Search This Blog

Monday, May 4, 2020

Stressed Out Millennials



You’ve heard the song “Stressed Out” by Twenty One Pilots, right? Catchy tune. Memorable lyrics, like…

I was told when I get older all my fears would shrink
But now I'm insecure and I care what people think

And then that chorus…

Wish we could turn back time, to the good old days
When our momma sang us to sleep but now we're stressed out

And what seems to drive the fears and insecurity of these youngins’? It’s captured, in part, by this lyric: “My name's Blurryface and I care what you think.”

Tyler Joseph, the lead singer, is 32 years old. Welcome to Millennial-World. He has tons of companions. One of them, most likely not an acquaintance, is Laurie Penny. She’s 33. Laurie’s an English journalist and columnist who has written for a broad range of publications. Including Wired Magazine. That’s where I came across her talent.

I was captivated by her struggling life story, trying to sort out the meaning and value of productivity in the COVID era. I also felt sorry for her and any of her millennial ride-alongs who share her pain. She offers far too many pull quotes to summarize. If my blog stirs your interest, I recommend you read "Productivity is not Working" in its entirety. The link is below.

A few of her observations must be noted. She writes in her opening, “How shall we stay productive when the world is going to hell?…How should we self-optimize when we’re suddenly having to meet our deadlines with our roommates, kids, and inner critics screaming in the background?” Do I hear an “Amen?”
,
Poor Ms. Penny feels the trap of productivity. For the last ten years of her life, when asked about her well-being, she offers a run-down of her work performance for the day. She’s not alone. “When I check in with friends and family far away, I usually get an update on how productive they have or have not managed to be since we last spoke,” says Laurie.

She continues, “Frantic productivity is a fear response…for 21st-century humans in general and millennial humans in particular, as we’ve collectively awoken from the American dream with a strange headache and a stack of bills to pay.”

I don’t know how wide of a swath her friendship circle cuts. But Laurie has seen and heard enough to believe her generation sees “relentless work” as the way to deal with crisis. Sad.

Then she offers a startling personal view on “religion.”

Referencing the Great Plagues of the 14th century, which wiped out half of Europe, Ms. Penny believes the Black Death also undermined the power of religion. She writes, “As broken communities surveyed the mounds of corpses, wondering what sins could possibly be proportional to this sort of punishment, they started to lose faith in God—and the Medieval Church began to lose power as an organizing force in everyday life.” (People always blame God for pain. Never the Evil One.)

Will this virus, which has been the major contributor to the current economic disaster in America, fuel a new loss of faith? Maybe, as she suggests, not in the church, but in modern capitalism? Laurie Penny wonders, “If frantic productivity is a fear response, the opposite urge—to tear it all up and declare deadline bankruptcy—feels like blasphemy.” Further she opines, “This is exactly the sort of crisis that gives people ideas about overturning the social order.” Excuse me???

The prophet Jeremiah warned the once self-sufficient people of Israel this way, “You are proud of your fertile valleys, but they will soon be ruined. You trusted in your wealth, you rebellious daughter, and thought no one could ever harm you.” Jeremiah 49:4 (NLT)

Wrong-O. COVID-19 has brought us a hard lesson. Wealth cannot save us. Productivity cannot save us. Government power cannot save us. Only God can intervene to save us.

Wish we could turn back time, to the good old days
When our momma sang us to sleep but now we're stressed out

Ain’t it the truth.

That’s Forward Thinking. Click on the link to the right to connect via Facebook.


For more information:
Posted by at No comments:

Monday, April 27, 2020

The Harvard Education Battle



In the COVID-19 era, we all hear statements made, or conspiracies postulated, that make us laugh. Not because they are really funny. It’s because they are so absurd.

In my combined years of communications and marketing work, I’ve come to realize how important credibility really is. Once you lose it, it’s hard to get it back.

One of the really dangerous results of making absurd statements occurs when you are a de facto representative of a respected organization. Like Harvard.

Long held in admiration along with the other Ivy League schools, when a Harvard professor speaks—it should be worth listening to. But not always. In fact, I find it to be less and less over the years.

A most recent example is the article written by Elizabeth Bartholet. She’s the Wasserstein Professor of Law and faculty director of the Harvard Law School's Child Advocacy Program. My, that’s a weighty position. Her article titled, “The Risks of Homeschooling” was recntly published in Harvard Magazine, a generally respected journal.

There's quite a graphic on the magazine cover. A cursory look at the image highlighting the article shows what readily can be perceived as a child behind the equivalent of prison bars at home. Several other children are happily pictured at play outside the house. What’s also telling is the written inscriptions on the side of the home. They appear to be book titles for Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and…wait for it….Bible.” (Please gasp here.)

