Have we ignored the lessons of 9/11?

 At 8:46 that morning an “airline accident” was soon discovered for what it was, a sinister & intentional act.  Tragically, “Never forget” quickly became a cliche and we soon forgot -- not where we were at that morning (like with JFK or the Challenger Spaceshuttle, who could?), not the brave first responders rushing towards danger or hoisting the Stars and Stripes, not the grotesque image seared into our psyche of the doomed people hopelessly bailing out of their windows “escaping” from the flames which were leaping and billowing like an inferno, or the dense dust clouds enveloping and draping the mangled towers like a death shroud, nor even the thousands of lives violently lost to the destruction or its gruesome carnage.  We’ve memorized all that we had memorialized but sadly we’ve forgotten about our cohesion afterwards, senselessly we have ignored the lessons of 9/11 over the last twenty-five years.

Instead of needing to sound profound in the days immediately following 9/11/2001, we valued being solemn and we cherished our collective consciousness/solidarity.  Maybe I’m being naive or nostalgic, but am I wrong to think that for a few days together as a community we held tightly to a piece of the peace of Christ or that we believed together that love triumphs over hatred and evil?  The idea that God can bring about blessings in the midst of pain and suffering is a difficult concept to grasp, though it is true, for example when Joseph was sold into slavery, afterwards he recognized how God used an extremely evil situation for good in Gen 50:20, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today...” 

No sniveling over petty grudges and in an absence of cynicism we were optimistic that united, we would stand. And after the smokey haze of our country’s crisis cleared, none of us needed to be told to be kind, to forgive, to be loving, to overlook our differences, or simply to get along with each other.  The shadows of the wreckage illuminated our hearts and we didn’t feel the need to nitpick what translation of the Bible other people chose to read; there were no denominational or doctrinal differences that mattered, those all disappeared, if only for a few days no one was a Papist, Presbyterian, or Pentecostal, we were just Christians.  We didn’t see each other as liberals or conservatives, we saw each other as fellow citizens struggling to find stability; political parties and partisanship agendas were put aside, people were prioritized and we were all patriots, however briefly that period persisted.  

We’re no longer immobilized by fear these days, but we walk with a limp now.  More TSA, stricter passport laws, and other inconveniences became the norm and soon we went back to our backbiting and bickering as a people, or worse.  Today, the tragedy is that culturally we are estranged from each other, after a quarter of a century of being entangled in multiple Middle Eastern quagmires, accumulating trillions in debt, and the grim reality of the irreplaceable loss of life both of our military and civilians, instead of being transformed we are tethered to our smartphones and lost in the cloud of an ever increasing ever present AI.  We blabber ceaselessly about the benefits of self-driving cars while we remain tight lipped about the blessings of self-control -- we’ve misunderstood that access to all of the information available on the internet will never make us wiser, connected, or more considerate.  

It would be silly to say that the days after 9/11 were idyllic or to romanticize the days following that tragedy, yet.  We need community, not controversy; we have more in common than we differ on, we have more to celebrate together than to separate over.  Why we crave controversy, conflict, and competition over community confuses me, but we are immersed in our polarization and we are poorer in spirit for it, so instead, to honor those who died on 9/11 we who live on should resist the lure of resentment, reject the temptation to hate those we disagree with, and embrace the idea that we need love more than we need to be right, consider 1st John 4:20-21, “[20] If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. [21] And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

I wish I could persuade all people to embrace unity or provide a solution to our fragmentation, I suppose all I can offer here is the suggestion that we reflect for a moment today on that brief period of time after 9/11 where we shared a flicker of hope that we could as a people experience true brotherhood and genuine fellowship, even in the midst of our differences.  Somewhere in the Good Book it says something about loving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you; there’s enough blame to go around on both sides of our divide, but I’m probably not the only one who is discouraged by everyone endlessly arguing about elections, vaccines, virtue signaling, and pronouns etc... Is this the best we can do, is this really the best version of “us” that we have to offer?  I think I am finally understanding why the early church would groan, “Maranatha!”

