I just had another birthday…THE Birthday…60. You can run, but you can’t hide from 60. So I decided to embrace it and in doing so thought about something I wrote a couple of years ago on the 20th anniversary of Lonesome Dove. I read it again and it made me feel better about being old and much better about being a Texan. (Just the opposite of how I feel about being a Texan when I listen to Rick Perry.) So here’s my birthday gift to myself…
Lonesome Dove has been with me since 1985 when I read the book for the first time. As a native Texan whose roots go back to the frontier days, the story grabbed me and I literally inhaled Larry McMurtry’s novel over the course of a summer weekend (getting a wicked sunburn in the process). The fact that he borrowed so liberally from Texas history and real events and real characters did not bother me one iota. Most of Texas history and all the hoorah is part fiction anyway so why not use it. (Just like my kin who swore that my great-great granddaddy, half Indian, rode the trail with Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving. Of course he did, that’s their story which makes it my story and I’m sticking to it).
Then I saw the mini-series and heard the music. They go together you know. God said so. By the time the mini-series came out, I was living outside of Texas for the first time in my life. And Lonesome Dove became my touchstone and my connection to home. A few years later I moved to Montana. Driving across the Montana state line from Wyoming and listening to the soundtrack from Lonesome Dove is as close to a heavenly experience as one can ever hope to have on this earth.
I just about wore out that soundtrack for the next few years as I spent weekends exploring the best places in the Last Best Place. And they are right, Montana truly is the Last Best Place, but it was not my place and with a few detours along the way I finally made it back to Texas. With a new Lonesome Dove soundtrack and the latest digitized version of the mini-series, I continue to enjoy and relive the story. It means more to me now as I approach my 60th year. It is the perfect tale about imperfect people in a world that is so beautiful and yet so cruel that it comes as close to the truth as one can get with fiction.
As John Graves wrote in his classic “Good Bye to a River”, I am unabashedly and unapologetically a Texan. Lonesome Dove makes me feel only more so and in a good way. I’ve had conversations with people from other states and nations who say they love Lonesome Dove. I nod and smile and affirm its greatness and its accuracy in portraying what Texas and the Old West for that matter, once was (or at least claimed to be.) But, I also know that no one loves the Lonesome Dove story more than a Texan. And no other Texan could possibly love it more than I do.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Where Was God on 9.11?
This question has been the title for numerous blogs, books, papers and articles.
Most of the answers I've read are of the cheesy "God is in control....we just have to trust him" variety. There are also those on the other end of the spectrum who put the blame on religion for the fanaticism that led to 9.11 and use the event as further evidence that God wasn't there at all. He either doesn't exist or he doesn't care.
The following response to the question, Where Was God on 9.11, is the best I've read:
by Dr. Ray Bohlin
The events of September 11th are indelibly etched in our hearts and minds. The horrible memories of personal tragedy and suffering will never really go away. As well they shouldn't. As Christians we were all gratified to see so many of our national, state, and local leaders openly participate in prayer services and calling upon people of faith to pray for victims' families and injured survivors.
What was lost underneath the appearance of a religious revival was the clear cry of many that wondered if our prayers were justified. After all, if we pray to God in the aftermath and expect God to answer, where was He as countless individuals cried out to Him from the planes, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon? The skeptical voices were drowned out because of the fervent religious outcry seeking comfort and relief. But make no mistake; the question was there all the time. Where was God on September 11th? Surely He could have diverted those planes from their appointed destinations. Why couldn't the hijackers have been intercepted at the airports or their plots discovered long before their designed execution?
Why so many innocent people? Why should so many suffer so much? It all seems so senseless. How could a loving God allow it?
It is important to realize also that the suffering of those initial weeks is only the tip of the iceberg. There will be military deaths and casualties. The war on terrorism will be a long one with mounting personal and economic costs. The clean up will also continue to take its ever-mounting toll in dollars, lives, and emotional breakdowns.
Former pastor Gordon MacDonald spent time with the Salvation Army in caring for people and removing debris and bodies from the rubble of the World Trade Center. He relates this encounter from his journal of September 21 in Christianity Today.