The professor makes some interesting and disappointing personal assessments. She claims homeschooling deprives children of a “meaningful education.” How so? In her view, it prevents our sweet darlings from “contributing positively to a democratic society.”

What bothers the academic in part is the lack of proper authority. “We have an essentially unregulated regime in the area of homeschooling,” Professor Bartholet states. She added, “If you look at the legal regime governing homeschooling, there are very few requirements that parents do anything.” This apparently led her to a conclusion that parents should not have complete autonomy over their children.

Blah. Blah. Blah.

Fortunately, there are more rational and clear thinkers who come out of Harvard. Many of them…formerly homeschooled. A person like Melba Pearson.

Melba graduated from Harvard with honors. As she says, “Harvard was the very first school I ever set foot in. The first 12 years of my education, I was homeschooled, from kindergarten to 12th grade.” And she was proud of it. Until she saw the demeaning piece from Professor Bartholet. A piece to which she responded.

As to limiting parents' rights to teach their own children, Melba argues, “This is a blatant rejection of free thought, suppression of democratization of education, and attack on the freedoms and rights the citizens of our country fought long and hard to win.” (So there.)

She also finds the thought process behind the homeschool critique horribly at odds with a more recent Harvard “crusade of ‘diversity,’ ‘inclusion,’ and ‘acceptance.’” In her four years at the Ivy League school Melba saw a number of protests, rules, regulations, and initiatives promoting “diversity, inclusion, and tolerance.” Somehow, these “values” get lost in certain academic circles.

And let’s not forget the fourth “r” that becomes so offensive at certain higher places of learning. You know, reading, (w)riting, (a)rithmetic and...RELIGION! That’s probably at the core of much of the opposition to homeschooling.

Proverbs tells us “Teach a youth about the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 (HCSB)

Yes, teach a youth the way he or she should go. Or maybe…not go. Like to Harvard, if they keep such outlandish ideas as Professor Bartholet’s alive.

That’s Forward Thinking. Click on the link to the right to connect via Facebook.


For more information:
Posted by at No comments:

Monday, April 20, 2020

God and the Virus



Uh oh. The esteemed governor of New York has stepped into a mudflow of reactions to a recent assertion about God. After his state has been bitten badly by a vicious virus that holds no prisoners, Andrew Cuomo pushed his un-Catholic like view to center stage. What did he say??

In his own sort of God-forsaken words to reporters the Gov proclaimed, “The (virus) number is down because we brought the number down. God did not do that. Faith did not do that. Destiny did not do that. A lot of pain and suffering did that…That’s how it works. It’s math. And if you don’t continue to do that, you’re going to see that number go back up.”

He’s probably right, of course. I mean the part about people who choose to act foolishly in the face of COVID-19. They must face the consequences. Then if they do get zapped by the virus, many will be pleading for mercy from the God whose wisdom they so easily rejected.

If Andrew Cuomo took his faith to heart, he’d be on his knees every day. After all, look at his brother’s family. Just a couple of weeks ago, CNN broadcaster Chris Cuomo announced he had tested positive for the coronavirus. Adding more pain to his personal misery, he then announced last week that his wife, Christina, had also tested positive. Chris shared, "It is the one thing I was hoping wouldn’t happen and now it has.”

Like I said, now would be a good time for the Cuomos to plead for Divine intervention.

People really only want limited intervention from God. We want it when it suits us. And we don’t when it doesn’t.

The question becomes: what role does God have in the tragedies of life? And the answer is: the same role He has in the glorious victories we find in life. This plays off an important understanding of God’s sovereignty.

People of the Christian faith, and particularly of what is known as Reformed Theology, believe God is sovereign in creation, providence, redemption, and judgment. As a writer for Ligonier Ministries explains, “Nothing happens without God’s willing it to happen, willing it to happen before it happens, and willing it to happen in the way that it happens.”

That’s a hard pill to swallow for many people. That’s because they believe if THEY were God, they would do it differently. Or in their minds, better. Absent from their understanding is the concept of the beauty of free will. A God who forces all of our choices to match His perfect will is a God we learn to hate.

Does God ever “interfere” with free will? Of course He does. In the same way, He intervenes in our rescue more often than we see or know. I’m absolutely sure God has protected me from stupid decisions along life’s way because of His mercy.

But it doesn’t always happen, does it? Tornadoes come. And kill. A virtually unknown virus from a few months ago turns much of the world into a panic. Car accidents. Drug overdoses. Cancer. You name it. No, God does not always intervene for the outcome as we hoped He would.