Why we like working concrete with Mexicans

 

It may sound strange to hear, but we like working with our Hispanic contractors, a lot.  Sometimes I feel like we prefer working with our Mexican concrete finishers more than anyone else.  Before we get too far here, if you are looking for a woke-political post on immigration, keep on trolling, I mean scrolling.  I am patriotic and I love America.  I am for firm borders because unforced borders create chaos.  And, most of our Mexicans colleagues, the ones I work with who are legal citizens feel strongly that citizenship is important too.  They agree with requiring citizenship for immigrants and they talk poorly of the folks who are here illegally.

The vast majority of the Mexican Concrete tradesmen that we Pump Concrete for are honest, hard-working people. To the false accusation that “they” are stealing work from Americans, that is inaccurate to say the least.  They are not afraid of hard work, they are eager to be employed, and they are willing to take on difficult work that many other people shy away from.  Many Americans are neglecting hard work, and our Mexican brothers are filling this gap quite well.

So why is it that I really enjoy working with the Mexican Concrete finishers, what is it about their attitude and their behaviors that makes this so? They are good hearted people, they don’t take our country’s blessings for granted.   Overall our Mexican customers are a joy to work with, they are in a nutshell: Polite, Professional, patient, optimistic, cooperative, family centered, appreciative, respectful, humble, conscientious, easy to work with and friendly.  Concrete and concrete pumping is challenging enough, a good attitude goes a long way in this industry and there is no room for prejudice out here on the job site.

Farewell to Facebook

 Since Facebook isn’t an airplane terminal, there’s no need for me to announce my departure.  When our oldest son left for college I had joined Facebook to keep up with his goings-on while he was living 12 hours away from home (read, dad wanted to monitor/spy on his son’s activities being hidden from mom & dad), fast forward 20 years and I now am in what you could call a digital-detox.

My escape from social media wasn’t planned or purposeful, it simply happened as I went from looking at Facebook daily to now weekly, as what once served as a convenient way to stay engaged with others became a source of anxiety and distress.  Yes it’s nice to catch up with folks living far away or to promote your church or small business on social media, but with all of its polarization, perpetual drama, and deep-fake AI videos, the saturation of social media exhausted me as every armchair expert weighed in on the frenzy of every current crisis.  

So yes, I gradually lost interest in social media, much like outgrowing or drifting away from a childhood hobby.  The lure of social media lost its luster as it became more like a tangled up yo-yo, it was no longer fun for me, instead it was overwhelming and frustrating.  

My break from social media is surprisingly refreshing, I feel more relaxed both mentally and emotionally.  With some reflection I realized the smartest, most interesting and successful people who I know personally in real life, they themselves do not post much if anything at all on social media.  

So, who was I trying to impress, who was impressive to me, and what did any of this keyboard-chatter matter?  These questions and more crystallized that not only was social media a waste of my time, it was a thief who robbed me of my peace of mind as well.  

Beyond the lurkers who simply stalk everyone else’s activities, there is a sinister element to social media, like an event horizon it sucks people in by feeding on our FOMO, social media is engineered to hook us and captivate us and capture our attention.  Recently I realized that there’s not much on the digital frontier of social media that matters enough to me if I miss out on it, years ago I lost interest in cable news on TV as it was too gloomy, depressing, and it amounted to nothing more than doom-mongering, and now I view social media through a similar lens.  

You might be asking, “How will you stay relevant, current, or be ‘in the know’ if you quit social media?” I know this disconnection from social media probably sounds like the proverbial “burying my head in the sand” scenario to many of you, and maybe it is, though it doesn’t feel like my head is being buried, instead it feels more like shedding welding goggles.  

Social media is a clever distraction, sure it has some usefulness but it is not a replacement for real life or for thinking for yourself.  Therefore, you might find it helpful to ask yourself, what are the benefits I am receiving from the online-information I consume, am I healthier or happier by what information I take in, and is my consumption of social media a choiceworthy use of my time?   Finally, consider Paul’s admonition in Eph 5:15-16, “15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”

I've been drinking this daily for 6 months now, and...

Tammy and I have been making efforts to eat healthier since we started the keto diet.  I'm learning being healthier (diet wise) isn't simply restricted to removing what we take in.  Eating well also includes adding what you are missing. 

