilot responded with, “They can’t go anywhere without me and I wasn’t going anywhere without you. Now relax. We’ll get you there. And again, I’m so sorry.”

I’m speechless. Twelve minutes many not sound like a lot to you or me, but every second counts when you’re an airline. Southwest can turn an entire plane around in about 20 minutes, so 12 minutes is half an eternity.

I shared Nancy’s story with Southwest, and a representative said the airline was “proud” of the way the pilot had held the flight. Again, most airlines would punish an employee who holds up the line for any reason.

This a trip that was saved amid tragic circumstances by a compassionate pilot and an airline that supported his decision to hold a flight.

Source: Southwest Airlines pilot holds plane for murder victim’s family

I have a much, much smaller Southwest-favor to report: They gave me heart-topped straws (or toothpicks or coffee-stirrers or whatever they were!) to “plant” at our son’s wedding.

Fly on, Southwest!

(And thanks again.)

Don’t Just Sit There!

Got a screen? Just say no! (Apparently)

According to the study conducted by a group of international researchers, anyone who devotes more than four hours daily on screen-based entertainment such as TV, video games or surfing the web, ups their risk of heart attack and stroke by 113 percent and the risk of death by any cause by nearly 50 percent compared to those who spend less than two hours daily in screen play — and this is regardless of whether or not they also work out.

[…]

“Assuming that leisure-time screen time is a representative indicator of overall sitting, our results lend support to the idea that prolonged sitting is linked to an increased risk for cardiovascular disease and premature mortality,” notes the report’s lead author, Emmanuel Stamatakis of the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College in London. “Doing some exercise every day may not compensate for the damage done during very long periods of screen time.”

[…]

Stamatakis adds that since modern life has moved to the sluggish end of the activity continuum we need to find ways to make moving and standing the default states and sitting the exception.

Even though a formal workout program didn’t appear to offer protection from the ill effects in this study, Stamatakis still cautions that avoiding sitting is not enough to make up for lack of exercise; we should all still aim for a minimum of 30 minutes of physical activity daily.

Source: Too Much TV, Screen Time May Mean Earlier Death

But what if there’s no screen involved (such as just sitting there at a sewing machine)?

I suppose the results are the same.

I guess I’m doomed.

If You Can’t Trust the Doctor or the Preacher…

This evening I came across and rapidly scanned two pieces of commentary and/or news.

Scandal of Evangelical Dishonesty

No matter how we rationalize it, all deception within the evangelical community dishonors Christ, and serves the devil’s agenda. We need to identify deception, repent of it, and embrace the truth of Christ which will set us free to represent Him accurately to a world sick of being lied to John 8:32.

[…]

I take no pleasure in addressing these issues. I hope it will serve Christ’s body by initiating some much-needed self-examination and dialogue.

Which Christian colleges, missions organizations, speakers, musicians, publishers, and authors will come forward and confess past misleading practices and commit themselves to the highest ethical standards before the Audience of One, even if it means forgoing financial gain? Who will, in the name of Christ, raise the bar of honesty, integrity, and truth?

Only when Christian leaders establish new and higher standards will others feel the positive peer pressure and accountability to do the same. Only then will reform be widespread, with direct unspun truth-telling becoming the established norm.

Only then will we gain the trust of both the Christian public and a skeptical secular culture accustomed to deception, but desperately needing the truth.

That one is a very lengthy exposé. See what you think of it.

Well, that was the preacher part of the title. Next, the doctor part:

Retracted autism study an ‘elaborate fraud,’ British journal finds

A now-retracted British study that linked autism to childhood vaccines was an “elaborate fraud” that has done long-lasting damage to public health, a leading medical publication reported Wednesday.

[…]

The now-discredited paper panicked many parents and led to a sharp drop in the number of children getting the vaccine that prevents measles, mumps and rubella. Vaccination rates dropped sharply in Britain after its publication, falling as low as 80% by 2004. Measles cases have gone up sharply in the ensuing years.

In the United States, more cases of measles were reported in 2008 than in any other year since 1997, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 90% of those infected had not been vaccinated or their vaccination status was unknown, the CDC reported.

And there you are.

😳 Oooops! I didn’t mean it that way! I’m not suggesting the deception highlighted above is a shoe that fits your foot.

While we can point fingers and wag tongues against others’ deception, who can discern and discard the guile lurking in his own heart?

Confronting Evil

Earlier this morning, I read and commented a bit on Psalm 121. Then I came across this:

The bottom line is simple to state but far more complex to practice and effectively put in place. Evil must be confronted. To confront evil, it must first be identified and branded as such. And as a Christian, I must not confront evil with evil. And there is where the rubber meets the road, there is where the struggle becomes real, there is where, if I can add a bottom line to the bottom line, I need help.

And so I commit this year to be constantly seeking that help. Sadly, because I know myself, I’ll need help in adhering to that commitment but I know from whence that help originates.

Source: What will the New Year bring?

How must a Christian confront evil?

Part of the answer: with good and with blessing.

What’s more of the answer?

Now what I wrote earlier this morning: My Help.

Asking vs Demanding

Which will get you farther in life?

The American Center for Law and Justice has sent a letter to Lane Community College in Eugene, Ore., demanding that it rehire Barry Sommer and reinstate his course “What is Islam?” or face legal action.

The noncredit course was cleared by LCC officials and had been posted for registration on Dec. 1. Using the Quran as one of its textbooks, the course was designed to help students better understand the Islamic doctrine so they could be better informed to grasp the issues in news on Islam, Muslims and the Middle East.

But shortly after Sommer appeared on a local news broadcast promoting the course, CAIR Council on American-Islamic Relations e-mailed LCC and asked for the course to be cut. The group questioned Sommer’s qualifications to teach the course, saying he is president of the local chapter of Act! for America, which it has accused of being anti-Islamic.

Source: Legal Group Demands Community College Reinstate Canceled Islam Class

ACLJ “demanded” (I count four uses of the term or derivatives in the entire piece).

CAIR “asked.”

Lesson: You get farther by asking than by demanding.

Disclaimer: The lesson has plenty of exceptions and exemptions.

Above all, love God!