Yet there is a constant. God IS good. All the time. As the Psalmist wrote, “Taste and see that the LORD is good. How happy is the person who takes refuge in him!” Psalm 34:8 (CSB)


Jim Daly, the president of Focus on the Family, wrote his own commentary on what Governor Cuomo had to say. He ended it this way: “As one with deep faith in God’s overarching sovereignty in our world, I believe there is so much we cannot see – mysteries and movements that mean everything – yet that remain hidden to our earthly eyes. In these uncertain times, how encouraging it is to be reminded that, as the old song says, “He’s got the whole world in His hands.”

And He does. Trust me. You wouldn’t want it any other way.

That’s Forward Thinking. Click on the link to the right to connect via Facebook.


For more information:
Posted by at No comments:

Monday, April 13, 2020

The Annual Cash Covet



Once again Parade Magazine has blessed us with a glimpse of what workers around our country earn for a living. That is, when they are employed. Some of the faces on the front cover of their weekly magazine feature may have recently found COVID-19 to be their demon of unemployment.

I’ve always found this survey to be interesting. In a way, it’s comforting to realize that not everyone is making absurd incomes like entertainers, sports figures, and CEOs. On the other hand, it might well be the first step to the dreaded sin of paycheck envy.

Let’s look at some numbers from Parade’s, "What People Earn: Our Annual Report."

Rush Limbaugh tops the front cover list grabbing an estimated $87 milliion annually for political gabbing. Luke Bryan, country singer, earned less than half that at $42.4 million. Outlander stars Sam Heughan and Caitronia Balfe each pull in $100k per episode of a show I’ve never seen. Nice work, if you can get it.

Now back to the real world. JoAnne Engelhardt earns $13,794 a year as a theatre critic. But how does that happen? She’s obviously horribly paid or is part time. Julie Stripland is a high school band secretary. At $22,614 she’s paid less annually than a full time $15 per hour employee! And Rick Resnick, a Chicago tour guide, is being taken for a ride at $34,500!!

Aside from our curiosity on what the job market serves up, why our fascination with knowing this information? I’m sure at parties it’s a good conversation bit to say, “Can you believe what that Limbaugh makes?” (Or any major CEO of a company.) To which the reply is usually, “NOBODY is worth that kind of money!”

People are not really paid what they’re worth. Some are paid WAY too much. Some are paid WAY too little. How do we really measure the value of the services being rendered in this time of sheltering-at-home?

Some nurses and doctors are doing life-saving work. Some young folks are filling up grocery delivery carts for pickup. Some Starbucks employees, while already getting paid whether they work or not, have decided to show up and get extra pay so we can indulge in lattes. All of them are currently involved in “risky business.”

There is one more aspect of income comparisons that we find a more sinister plague on our soul. That of the earlier mentioned paycheck envy. In this wicked twist, we somehow conclude that the abundance of wealth has made the high rollers a happier lot. More possessions and financial success mean the freedom to buy what we want, travel to exotic locations, and live like kings and queens.

It hits us closest to home in our own workplaces. That’s when we find out how income inequality may have burned us. A coworker makes more. A promotion goes to the undeserved with a fat raise. A better job offer comes to a younger and less experienced employee. We quietly seethe.

Once after John the Baptist finished preaching, the crowd asked how to better live out their faith. He told those with two shirts to share with the person who has none. He told tax collectors to only collect the required amount. And to the soldiers he said, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.” Luke 3:10-14 (NIV)

Apparently, paycheck envy goes way back. And if it wasn’t a paycheck, it might have been property. Or the amount of livestock owned by the neighbor. It’s all the same.

Theodore Roosevelt said that “comparison is the thief of joy.” Margaret Thatcher advised, “The spirit of envy can destroy; it can never build.” They’re both right.

While thousands are losing their jobs this week and next, now is a very good time to be thankful for the job you have. It is not a good time to be comparing.

Even in the good times, the thief of joy is always lurking around the corner.

That’s Forward Thinking. Click on the link to the right to connect via Facebook.


For more information:
Posted by at No comments:

Monday, April 6, 2020

Mindless Christians



Mindless Christians. I could have chosen from several other words. Thickheaded. Muttonheaded. Boneheaded. Even asinine.

Exactly what are church leaders missing in the warnings about gathering in the face of COVID-19? Mindless seems like the best choice, meaning “acting or done without justification or concern for the consequences.” Or add to this…"not thinking of or concerned about.” In terms of their congregations, that’s more dangerous.

