The small and the large

Named after Enrico Fermi,

Italian physicist

My nephew is thrilled to have a summer internship at Fermilab.

The summer has almost ended, and he will be leaving soon to continue his studies in physics.

This very thoughtful young man invited his grandparents and me to a tour of Fermilab yesterday. Did you know tours are open to the public? And free? And you can take all the photos you want? And Fermilab maintains a small herd of buffalo?

Snapshot of a photon collision

Apparently Fermilab is about protons and anti-protons shooting around a four-mile circular vacuum in opposite directions and colliding at nearly the speed of light. The physicists are excited about seeing what kind of particles form as a result of these collisions.

Don’t take the movie “Angels and Demons” too seriously, these scientists say. They haven’t found a way to contain a microscopic speck of anti-matter without its self-destructing, much less gather a whole gram of it for nefarious purposes.

Fermilab is also about international good-will and communication and sharing among world scientists.

Flags of nations represented

at Fermilab

It’s also where they discover more about the very small (atoms and quarks) by looking at the very large (galaxies and the universe).

One of the Psalmists who spent a lot of time studying the night sky, maybe David, mused,

“I look up at your macro-skies,

dark and enormous,
your handmade sky-jewelry,
Moon and stars mounted in their settings.

Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,
Why do you bother with us?
Why do you take a second look?
(The Message)

God's chisel

Have you ever wanted something really, really badly, and thought, "I'd do anything to have... whatever."

Or have you ever been at the end of your rope and prayed, "Tell me what you want me to do, God," or "Just tell me what I need to change, and I'll do it!" or "My life is really a mess, dear Lord. If you can use me, take my life; do anything you want."

This fun skit is about a guy who thinks he wants a spiritual re-make.

Connected by God's grace

Thought you might be interested in this little history and music lesson. And a great rendition of an old favorite.

Instruments for the journey

Instrument panel in my brother's plane

A small twin-engine plane has some basic instruments to help the pilot fly safely.

They display important information regarding the relative altitude, attitude, location, and speed of the plane. Pilots learn to trust and depend on the instrument readings.

Wouldn't it be useful to have such instruments to guide us safely here on the ground?

In a way, we do. It’s called prayer – asking God to keep our thoughts at a spiritual altitude safe above destructive emotions, where we can more easily see solutions; asking God to keep us in safe and orderly relationship to our environment.

And then comes our part of the deal: trusting the readings that give us the needed adjustments, and making those adjustments.

And for a compass it’s good to remember that, in spite of sometimes contentious relations, it is mankind’s nature to be attracted to good, and only to good.

We all have an inner moral compass that keeps us on our flight plan and let’s us know when we are veering off track. Found in every major religion, Christians call it the Golden Rule: Take the initiative; treat others the way you would like them to treat you.

Special Family Time

Second cousins bonding

Last weekend, our family gathered for our fourth Family Reunion in, oh, probably 20 years.

While they have not been evenly spaced, each has been wonderful. Maybe this past was the best of all. (Of course, I felt that way after the last one too.) What a great bunch of people!

31 of us showed up, and we had a wonderful time. There were bikes and water activities for the kids. Talented women brought their craft and party skills for spontaneous events.

One spouse makes beautiful glass beads as a hobby, and brought a sampling available for purcase at modest prices.

One couple brought their incomparable pizza/salad skills.

Skilled hands make great pizza!

Dinners were organized by men’s night, women’s night, and catered night.

An uncle, for whom this was his first reunion, commented with happy surprise, “Our extended family is comprised of warm, intelligent, and supportive people...”

I would add to that, “funny” people. One of my impressions is that we laughed for three days straight.

Now the principles of respect, joy, caring, sharing, and unselfed love that brought one family together in harmony and brotherly love are universal principles. They operate impartially for the whole family of man.

Selfishness, criticism, and gossip are foes to peace, harmony, and good-will. They have no place in families, reunion plans, or gatherings of any sort.

One of my prayers in preparation for this family occasion was to honor God, the source of all good, as responsible for gathering those who would be blessed.

Can you imagine my gratitude for the harmony, spontaneity, and good-will expressed?

Walter Cronkite

" And that's the way it is."

