Myspace isn't to blame for everything that happens there. Read more below about who is really getting off easy.
Get Your Thumb Out of My Eye: Outsourcing Responsibility
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Wall of Pride...revisited
This is one of my favorite posts, and I've referenced it to more than one person in the last couple of days, so I thought I would make it easier to find.
Click here
Click here
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Big Papi
With names like Fisk, Williams and Yastrzemski in the history of the Red Sox it isn't easy for a guy that has been with the team a relatively short time to capture an award like "Greatest Clutch Hitter in Red Sox history". That's exactly what David Ortiz did though after providing three game winning hits in the 2004 MLB playoff as he led the Red Sox to their first championship in 86 years. (You might have heard about it...)
Here is a nice article about David, and the things that keep him focused on the things that are important in life. I can relate to a lot of what he has to say, especially concerning the loss of his mother, and how that just puts everything else into perspective.
Thomas Sowell
I love reading Thomas Sowell. He is an amazingly smart man. Earlier this year he even sent me an autographed copy of his latest book "Black Rednecks and White Liberals" after I contacted him concerning an e-mail I had sent another writer concerning affirmative action, amongst other things.
My main point had been that I grew up in a housing projects, the son of a single mother until she married when I was 7. My parents struggled to make ends meet for years and did not finally own a home until I was in my teens. Then I went to college with kids that grew up with far more privelege and options, but they walked away from school with zero debt while I am still saddled with tens of thousands of dollars in loans. Why? Because of skin color. Yes, I do feel discriminated against. Affirmative action sucks. How is that for eloquence?
Anyway. Enough of that. One of my favorite times to read Thomas Sowell is when he does his "random thoughts" columns, and he did one yesterday. I won' spoil the whole column for you, but here are a couple snippets I found especially enlightening:
The beauty of doing nothing is that you can do it perfectly. Only when you do something is it almost impossible to do it without mistakes. Therefore people who are contributing nothing to society except their constant criticisms can feel both intellectually and morally superior.
"We are a nation of immigrants," we are constantly reminded. We are also a nation of people with ten fingers and ten toes. Does that mean that anyone who has ten fingers and ten toes should be welcomed and given American citizenship?
My main point had been that I grew up in a housing projects, the son of a single mother until she married when I was 7. My parents struggled to make ends meet for years and did not finally own a home until I was in my teens. Then I went to college with kids that grew up with far more privelege and options, but they walked away from school with zero debt while I am still saddled with tens of thousands of dollars in loans. Why? Because of skin color. Yes, I do feel discriminated against. Affirmative action sucks. How is that for eloquence?
Anyway. Enough of that. One of my favorite times to read Thomas Sowell is when he does his "random thoughts" columns, and he did one yesterday. I won' spoil the whole column for you, but here are a couple snippets I found especially enlightening:
The beauty of doing nothing is that you can do it perfectly. Only when you do something is it almost impossible to do it without mistakes. Therefore people who are contributing nothing to society except their constant criticisms can feel both intellectually and morally superior.
"We are a nation of immigrants," we are constantly reminded. We are also a nation of people with ten fingers and ten toes. Does that mean that anyone who has ten fingers and ten toes should be welcomed and given American citizenship?
Friday, June 09, 2006
Brookers
Get ready America, you're about to be hit with something you never expected. If you've ever been to Youtube.com chances are you have an idea who "Brookers" is, and why I am bringing this up now.
Brookers is a 20 year old young woman from Massachusetts (who better be a Red Sox fan or my next blog about her will not be anywhere as nice) that makes these outrageously funny videos and posts them on Youtube. They are so good that she has become a cult figure on Youtube and is about to gain national notoriety. She can't say how, but I'm guessing she's about to sign with MTV (she says it's a TV company) and produce her own show. It should be great.
After watching her videos, especially this one:
I can't help but be touched by her and her story. I know my heart goes out to her because she and I share the pain of losing a parent, and whether you're 20 or closing in on 40, that loss never fully goes away. Add in the fact that I have a sister the same age and the reasons become even more obvious I guess.
This was the first Brookers video I ever saw, and I think you'll see right away why I kept looking for more of her stuff.
Good luck Brookers, and God bless. I'll be praying for you.
Brookers is a 20 year old young woman from Massachusetts (who better be a Red Sox fan or my next blog about her will not be anywhere as nice) that makes these outrageously funny videos and posts them on Youtube. They are so good that she has become a cult figure on Youtube and is about to gain national notoriety. She can't say how, but I'm guessing she's about to sign with MTV (she says it's a TV company) and produce her own show. It should be great.
After watching her videos, especially this one:
I can't help but be touched by her and her story. I know my heart goes out to her because she and I share the pain of losing a parent, and whether you're 20 or closing in on 40, that loss never fully goes away. Add in the fact that I have a sister the same age and the reasons become even more obvious I guess.
This was the first Brookers video I ever saw, and I think you'll see right away why I kept looking for more of her stuff.
Good luck Brookers, and God bless. I'll be praying for you.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Game Winning Hit
Bottom of the seventh. Bases Loaded. Two outs.
Is there any more pressure packed situation in all of sports? Perhaps lining up for a game winning/tying field goal comes close, but the guys that are trying to stop you don't normally play that big of a part in the sucess or failure. Either the kicker is true or he chokes.
So there I was Monday night, my team down by a run and the game on the line. Adding to the pressure was the fact that I booted an easy line drive in the sixth inning which led to a run. The run we were now losing by.