There are a number of examples before us. Let’s start with this one. How can mindless Christians help spread the COVID-19 virus? Just sign on to evangelist Jonathan Shuttlesworth’s plan. This Pennsylvania pastor claims he is organizing an outdoor “Woodstock”-like Easter service. His reason is to form a protest over the shelter-in-place mandates.

He’s even coined a special term for it. And boy is he proud about this! "I’m gonna announce it. … We’re gonna hold an outdoor Easter blowout service. Not online. A national gathering. You come from all over, like Woodstock. And we’re gonna gather and lift up Jesus Christ," Shuttlesworth said.

No…we’re not. Not the people who still have brains, anyway. If you didn’t know better, you might think this is a Jim Jones-style call to "drink the Kool-aid." 

This next headline showed up on April Fool’s Day. (Need I say more?) “Churchgoers flock to hear Louisiana pastor despite virus ban.” There were buses and cars aplenty for this Tuesday evening worship service. The pastor decided to ignore wisdom—and the law—by holding his gatherings in spite of a ban on such.

A few of the more reasonable thinkers decided to protest the meeting. One used a bullhorn, hoping to knock some sense into the group. One demonstrator had a sign that read, “God don't like stupid.”

Off we go to Ohio next. There, the Solid Rock Church of Lebanon was determined to continue to hold worship services despite health officials in that state urging them to stop over concerns they would be virus spreaders. Neighbors of the church had actually complained about their gatherings.

Receiving less than honorable mention was the push for churches to be classified as “essential services” as the Texas governor proceeded to do. Admittedly, this is a bit tricky. But here’s some of the language related to the governor’s order: "This Executive Order does not prohibit people from accessing essential services or engaging in essential daily activities... so long as the necessary precautions are maintained” the order reads. Add this, "... The order also includes exemption for religious services conducted in churches, congregations, and houses of worship."

Fortunately, the non-ccoperatives are now in the minority. According to Lifeway Research, about 7 percent of Protestant churches met in-person a week ago. Fewer plan to meet for Easter. But wait…the Lifeway poll revealed 3 percent of churches claim they will meet in-person on Easter “no matter what!”

In an age where you can find strong evangelical worship services on television and you can live stream or send out your own recorded church services, why put God to the test? That’s exactly what it is. Jesus wouldn’t do it.

When Satan tempted him with a dare-devil challenge to throw himself off the temple to see if God would come to the rescue, “Jesus said to him, 'Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Matthew 4:7 (ESV)

The Evil One sees Christians push this “test” button too often. I’m sure he has his own choice words for it. Witless. Foolish. Empty-headed. Vacuous. Lame-brained.

Let me add one more. Sinful.

Don’t be mindless. Set your mind on Jesus. 

That’s Forward Thinking. Click on the link to the right to connect via Facebook.


For more information:



Posted by at No comments:

Monday, March 30, 2020

Quite the Revelation

There is a line to be drawn, and I’m not sure where it should be. The line is one of reason and response. Determining where we fall on each side of that line positions us as biblical extremists and worry warts or as watchful spiritual stewards as Jesus told us to be.

The line has crystalized some with the advance of the COVID-19 virus. In many minds, the reactions of governments to control the epidemic are eerily tampering with our freedoms. We are seeing in real time the impact of massive closures in the business world. Unemployment. Controlled living conditions. A new reliance on various governmental programs to sustain life. This could continue until we may owe these masters even life itself.

Take, for example, Italy. The virus has done its share of killing there. Hospitals and doctors are overwhelmed. As columnist Jonathan S. Tobin wrote, “Their prescription for coping with the crisis is utilitarian. Their conclusion is as shocking as it is obvious: ‘It may become necessary to establish an age limit for access to intensive care.’ Those who are too old to have a good chance of recovery or with few years left to live will be allowed to die.”

Life and death decisions on caring for people are the most serious to weigh. Or are they? What if all this leads to a long held desire by globalists to unite behind a more singular style of leadership?

What if this crisis changes the way we do financial transactions? As CNBC recently reported, “The coronavirus outbreak is prompting second thoughts about reaching for cash.” Makes sense. Think of all those germs that can be passed around on those bills. Merchants are even advising customers not to use cash.

The Wall Street Journal portends that a new currency could be coming. In a September 22nd, 2019, article it is said, “The future of money might be a digital version of the cash that’s already in people’s wallets—potentially upending the currency system that the world has known for many decades.” How long might it be before we have a new world monetary system?

Then there’s Bill Gates and his partners working toward ID2020. Directly from the id2020.org website we read, “Identity is vital for political, economic, and social opportunity. But systems of identification are archaic, insecure and lack adequate privacy protection, and for over a billion people, inaccessible. Digital identity is being defined now—and we need to get it right.” Where in the spooky surveillance world does THAT take us?

