kc bob

You are not entitled to your opinion.

“You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. No one is entitled to be ignorant.” -Harlan Ellison

“Our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions any more than our opinions in physics or geometry...” -Thomas Jefferson

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.” -Isaac Asimov

“Nothing is more conductive to peace of mind than not having any opinions at all.” -Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

“If God were our one and only desire we would not be so easily upset when our opinions do not find outside acceptance.” -Thomas à Kempis

... originally posted August, 2014

Honoring Service and Sacrifice

I am reposting this to commemorate Veterans Day. I am not sure that I have ever seen a more moving image representing what it means to honor our soldiers. Those who have served in uniform really understand what it means to honor those who have served us and have sacrificed, and are sacrificing, their all for their country.

I know that my three years in the US Army changed my whole image of military service. That time gave me a peek into both the mundane and extraordinary aspects of serving the country. Years later I learned a lot about the struggles of military families when my son courageously served two tours on the front lines of Iraq.

The truth is that military service can go from risking your life one day to doing menial tasks the next. Soldiers like my son do what needs to be done. They respond to terror attacks by volunteering to fight and to serve. For that I honor them all today.

An Election Benediction

May you remember that all politics and all platforms and all legalities and all borders and all leaders are temporary.

May you recall that political movements and boundaries and personalities and programs are here one day and gone the next. All of these are passing away.

May you resist the temptation to place ultimate trust in any person, policy, party, movement, or nation—even a beautiful idea that is embodied by a nation—because there is no nation with an eternal foundation.

May you know that your kingdom is not of this world but of the world that is coming to this world and that is not yet here.

May you in the same breath grasp that engagement with the things of this world—not escape from its harsher, darker realities—is the sacrificial pattern of Jesus Christ.

May you discover your role in the just and merciful governance of the world God made good and pursue that cosmos-converting vocation with love amid the world’s brokenness and grittiness.

May you see your work in the world—all of your callings and activities—as a participation in bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth.

May you have strength and beauty and determination and wisdom as you love your neighbor and your enemy as Christ has loved you, seeking with all persons to bring justice, mercy, and lasting peace.

May you comprehend that your salvation is not dependent on who you vote for in an election, or in whether or not you vote; that you are under no biblical or theological or moral obligation to vote for a person or party or proposal or initiative if that vote violates your conscience.

May you be grateful for the opportunity to participate in your government and if you choose not to participate in the election may you find ways to make that non-participation more than a protest, and may you find tangible ways to help and protect the poor and oppressed who might have been helped or shielded by your vote.

May you realize that the kingdom of God is within you and that the Son of God sets you free even as you vote for whomever your conscience dictates, without anxiety or fear, for the Spirit the Father gives us does not make us timid, but bestows on us power, love, and self-discipline.

May your posture toward every human leader be driven by respectful prayer, and where protest and prophecy and non-violent resistance are needed, may you have the courage to speak and oppose and critique in humility and charity.

May you perceive God’s love for creation in sending Jesus to embody a New Humanity, and may you join in Christ’s care for the earth and all its creatures and resources, for we await with patience not only the coming of the Son in the flesh but his perfect bride, a people who beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.

May you trust that Providence is working behind the scenes of history to draw all things to a good and fitting and proper end with justice and mercy.

Amen.

... prayer by Kenneth Tanner at RE|KNEW

Hacksaw Ridge | ★★★★★★★★☆☆

Thanks to my Facebook friend Dustin Siggins for today's movie review.

"Hacksaw Ridge" is a tremendous movie of courage under literal and figurative fire. It stars Andrew Garfield as Seventh-Day Adventist, Army medic, and conscientious objector Desmond Doss, who became the first person to win the Medal of Honor for reasons besides combat action.

The movie succeeds in highlighting a man who braved pressure and torment from his fellow soldiers -- before facing down gunfire from the enemy -- to save 75 soldiers in 12 hours during one of (if not the) the bloodiest battles of World War II.

The movie does have its issues. It is excessively gory, with at least 20 minutes of what one friend would call "violence porn" that offsets the great visual effects seen in those same scenes.

Additionally, Vince Vaughn struggles in the role of Basic Training Drill Sergeant, and while flashbacks to Doss' childhood provide an appropriate backdrop to his beliefs against violence, they are often awkwardly inserted.

The most powerful scenes in the movie might be:

When Doss saves multiple Japanese soldiers in addition to his own men; and
When the unit refuses to re-engage in battle until Doss, who they had previously mocked and declared their weakest member, finishes praying for them.

