Wrong Place, Right Time

 

Recently I had something happen that left me asking questions for which there are no answers this side of heaven. 

I was driving into Dallas for a routine follow-up appointment with a doctor; nothing life threatening other than driving in Dallas traffic.  I’m in the inside lane southbound on 75 in McKinney and going about 80 MPH which is the minimum for inside lane travel on 75.  A Prius (yes a Prius) blows by me on the right side going at least 100, dodging in and out of traffic.  They cut in front of a car ahead of me, almost clipping the front bumper. 

A few minutes later the crazy Prius is back in the middle lane and decides to jump back to the inside lane this time causing the car in front of me to slam on their brakes and swerve.  At this point they lost control and the car went all over the place almost flipping over completely.  Somehow the driver regained control and ended up at a dead stop sideways across the inside lane.  This all happened in a matter of seconds.

I came to a stop less than 10 feet from the driver’s passenger door.  A young woman was watching the big black Ram pickup to see if it was going to plow into her vehicle.  When I stopped she looked down, still clutching the steering wheel.  The cars behind me had stopped…those in the lanes to the right were still slowly rolling by.  I was about to get out and check on her when I saw she gathered herself and started looking to see what she needed to do to get turned back around.  Fortunately, a car in the lane next to us stopped traffic allowing her to back up and get going.  Then the wave of cars seemed to part. She was able to cross all the way over and safely exit.   

 So why do I say I was in the wrong place?  It turned out that I had screwed up on the time for my appointment.  I was an hour early.  Otherwise, I would not have been behind this young woman.  She might have had someone else like me behind her who maintains a safe distance and isn’t texting or eating breakfast as they speed down the highway.   But more than likely, she would have had someone following too close and not paying attention until it was too late.  I was pumping my brakes to get the attention of those behind me and doing everything I could to stop before running into her; or perhaps worse yet swerving into the lane to my right and setting off an even larger chain reaction accident.

Someone else could have been there.  But I was.  And this time it worked out.  I am no hero, just an old man driving too fast but paying attention.  I said a special prayer that night for the young woman who was, in fact, a hero; and one helluva of a driver.  I am further convinced that someone else was with her that day….and I suppose with me as well.  

Metanoia

 

It’s that time of year when resolutions are made.  When we make commitments to do better and be better.  Workout, eat healthy, lose weight, get more sleep, reduce time spent scrolling on the smart phone, read books, listen more, talk less, go to church, study the bible, pray, mend fences, save money, stop cursing, give up alcohol, learn a new language, clean up the garage, say you’re sorry and mean it. 

Pick one or more of these and just do it, right? This year it’s going to be different, you’re serious. But in a matter of weeks, or in a couple of months if you were really serious, old habits and patterns of behavior creep back into your life. Resolutions are revised, goalposts get moved and motivation fades.

Often Christians treat repentance like resolutions.  We feel guilty about something bad we’ve been doing or something good left undone.   As with resolutions, repentance tends to be pretty much hit or miss, mostly miss.  But ultimately our sins will find us out and betray us. We might claim to “hate” sin, but mostly we hate other peoples’ sins. We may even claim to “hate” some of our own sins.  But until we see them clearly and completely, we will keep going back for more.  Even after our sins have harmed us or the people we love, we make excuses and drift back into them.

The Greek word “metanoia” is found throughout the New Testament. It translates as repent or repentance and literally means “a change of mind”.  Christians tend to find themselves in a vicious cycle of changing their minds: turning away from sin and then returning to it. Even the great Apostle Paul found himself struggling: “I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.” Romans 7: 18b-19

He then goes on to say, “But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is the sin living in me that does it.” Romans 7: 20

While it may sound like Paul is letting himself off the hook, he’s actually making the point that as long as we are in these earthly bodies we will forever struggle with sin. He goes on to say, “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So, you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.” Romans 7: 25.

