Among the worthwhile movies

The Blind Side.

True story of what it means to care about one another. If you admire strong women, if you are in the mood for a feel-good movie with funny moments, whose greatest villain is poverty, this may be for you.

The video below isn't the movie trailer (you can go to YouTube for that); this is a good news commentary with his real family, not just the actors in the movie.

A different Easter

In church this morning, a woman told this story. To me it illustrates loving one’s neighbor as oneself. It illustrates the very best in human nature.

On Good Friday last year, their home in Tennessee, along with many others, was badly damaged by a tornado. Surveying the damage, they estimated that it would take months to clear away the debris. Every tree in their yard had been destroyed.

Imagine their surprise on Sunday morning when they looked into their yard and found it filled with neighbors and strangers who had come to help clean up. This family had been on the giving end of charity before, but never on the receiving end. It was very humbling.

The wife approached one of the women, “I can’t believe you are all here on Easter Sunday.” The volunteer replied, “If we can’t help one another on Easter, when can we?”

In two hours the debris had been cleaned up and hauled away. The family was in awe, and deeply grateful.

That volunteer, it seems to me, had a sense of church that went way beyond a physical building. She was living her sense of church.

Avian ballet

These amazingly beautiful starlings perform an aerial ballet. What is the collective intelligence that creates this choreography? And, perhaps equally important, that allows us to appreciate a bunch of little black birds doing something totally and incredibly beautiful?

Redemption for Harold?

Music Man cast takes its curtain call
(phone photo)

The Junior High presented its annual musical last night -- the Music Man.

My grandsons are not in Jr. High yet; and they enjoyed seeing their role models succeed.

It was difficult to imagine in advance how they could pull off some of the trickier scenes, such as the opener in the train. Half a dozen salesmen discuss their trade to the rhythm of the train clacking over the tracks. And we are introduced to their nemesis, Professor Harold Hill.

Then come the talk-a-little-pick-a-little songs by the women of River City, Iowa. Skillyfully carried off!

The kids rose to the occasion. The director must have been very happy for them.

The Music Man is great as a musical. Not so great as a believable story. It's hard to believe Marian-the-Librarian and Harold really will live happily ever after.

But perhaps that's the message: redemption. Maybe he would be a good dad for Winthrop. Harold has already taken him fishing and taught him to have confidence in himself. These are the slender signs on which Marian pins her hopes.

Redemption is huge in the Christian tradition. The various faiths hold that selfishness, greed, lust can be redeemed, and that an honest and useful citizen (i.e. the new man) can replace the deceitful one (the old man). That's what prison ministries are all about.

My hope lies in what I believe to be everyone's innate desire and ability to connect in a meaningful way with their life purpose; to discover strength and fulfillment in an unselfish life, in doing good for others. To find their God to be good and present and active in their lives.

Love for humanity

Chaplains in Iraq

Do you know what Chaplains do? They are out there with the troops, running, marching, doing physical fitness exercises, on the front lines of battle. Unarmed, these dedicated men and women go wherever their soldiers are.

Did you know the United States is unique in providing chaplains for the military? Many countries do not. So in joint exercises allied soldiers are often glad to sit in on US chaplain services.

A couple of Christian Science Army chaplains are making little junkets around the country, explaining their work to fellow church members.

The stories these women tell are of obstacles overcome through prayer -- from preaching to a pack of wild dogs in the desert who lay down and listened attentively before deciding not to have a chaplain for breakfast, to finding the stanima to run regularly with the men, to overcoming obstinate resistance to women in the military.

What stays with me came in the Q&A session after the talk. The question was something like, "How are you as a Christian Science chaplain able to conduct a non-denominational service?"

The answer went beyond the training received in Seminary. "If you have a great love for humanity, you see the holiness in everyone. That's what you connect with."

If you've read this far, you might like to order a book by Kim Schuette, recording the contributions of Christian Science military chaplains from 1917 - 2004. It's a very good read!

The Christian Science Military Ministry: 1917-2004
by Kim M. Schuette
Brockton Publishing Company, Indianpolis, IN
1-317-487-6868
brocktonpublishing@sbcglobal.net

A pittance of time

There's hope, even for those who have trouble relating to the sacrifices of others.

Here's my take on this little video.

Somehow, through all the importance of "self," what I want, when I want it... Somehow through all that, Christ speaks and says, "It isn't all about you. It's about my place in your heart and in your life. And that means valuing one another."

Fighting like cats and dogs?

According to the information sidebar on YouTube, Gabriel and Stanley are best friends. Here is a video of some of their play.






Fighting is not a given. Living in the same household offers opportunities to know and appreciate one another.

Differences can be fun - as the golden and the cat illustrate.

The importance of listening

"Listening, not imitation, may be the greatest form of flattery." Joyce Brothers

To understand people (rather than to flatter them), it's important to listen to them. That's how we learn.

In this world where we feel pressed to multi-task, the fact remains that you cannot really listen to a person and do something else. Everyone needs to feel valued enough to be heard. Children need the full attention of their parents when they are telling them something.

It may take some self-discipline to break the multi-tasking habit. It's worth the effort to value people over the tasks at hand. Just as we want to be listened to, we can find the courtesy to listen to others.

It is a kindness to give our full attention to the people who have something to tell us. It says, "I value you. I respect you. I want to hear your opinion." It isn't necessary to agree with those opinions; it is important to be willing to hear them.

A Turkish proverb reminds us that, "If speaking is silver, then listening is gold."

Downs and ups of friendship

This little story came in a recent email. It has a worthwhile moral.

Oasis in Giza, 1917

Two friends were crossing a desert. It was hot, they were thirsty, and an argument ensued. One friend slapped the other in the face.

The one who was slapped was deeply hurt. He wrote in the sand, “Today my best friend slapped me in the face.

They kept walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in some mire, and panicked. His friend saved him. After he recovered from the ordeal, he wrote on a stone:

“Today my best friend saved my life.

The man who had both slapped and saved his best friend said, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now you write on a stone. Why?”

The friend replied, “When someone hurts us we should write it in the sand where winds of forgiveness cover and erase the hurt. But when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where wind cannot wipe away the memory of goodness done.

Some studies indicate that people live longer and happier lives when they learn to forgive.

What's important, the substance of friendships, is the good achieved. That's worth writing in your heart.