Some believe the COVID-19 virus is the ticket to require a new kind of people watching. One article I read claims your mobile phone can already define whether you are cooperating with stay-at-home directives. Knowing where you are at any time allows the societal managers control to punish the violators.

As for businesses that don’t buy in to new directives, look out. Last Tuesday, the mayor of Los Angeles announced pending actions against nonessential businesses that don't close. He said,“This behavior is irresponsible and selfish.” If they remain open, the mayor warned “the Department of Water and Power will shut off services for the businesses that don't comply with the ‘safer at home ordinance.’”

Yes, a line is being drawn. People of faith find they must decide whether these are true signs of what are called, “the end times.” Jesus said to keep our eyes open. The book of Revelation lays out dark days are ahead with economic crises coming and the eventual call for a “one world government.”

Just stop. Look. And listen to all that is being said about the necessary controls and changes on our lives that are unprecedented. They would be easily rejected if they didn’t seem so…so reasonable.

COVID-19 has indeed produced many interesting revelations. I’m wondering if the virus is also leading us toward a world where people of faith land on one side or the other of the ultimate dividing line. Paranoids? Or astute end times observers.

That would be quite the revelation.

That’s Forward Thinking. Click on the link to the right to connect via Facebook.


For more information:
Posted by at No comments:

Monday, March 23, 2020

Fields of Screams

This is normally a big season for screamers. Spring ritual sports usually has umpires screaming, “Play ball!” Fans of hockey, basketball, soccer, and other lesser known sports have a fair share of screamers as well. Even the more sedate sport of golf has certain events with lots of screamers present. Plus the occasional nut job who screams to be heard on national telecasts.

Sports stadiums and fields may be quiet. The games may have ceased. The wild anticipation of exciting competition has subsided. But not all the screams.

This time, they are the screams of every sports lover, concert, or event-goer who has had their ticket cancelled. It is the common scream of “NOOOOOOO!!!” And it’s resounding right down to the Las Vegas bookmakers.

There’s another whole group of screamers not on the front line. Think of all the restaurants and stadium workers who were counting on income this spring. And those parking attendants. Actually, the collective group of screamers is too large to even measure. Especially the suddenly unemployed.

The next decision forces some really difficult thinking. It’s played out in trying to answer this question—often screamed—“Now what am I going to do?”

Right. We’ve come to build our calendars around events. Whether attending in person or watching on the 105 inch latest television mega screen, we plan our lives based on entertainment choices.

The agonizing decision of “what am I going to do now?” hits all screamers alike. Television networks are airing sports reruns. Restaurants have to beef up pick up and delivery services. Seasonal workers and entertainers need to plan for a monetary adjustment…or find another income source. Brutal.

Even churches are scurrying. Governments have either put the lid on the number of people who can “congregate” in a given place, or souls are being told to “shelter in place.” Thus, many churches have to forego their normal worship services. By God’s grace, and significant technology advancements, we can now “video stream” and video conference everything from meetings to weekly gatherings of any type.

There are certain groups who will feel this COVID-19 related pain more deeply than others. First and foremost, there are those families who will lose loved ones to the virus. Other losses will result—not life threatening, but hugely disappointing. There are students planning events, including trips, concerts, productions, and sports related contests that cannot be made up. It may be the only time these students have these opportunities. Family reunions, weddings, anniversary celebrations will all be impacted.

So now it’s time to get creative. Let’s find ways to redeem the time we have available. As an example, outdoor and indoor family games might become the new in vogue thing. Go out and scream with siblings, or your kids, in some outdoor sports!

Or…come up with a new form of fantasy competition that does not require real life players! Maybe a John Madden video game fantasy league could be formed. Or…maybe not.

This COVID-19 ordeal might well produce a new family tradition. One unlike any other. It might bring fathers back together with their children! New ways may arise to hold those weddings and other celebrations.

But let’s agree not to sulk. Or complain. Let’s put our ingenuity to work and use this season to make our world a better place!

I’m even recommending a different kind of screamer for our church. These would be “shouters.” The Bible is certainly in favor of them. Psalm 66 states, “Shout for joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious.” vs 1-2 (NIV) In an earlier Psalm we read, “Come, everyone! Clap your hands! Shout to God with joyful praise!” Psalm 47:1

These may seem like desperate times. Enough to make you want to scream. Take control of that urge and learn to shout for joy! The God of the universe is listening.

That’s Forward Thinking. Click on the link to the right to connect via Facebook.


For more information:
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)