As a movie, on a scale of ten, I'd give it ★★★★★★★★☆☆.

Dustin Siggins is Associate Editor for The Stream and a public relations consultant.
He previously served as the public relations officer and DC Correspondent for LifeSiteNews, and has been widely published on important issues of public policy and culture. Follow him on Twitter: @DustinSiggins

Catch other mini-reviews by selecting the Movies link in the menu bar above.

Election Day Predictions

I predict that these things will remain true on Wednesday:

America will remain a great country built on diverse views;
People will be divided on candidates but unified on freedom;
Our constitution will still be an amazing and enduring document;
The hardest change will be the change in my attitude;
Politics will continue to dominate the news - and Facebook;
Squawk Radio pundits will still not be all that influential;
I will continue to be a bit too much of a political junkie.

How about you? Do you have anything to add to my list? ツ

What Control Freaks don't want to Control

This cartoon cracks me up. Not that I can relate. Just don't ask my wife. ツ

I think that many control freaks like me often do not understand that one of the few things that we can really control is ourselves. A few years ago I wrote that about self control.. here is a clip from that post:

"Self Control is not mind control ... actually it is the opposite of mind control. Self Control is the exercise of the inner man over the outer man."

I find it interesting that so many of the things we control freaks want to control cannot be. And at the same time we do not want to control the very thing we should. Here are a few thoughts about the power of self control.

He who reigns within himself and rules his passions, desires, and fears is more than a king. - John Milton

He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still. -Lao Tzu

Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city. -Proverbs 16:32

I am, indeed, a king, because I know how to rule myself. -Pietro Aretino

You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you. -Brian Tracy

Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power. -Seneca

The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions. -Tennyson

- first published February 6, 2010

When you let go, you allow yourself to grow and heal.

This year it has become increasingly clear to me that I am only trusting God when I am letting go of control.

Marc and Angel offer some tips [here] to us on what it means to let go. They write that when you let go:

you allow yourself to make the best of what you’ve got.
you get to use your resources more effectively.
you free your mind from needless worries.
you learn more about how life really works.
you get to appreciate others for who they truly are.
you get to focus less on pleasing others, and more on just doing the best you can.
you allow yourself to grow and heal.
it gets easier to forgive yourself, and love yourself again.
you get to enjoy more of life’s pleasant surprises.
you live more gratefully (and gracefully).

You can read the rest of their post here. I like what they have to say and recommend it to you. I especially resonate with this from their post: "the root cause of most human stress is simply our stubborn propensity to hold on to things".

It is so hard to let go of control and trust God. Yet it is so necessary. Can you relate?

Presidential Checklist

My Facebook friend Duane offered up criteria for his ideal candidate. Here is his list combined with a few of my own.

The President of the United States should:

be a person of demonstrated high moral character;
support equal rights for all citizens;
have plans to strengthen the middle class of Americans;
make the path to the middle class easier for those less fortunate;
change our leadership role in the world from one of police officer to one of peace officer;
have plans to strengthen Social Security and Medicare;
have specific plans to make government more efficient;
enforce existing immigration laws and go after people who hire illegal workers;
appoint people to the Supreme Court who understand the constitution and are not politically biased;
be a leader who can bring consensus to controversial national issues.

Thanks again to Duane for the first seven on the list. Let me know what items you might add or subtract from the list.

Halloween in KC

Halloween 2016: Little did I know, when I shared this 4 years ago: the Royals would go to play in two World Series and win one; the Chiefs would see a resurgence with a new head coach (thanks Andy) and go to the playoffs. Reminds me to be a bit more hopeful about the future. Never know what tomorrow may bring. ツ

Halloween 2012: This cartoon reminds me that it is great to be able to laugh - especially when it comes to professional sports in Kansas City. When life gets hard and nothing seems to be working folks in KC will always have the Chiefs and the Royals to make them smile. Guess you have to either laugh or cry.

When Virtual Friends Meet

It is always such a joy to actually meet friends who I have only known through their blogs. This year I met Stephanie (pictured left with Ann and me) and Kelli (pictured right with us). I met both of them about ten years ago in the Blogosphere.

Stephanie still blogs here. She did a Q&A with me [here] in May. We met Stephanie when she was in KC this Spring.

I keep up with Kelli via FB. I have shared her thoughts on my blog here, here and here. We met last week in Fort Worth.

I loved getting to know these two amazing young women. They both are great examples of people of faith.