What Paul is not saying is to just give up and give in to your sinful nature. It is a war that we’ll be fighting as long as we live. But we can win a few more battles if we are honest about our sins and, more importantly, the consequences of those sins. By the grace of God, we have eternal salvation but make no mistake our sins are still doing damage in the here and now and will be judged in the hereafter.  So perhaps it’s never too late to try a bit of “metanoia.”…and mean it this time.

It's Another Brown Christmas in Texas

(TO THE TUNE OF WHITE CHRISTMAS...I CAN HEAR BING CROSBY NOW)

 

I’m dreading a Brown Christmas

Just like the ones all Texans know.

Where the wind is blowin’

But it ain’t snowin’…

Just one big turd wrapped in a bow.

 

I’m dreading a Brown Christmas

With every gift card that I send.

I will go where snow can be found,

For this Christmas here in Texas will be Brown.

Worth Reading Again

 

“To believe in personal responsibility would be to destroy the whole special role of the anointed, whose vision cast them in the role of rescuers of people treated unfairly by “society”. – Thomas Sowell, The Vision of the Anointed” - 1995

“Today it is the elites…those who control the international flow of money and information, preside over philanthropic foundations and institutions of higher learning, manage the instruments of cultural production and thus set the terms of public debate—that have lost faith in the values, or what remains of them, of the West.”- Christopher Lasch, “Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy” - 1995

Thomas Sowell’s “The Vision of the Anointed” and Christopher Lasch’s “The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy” were both published in 1995.  If you have never read them, you should.  If you have read them, you should read them again.  What they wrote in 1995 was true then and even more so now.

Lasch describes the Elites (whom Sowell calls the “Anointed”) as “rootless” world citizens with no sense of responsibility or commitment to their communities. He suggested that globalization had resulted in an “elite class” having little or no engagement with local communities, focused more on personal gain and power. He argues that the Elites had abandoned moral values; relying more on a “self-esteem” rooted in higher education and wealth.  

In “The Vision of the Anointed”, Thomas Sowell describes the Anointed as the intellectuals, politicians and activists who believe they know what’s best for society, but whose policies tend to ignore real-world evidence and result in negative outcomes.  He provides specific examples of policies promoted by the “Anointed” which have made things worse for families, lowered the quality of education and increased criminal activity.

In different ways, both Lasch and Sowell warned us in 1995 that Western Civilization in general and America in particular were headed in the wrong direction. Now some thirty years on, their warnings ignored, we have continued the steady march downhill.  Christopher Lasch is long passed on, sadly dying before the “Revolt” was published.  Thomas Sowell, now in his late 90’s, remains sharp of mind and wit but no doubt has grown tired of saying I told you so.

The Can Kicks Back

 

Politicians love slogans and one-liners.  “It’s the economy, stupid.” “Make America Great Again.”  “Hope and Change”.  “Don’t Stop Believin’”.  “No Kings.”  “(blank) is a Threat to Democracy”.  “Ask not what your country can do for you…”  “We have nothing to fear but fear itself”.  And it goes on and on as far back as one chooses to go.

 

However, these politicians who love slogans don’t care much about reality. Confronting real problems and what it’s going to take to solve them may not keep them in office very long.  So, they make sure they say and do whatever it takes to stay in office; assuring us that one of these days they will get around to solving problems.   

 

Up until now this song and dance has worked pretty well for many of our politicians.  But eventually the problems become overwhelming.  People begin to realize that the government cannot or will not solve them. And no matter whom they vote for things keep getting worse.  

 

The most pressing problems for most Americans are Housing, Healthcare and Education. These are so upside down it will take years, certainly more years than an election cycle, to set right.  And that’s a big problem in itself.  Politicians live for the next election. They are reluctant to risk their careers on programs that are likely to alienate lobbyists and special interests; especially when the beneficial outcomes of those programs are both uncertain and more than a year or two away.

 

In other words, it’s going to take courage and sacrifice to properly address the crises in Housing, Healthcare and Education.  At this point the only people displaying any courage and sacrifice are those who cannot afford these things. Those with the money, position and power to solve the problems are likely to continue kicking the can down the road until the can kicks back.  Indeed we seem to be getting very close to that point.