Warmth and respect flood America's emotions with news of Walter Cronkite's passing yesterday.

For decades he held the unsought title of "The most trusted man in America."

CBS evening news anchor for many years, Uncle Walter's integrity, humility, and affable manner endeared him to a nation. He set a high journalism standard, pretty much forgotten today - except for a few media such as The Chrsitian Science Monitor.

(OK, I'm prejudiced -- but the Monitor is one of the few remaining media that speaks with integrity and caring.)

Cronkite is a legend, an icon, a father-figure. He will be missed.

The three "C"s

My friend, Wilma, has a son who was in the Miami-Dade Police Force for some years.

One time after a hard day, he commented to his mom that people today are missing the three "C"s.

1. Common sense
2. Common courtesy
3. Common decency

His astute observation gave me pause.

These qualities are called "common" because it is so obviously the nature of man in God's likeness to express good sense which plays out in respect for oneself and for others.

Lack of these is not natural, should be, in fact, uncommon.

So what can I do about it? I can start with myself, with a little self-examination:

• I can double-check my own words and decisions to make sure they are fair, sensible, and honest.
• I can be more patient and courteous.
• I think decency follows as a natural result of patience and courtesy.

And because it is mankind's nature to desire fairness and courteous and decent treatment at the hands of others, then this is a kind of prayer that the Creator answers in ways each of us can understand.

As we change our habits and behaviors to be more unselfish, we find these changes opening opportunities and paths we hadn't seen before.

That's just the way Life works.

perservence

This came in an email -- apparently an ad for hair products -- illustrating the importance of perseverence. It speaks in a universal language of facing adversity with a heart to go forward.

It speaks of finding your talent for making the world a better place and pursuing it -- sometimes against all odds.

A few days away

Doggone!

Taking off again for a few days.



See you sometime next week.

The clothes on the line

This little story came in a recent email. A good reminder for me!



A young couple moved into a new neighborhood

The next morning while they were eating breakfast, the young woman saw her neighbor hanging the wash outside."That laundry is not very clean", she said. "She doesn't know how to wash her clothes. Perhaps she needs a better laundry soap.

Her husband looked on, but remained silent

Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman passed the same judgment.

About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband: "Look, she suddenly has clean clothes! I wonder who helped her learn to do her wash?"

The husband said, "I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows."

Conclusion: What we see when watching others depends in large degree on the purity of the window through which we look.

Liberty

July 4th Fireworks

in Palos Heights

Palos Heights, like other small towns (I know, officially, it's a city) has a 4th of July tradition. Somewhere west of Lake Katherine, starting at 9:15 P.M., the fireworks begin. This year the booms and brilliant displays lasted only 15 minutes.

A Canada goose honked loudly as it sought what security it could find. A lone swan paddled near the shore – perhaps finding solace in human company.

People, many people, had parked their vehicles where they could find spots on nearby side streets and walked, sometimes several blocks – carrying blankets or folding chairs. After a great, if brief, show, hundreds of people gathered their blankets and folding chairs and headed back to their cars.

What’s it all about, this thing called liberty? While 1776 is important in the birth of the United States, that isn't what this little blog post is about.

Paul wrote of a more universal freedom, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

Where the Spirit of kindness is, where truth, patience, good-will, and respect prevail – this is true freedom. For me, this is also what the annual fireworks celebrate.

Who will stand by me?

There's a universal need to be assured that in the rough spots, in a crisis, somebody will be there for us.

This world-song expresses a yearning for that assurance.

I believe Christ, the true idea of God, is always here for us -- on the good days and during the rough ones, in the triumphs and in the crises, standing up for us, comforting, pointing the way to go forward.

Puppies behind bars

This is a win-win program.

The prisoners who train the puppies to be service dogs win, because they rediscover their humanity. They discover love that most of them never knew.

The puppies win because they are cherished companions during their puppyhood, and beloved companions after they graduate. In turn, they save – in the sense of redeeming – lives while they are being trained. Love is surely reflected in love.

The final owners, wounded soldiers, win by having dogs that have been raised and trained with love and dedication. The dogs give the soldiers their lives back. They give families their dads and moms back.

These Oprah interviews with Glen Close are spot-on. You might want to have tissues handy.

Part I



Part II