I'm not sure how I went all my life without learning about kefir, but since I found out about it six months ago, I have been consuming it daily.  Kefir isn't a name-brand, it is a dairy product, and it is much like a liquid yogurt.  It has a taste similar to sour cream, yet it's almost sweet.  I drink the "plain" unflavored kefir, but it is available in several flavors.   You can get it in low fat, 1% , or whole milk, I prefer the whole milk version.  

What are the benefits of drinking kefir?  It is high in protein, it is very nutritious, it helps regulate your blood sugar, and it boosts your immune system.  Also, instead of taking a probiotic in a capsule form, like swallowing a daily supplement, kefir is an excellent source of the probiotics we all need to have a healthy gut.  Yes, kefir has all the benefits of milk like the vitamin D, calcium, and other minerals to strengthen your bones, but kefir has more diversity in its probiotics than milk or yogurt, and kefir helps your gut fight off bad bacteria like E. coli and salmonella.

After my first drink of it, I was not a fan.  By time I finished off the first bottle, somehow I loved the flavor.  I actually drink about 8-10 ounces daily, and I feel healthier for doing it.  My gut feels better, and not to sound gross but it has helped my digestive track and I can tell a difference there.  It is known to help with diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome.  

Kefir is good for you, it's filling and satisfying when you feel a little hungry, and it does help you to feel better.  Coincidence or not, the root word for kefir is derived from the Turkish word for "feel good."  If you want to feel better and be a little healthier, maybe give it a try...  

The heaviest weight we carry

 

As he broke the world record in squats, my friend looked more like he was in a boxing match than in a powerlifting competition.  His eyes looked like they were branded by a hot-poker when his blood vessels ruptured as he strained to stand up, his nose followed in suit and it streamed like a leaky faucet as a crimson flow gushed over his upper lip, all resulting from the immense stress on his overwhelmed cardiovascular system, even his face darkened into a newborn’s shade of purple like when they are desperately gasping for their first breath.  

Unlike my friend’s weightlifting competition though, there is no trophy waiting for the people clinging tightly to the wrongs they’ve suffered. The heaviest load any of us will struggle under is also the most pointless weight we bear, the worst burden we will ever carry is a grudge.  

The stronger the connection we create between our injuries and our identity, the harder it becomes to let go of our grudges.  As they drag us down, like wearing overalls in the swimming pool, our Herculean-held-grudges always lead to the unhealthy hope that our enemy will suffer greatly, but when your enemy finally drowns, your guarantee to swim gracefully, well your success sinks even deeper.  Somehow in our eager anticipation of their downfall we overlooked our own imperfections. Much like a novice reading a milky-looking X-ray, with a log in our eye, we failed to diagnose our own problem by focusing on the person who let us down, hurt us, or failed to live up to the double standards which we held them to but most likely neglected to live-out ourselves personally.  

Why allow the past (that you can’t go back and change) to continue to rob you of your joy today & defeat your future?  As long as our offenders are always the ones playing Judas in our personal stories we will remain miserable. More importantly, maturity on the other hand recognizes the betrayer in the mirror as well as the benefits of pardoning our offenders; most likely the person who is keeping you awake at night rarely if ever thinks about you, so quit giving them anymore of your attention.

Believe it or not, carrying a grudge isn’t the best for nurturing our spiritual health, as it has been said, “Carrying a grudge is like being stung to death by a single bee.”  Therefore, the first step in purging our despair and moving toward true wellbeing is to jettison, eject, discard, or simply put, to drop our grudges.

Why does this even matter? If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, then misery is a bridge on that road, a bridge which we’ve built with the grudges that we refused to lay down.  As Jesus says in Matthew 6:14-15, “14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Why Fatherhood matters and what's to be done

                                       

Does it really matter to you what gender the Bible uses to describe God when you are in the midst of disorientating discouragement, like when you lose your job or face the daunting struggles of any major crisis? Do you remember the controversy surrounding “The Shack” when William P. Young's representation of “Papa God” was an older woman and Young’s depiction of the Holy Spirit was also that of a woman?

Over the years I’ve noticed plenty of people calling God mother or “her,” but then I wonder why the very people who portray God as feminine in His nature refuse to exchange or swap the given gender describing Satan or any male enemy of God throughout the Bible. That inconsistency, their glaring absence of labeling other male designated individuals as a female, probably tells you all you need to know about their agenda.