Commentarii et Sententiae IV...I’ll Take Cleveland.

 

_When one thought the bar could not get much lower, the United States Congress has managed to lower it even further by digging a deeper hole.  The record-breaking shutdown of our federal government is just another sad chapter in the story of an ever- failing legislative body. The latest survey shows the country is divided (no surprise) on who to blame for the shutdown.  35% blame Republicans, 32% blame Democrats, 28% blame both parties and 5% blame “Other”.  I’m in the 5%.  I blame “we the people”.  We voted for these yahoos and those who don’t vote are no less guilty.

 

_Artificial Intelligence is rapidly becoming the 21^st Century’s “Easy Button”.  Much has been written about the impact AI will have on how we work, how we solve problems, how we communicate and perhaps most ominously, how we think. Every major step forward comes with both a blessing and a curse.  The Reformation and the printing press totally disrupted and transformed Christian Europe.  It spawned wars and revivals; and played no small part in the migration of millions of Europeans to the Americas.  The Industrial Revolution transformed manufacturing, agriculture and how we do battle.  It also elevated the power of capital and drove labor to organize in self-defense.  Without the Industrial Revolution there likely would have been no World Wars, no Holocaust and certainly no weapons of mass destruction. The Digital Revolution was another leap forward, totally transforming how we live today from the way things were when us older folks were growing up. The Digital Revolution opened the door to AI and now there is no turning back.  It is up to us to adapt, adjust and overcome.

 

_And finally, there is New York, New York.  I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures.  So now New York City has a Social Democrat (in reality a Marxist) mayor.  It will be interesting to see how Mr. Mamdani runs New York City.  It will be even more interesting to see how many other Mamdani-like candidates run for other offices around the country. And there are several other cities, congressional districts and perhaps even a state or two where a Mamdani could win. Tennessee Williams, the great American playwright and screenwriter once said America has only three great cities: New York, San Francisco and New Orleans; and everything else is just Cleveland.  These days, I’ll take Cleveland.

The Unexpected

“Oft expectation fails, and most oft where it promises,

And oft it hits where hope is coldest and despair most fits.”

-William Shakespeare  ‘All’s Well That Ends Well.’

People sometimes say that in the end things tend to work out the way they were supposed to.  Some Christians put a finer point on it saying God has a plan and all things work according to His will. However, even as a Christian, I must confess that I don’t know how or why things turn out the way they do.  But I do know that seldom is the end what I expected in the beginning.  And when it hurts, I try very hard not to blame God.

We all start out with hopes and dreams which motivate us and create expectations.  Then life happens.  Look under life’s covers, anyone’s life, and you will see mostly unexpected events and unexpected outcomes.  Hopes fade.  Dreams die.  Marriages don’t last.  Jobs don’t work out and careers go in an unexpected direction.  Children from good homes with all the advantages go wrong and their parents never saw it coming.  Accidents, illness, bad choices or other people’s bad choices, a great wind or a bolt of lightning.  All unexpected, or at least unexpected until it is too late.  

We live in a broken, chaotic world.  Some of us contribute to that condition more than others. But even the best of us cannot avoid reality.  We cannot imagine, much less expect planes flying into buildings.  A global pandemic in an age of modern medicine and miracle drugs?  Unthinkable and unexpected. Donald Trump President? No one saw that coming 25 years ago. 

History is loaded with the unexpected.  No one expected America’s Civil War to last so long or kill so many Americans.  In the beginning most thought World War One would be settled and over in months.  That’s not how it worked out.  When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor I seriously doubt they expected that in less than 4 years the United States would develop the atomic bomb and actually drop it on two of their cities?  Who could have imagined much less expected that in the twentieth century millions of innocent citizens would be killed or starved to death by their governments (both Fascists and Communists).  Go back thousands of years and you will find that most of the world’s great empires rose quickly and unexpectedly.  And after a few hundred years, just as unexpectedly collapsed.

Expect the unexpected. What is left to us is to hope for the best while expecting and preparing for the worst.  If we are among the fortunate, reality ends up somewhere in between.