Have you ever met a virtual or blogging friend? Care to share a few words about the experience?

Rolling on the River

Loving my vacation on the San Antonio Riverwalk. I have enjoyed the riverside restaurants and walking by the water. If you are interested in leaning more about the restaurants there, please check out my reviews at Tripadvisor [here].

That said, the time has been a bit challenging with my wife is in a motorized wheelchair. We really enjoyed our multi day visit to the riverwalk area but feel that it could be a lot friendlier to people in wheelchairs. A few thoughts:

Many unlit areas make it difficult to navigate the walk at night.
Narrow passages are a bit dicey for a disabled person.
Many pathways are without curbs. This makes for tense traveling in a motorized wheelchair. Concerns about going into a ditch or, worse yet, into the river are a reality for a disabled person.
Some elevators, especially at the street level, are unmarked and hard to find.
We visited in a slow time and the Riverwalk attendance was fairly low. I do wonder what it would be like for a person in a wheelchair if attendance was high. Seems like it might not be a great experience.
A person in a wheelchair would do well to carefully plan their time on the Riverwalk. Once on the Walk it is very difficult to travel to the other side of the river as all bridges have steps. To make the trip you need to elevate to the street then crossover and find another elevator. Not as easy as you might think.

In addition to these points, we could not find a good map of the riverwalk that listed attractions and restaurants. It was good, however, that the broken elevator was clearly identified on the map we got from our hotel.

Finally, on the positive side, most of the riverside restaurants were easy for a wheelchair to access. And the area is really beautiful and a great place to kick back and relax. I recommend it to you if you are looking for a place to relax.

Shimon Peres, 1923-2016

“It’s better to be controversial for the right reasons, than to be popular for the wrong reasons.”

“Israel is moving from the realm of poetry to the realm of prose.”

“You don’t make peace with friends. You make it with very unsavory enemies.”

“There are two things that cannot be achieved in life unless you close your eyes a little bit.
And that’s love and peace. If you want perfection you won’t obtain either of them.”

“For me, dreaming is simply being pragmatic.”

“I was learning, as I did in the Ministry of Defense. I never knew, but I always learned.

“The Jews' greatest contribution to history is dissatisfaction! We're a nation born to be discontented.
Whatever exists we believe can be changed for the better.”

“If a problem has no solution, it may not be a problem, but a fact - not to be solved, but to be coped with over time.”

Buck's Bridge

I can see this bridge from my loft. I love that it is being renamed for one of my heroes.
One of the highlights of my life happened about 20 years ago when Buck came to speak at a Diversity event at the company that I worked for - Buck embodied both Diversity and Love. Buck began the meeting by shaking the hand of everyone in that place - he was so warm and caring. I will never forget that day when this beautiful gentleman spoke to us all about his experiences growing up in segregated America and about how he learned to love people.

I remember Buck talking about his friend Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Baseball League. He closed the meeting as he did on many occasions by asking everyone in the audience to hold hands and sing a song with him about loving each other. He had everyone in Cooperstown singing it when he spoke at the Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Here is the way that he concluded his speech:

Now, I want you to do something for me. I’m fixin' to get off this stage now. I think I done my six minutes. But I want you to do something for me. I want you to hold hands. Whoever’s next to you, hold a hand. Come on, you Hall of Famers, hold hands. All you people out there, hold hands. Everybody hooked up? Everybody hooked up? Well then I tell you what. See, I know my brothers up here, my brothers over there -- I see some black brothers of mine and sisters out there -- I know they can sing. Can you white folks sing?

I want you to sing after me:

The greatest thing -- come on everybody --

The greatest thing in all of my life is loving you.

The greatest thing in all of my life is loving you.

The greatest thing in all of my life is loving you.

The greatest thing in all my life is loving you.

Thank you, folks. Thank you, folks. Thank you, folks. Thank you, folks. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Now, sit down. Now, sit down.

I could talk to you 10 minutes longer, but I got to go to the bathroom.

Thank you Buck for a life filled with grace and love. I will remember you when I see your bridge. See you in Heaven!

Citizen Einstein

On October 1st, 1940, Albert Einstein was sworn in as a United States citizen in Trenton, New Jersey.

A few other notable immigrants and when they became US Citizens ...

Comedic icon Bob Hope in 1920 from England
Physicist Enrico Fermi in 1944 from Italy
Holocaust survivor Elie Weisel in 1957 from Transylvania
Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang in 1978 from Taiwan

Anyone notable that you might add to the list?

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