God is Spirit and is unlike humanity in His nature, but for whatever reason God is revealed throughout the Scriptures with masculine pronouns, and He is often portrayed as our Father. Take it for what it’s worth, but psychologists tell us our view of God or how we understand God is often filtered through our relationship with our own earthly father, perhaps because fathers typically provide our family units with a sense of comfort, confidence, safety and well-being.

The very fabric of society is woven securely through the protection and provision of fatherhood. Fatherhood matters, and there’s a reason it is under attack. This assault on fathers is a tactical move from the evil one to distort, devalue and minimize the value of fatherhood. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Galatians 1:3-5)

Look at any of the sectors in our civilization that are crumbling, and you’ll trace the initial collapse back to the void left by absentee fathers. Prisons are filled with inmates who lacked a strong father-figure in the home. Likewise our schools struggle to discipline unruly students who are in the same boat, and some messy marriages can trace their struggles and problems back to a spouse who didn’t have a strong father growing up.

Yes the pressures of fatherhood are intimidating. Yes it feels thankless at times. Yes it requires men to be sacrificial. And yes it takes effort. But then again nothing in life that’s worthwhile comes easy. If your dad has already passed on, do your best to honor his legacy. If he is still alive, he doesn’t need another tie or a cheesy Father’s Day card, and he really doesn’t want you to spend any money on him at all — so leave those fishing lures on the shelf. What he does deserve is more respect, and what he really needs more than your appreciation is your prayers.

...Originally published in the Timesnews you can click here to read it

Overcoming Intimidation: Gaining my culinary confidence

 

Tonight we grilled a 3 pound tomahawk and it occurred to me that I am no longer intimidated by preparing and cooking food that I would categorize as extraordinary, unique, special, or what you could call gourmet.  This wasn't always the case, once I was afraid to try my hand at dishes that would not be normally "homecooked" meals but I remember what dish helped me over my timidity over messing up food.   

My boost of culinary confidence came from, of all things, making saganaki, the famous flaming cheese that is a staple at many Greek restaurants.  Saganaki is a rather expensive appetizer at the restaurant and few restaurants within 100 miles of us even offer it.  Saganaki requires a special cheese and certain preparations and methods, but I mastered it after only a few tries.  Tammy and I had a taste for it, we googled the instructions, sourced the kasseri cheese and took a stab at it, and I'm glad we did.  I've played around with a few ways of making it and I've improved on the recipes I studied and now Tammy and I make it several times a month, almost like it's nothing.  

I have enjoyed this lack of intimidation when it comes to tackling good food that we might not normally try, and I truly enjoy cooking with Tammy, and cooking new and exciting meals that we really enjoy.  I guess I took the approach, "What's the worst that could happen?"  So the food doesn't turn out and we toss it in the garbage, who really cares?  I've had a few meals that didn't turn out so great, but those are mere fractions of the overall great experiences we've had cooking.  My encouragement is to give it a try, if there's a meal you've longed for and feel fearful, you lose more by not trying to cook it than you could lose by attempting it and failing at it.  

Once you find out how easy lobster is to cook at home, you'll think twice about ordering it off the menu when you eat out.  The idea of cooking lobster shouldn't be terrifying, it is one of the easiest dishes to cook.  

We enjoy meals at home for a reasonable price that we never could afford at a nice restaurant.  For example, a frenched rack of lamb is under $40 at Sam's club, it includes around 14-16 or so servings, a serving portion of three lamb "lollypops" is over $50 at most restaurants, so we are getting about 5 times as many portions for about $10 less than if we ate out..  The same is true for Chilian Sea Bass, a few ounce portion is around $40 at the restaurant, if you buy it at the seafood store or frozen from the grocery store, you'll get a pound of Sea Bass for the same price.  How about fillet mignon, Prime Rib, or even a brisket?  It's far more reasonable to make it at home, but even more so is the rewarding feeling and the sense of accomplishment that you overcame your fears and made an incredible meal that you're proud of, that is priceless.  

If you have the stomach for it, check out the videos below, the videos are not everything we've cooked but only a sample, I share these videos to whet your appetite and to hopefully inspire you take up the challenge of cooking something difficult but delightful.  Bon Appetit!