When we came in to bat that inning I just had this feeling that I was going to come up to bat with the game on the line. It wasn't a hope really, somehow I just knew that it was going to happen. Don't get me wrong, coaching third base through 8 batters was excruciating. I was spared no angst at all. Then when I was standing in the batters box watching our Associate Pastor bat, I kept thinking to myself "Okay Pastor David, I know I can do this---but if you want to get the hit and be the hero, that's fine with me too."
The funny thing is that he told me later that he was in the batters box thinking that if he could draw a walk then that was what he was going to do because he knew I could get the hit and he hadn't hit the ball well that night.
I knew I could do it. That's what I kept thinking about. It's softball. The guy tosses you the ball underhand. I've been doing it for more than 25 years. Still, there's always the chance that someboy will make a great play.
But they didn't.
I walked to the box and I looked out at the pitcher and I literally saw fear in his eyes. It was a tough inning for him, he was having a hard time finding the plate and we had some calls go our way finally after having them go against us all game long. I felt compassion for him, I really did.
His first pitch was about shoulder high and I just smacked it solidly into center field. There was never any doubt after that. Our fastest two runners were on second and third and they each scored easily. As i rounded first base and looked out towards center field I felt...nothing really.
I was happy that we had won, and I could hear the guys going crazy, but I was just somewhere else at that moment. I also had been so sure that I could get the job done that the fact that I had done it didn't come as much of a surprise to me. I was prepared for the job.
Almost immediately the contrast between this year and last year hit me. Actually, it's more like the contrast between this year and all of the years that have come before it. Last year our team struggled to what I think was a 5-9 record, and as the story goes, I nearly died halfway through the season. I never felt comfortable as a coach. I always felt like a fraud because my personal life and my testimony were in shambles.
This year all that is changed. This year I still have the same emotional aches and pains that I have always have, but I have a commitment to God to be obedient, a faith that He is in control of my life and most impotantly a trust that He loves me and cares for me. This year, as on Monday night, when I "walk to the plate" I am prepared to succeed. When God lines me up in the batters box with the game on the line, He and I both know that I can get the job done.
I can't tell you what kind of peace that brings to my life. I can't begin to explain what a comfort it is that he is watching over my life every day. Finally, I wish that you would all know the joy that I know because one day this world will all go away and a new perfect world will take it's place. One day I will spend all of my time with Jesus, and because God is love, I will never know better moments that those.
Is there any more pressure packed situation in all of sports? Perhaps lining up for a game winning/tying field goal comes close, but the guys that are trying to stop you don't normally play that big of a part in the sucess or failure. Either the kicker is true or he chokes.
So there I was Monday night, my team down by a run and the game on the line. Adding to the pressure was the fact that I booted an easy line drive in the sixth inning which led to a run. The run we were now losing by.
When we came in to bat that inning I just had this feeling that I was going to come up to bat with the game on the line. It wasn't a hope really, somehow I just knew that it was going to happen. Don't get me wrong, coaching third base through 8 batters was excruciating. I was spared no angst at all. Then when I was standing in the batters box watching our Associate Pastor bat, I kept thinking to myself "Okay Pastor David, I know I can do this---but if you want to get the hit and be the hero, that's fine with me too."
The funny thing is that he told me later that he was in the batters box thinking that if he could draw a walk then that was what he was going to do because he knew I could get the hit and he hadn't hit the ball well that night.
I knew I could do it. That's what I kept thinking about. It's softball. The guy tosses you the ball underhand. I've been doing it for more than 25 years. Still, there's always the chance that someboy will make a great play.
But they didn't.
I walked to the box and I looked out at the pitcher and I literally saw fear in his eyes. It was a tough inning for him, he was having a hard time finding the plate and we had some calls go our way finally after having them go against us all game long. I felt compassion for him, I really did.
His first pitch was about shoulder high and I just smacked it solidly into center field. There was never any doubt after that. Our fastest two runners were on second and third and they each scored easily. As i rounded first base and looked out towards center field I felt...nothing really.
I was happy that we had won, and I could hear the guys going crazy, but I was just somewhere else at that moment. I also had been so sure that I could get the job done that the fact that I had done it didn't come as much of a surprise to me. I was prepared for the job.
Almost immediately the contrast between this year and last year hit me. Actually, it's more like the contrast between this year and all of the years that have come before it. Last year our team struggled to what I think was a 5-9 record, and as the story goes, I nearly died halfway through the season. I never felt comfortable as a coach. I always felt like a fraud because my personal life and my testimony were in shambles.
This year all that is changed. This year I still have the same emotional aches and pains that I have always have, but I have a commitment to God to be obedient, a faith that He is in control of my life and most impotantly a trust that He loves me and cares for me. This year, as on Monday night, when I "walk to the plate" I am prepared to succeed. When God lines me up in the batters box with the game on the line, He and I both know that I can get the job done.
I can't tell you what kind of peace that brings to my life. I can't begin to explain what a comfort it is that he is watching over my life every day. Finally, I wish that you would all know the joy that I know because one day this world will all go away and a new perfect world will take it's place. One day I will spend all of my time with Jesus, and because God is love, I will never know better moments that those.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Get Your Thumb Out of My Eye: Are we allowed to be wrong?
Get Your Thumb Out of My Eye: Are we allowed to be wrong?
This is a great blog piece written by a friend of mine. He is so astute and well thought out that I never fail to be impressed by his lines of reasoning.
This is a great blog piece written by a friend of mine. He is so astute and well thought out that I never fail to be impressed by his lines of reasoning.
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