"Later in the night, I wandered over to the first-line medical tent, which is staffed by military personnel who are schooled in battlefield casualties. The head of the team, a physician, and I got into a conversation.
"He was scared for the men in the pit, he said, because he knew what was coming 'downstream.' He predicted an unusual spike in the suicide rate and a serious outbreak of manic depression. . . . Many of the men will be unable to live with these losses at the WTC. It's going to take an unspeakable toll on them."
So why would God allow so much suffering? This is an ancient question. The problem of reconciling an all-powerful, all-loving God with evil is the number one reason that people reject God. I will try to clarify the question, provide some understanding, and make some comparisons of other explanations.
Psalm 73 and Asaph's Answer
The Bible answers the question of where God was on September 11 in many passages, but I would like to begin with the answer from Asaph in Psalm 73. My discussion will flow from the excellent discussion of the problem of evil found in Dr Robert Pyne's 1999 book, Humanity and Sin: The Creation, Fall and Redemption of Humanity.
In Psalm 73, Asaph begins by declaring that God is good. Without that assumption, nothing more need be said. He goes on in verses 2-12 to lament the excess and success of the wicked. In verses six and seven he says, "Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence. From their callous hearts comes iniquity; the evil conceits of their minds know no limits." (Psalm 73:6-7). From this point Asaph lets his feelings be known by crying out that this isn't fair when he says in verse 13, "Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence."
The wicked seem to snub their noses at God with no apparent judgment, while Asaph strives to follow the Lord to no benefit. We have all experienced this in one form or another. Some things in this world simply aren't fair. In the last ten verses of the psalm, Asaph recognizes that the wicked will indeed realize their punishment in the future. God's judgment will come. He also realizes that God is always with him and that is sufficient.
18th century philosopher David Hume stated the classical problem of evil by saying that if God were indeed all powerful He would do something about evil, and that if He were all-loving He would want to do something about evil. Since evil exists, God must either not be able or not want to do anything about it. This makes God either malevolent or impotent or both. But Hume chooses to leave out the option, as Asaph resolves, that God is patient. Hume, like many before him and after him, grows weary with a God who is patient towards evil.
We long for immediate justice. But before we pray too earnestly for immediate justice, we'd better reflect on what that would be like. What would instant justice look like? Immediate justice would have to be applied across the board. That means that every sin would be proportionately and immediately punished. We soon realize that immediate justice is fine if applied to everybody else. Dr. Pyne quotes D. A. Carson as saying, "The world would become a searing pain; the world would become hell. Do you really want nothing but totally effective, instantaneous justice? Then go to hell." I think we're all quite comfortable with a God that does not apply immediate justice.
Evil and the Sovereignty of God
Next, I want to focus on God's sovereignty. We understand that God knew what He was doing in creating people with the ability to choose to love Him or hate Him. In order for our love for Him to be real, our choice needed to be real and that means creating creatures that could turn from Him as well as love Him. In order to have creatures with moral freedom, God risked evil choices.
Some would go so far as to say that God couldn't intervene in our evil choices. But in Psalm 155:3, Psalm 135:6, and in Nebuchadnezzar's words of praise in Daniel 4:34-37 we're told it is God who does whatever He pleases. However, God does perform acts of deliverance and sometimes He chooses not to. We are still left with the question "Why?" In the book of Job, Job basically proclaims his innocence and essentially asks why? God doesn't really give Job an answer, but simply reminds him who is in charge. (Job 38:2-4) "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?" the Lord asks Job.
The parameters are clearly set. God in His power is always capable of intervening in human affairs, but sometimes He doesn't and we aren't always given a reason why. There is tension here that we must learn to accept, because the alternative is to blaspheme by assigning to God evil or malevolent actions. As Asaph declared, God is good!
This brings us to the hidden purposes of God. For although we can't always see God's purpose, we believe He has one in everything that occurs, even seemingly senseless acts of cruelty and evil. Here is where Jesus' sufferings serve as a model. The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before Him. (Hebrews 12:1-3) So then, we should bear our cross for the eternal joy set before us. (Hebrews 12:11, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18) But knowing this doesn't always make us feel better.
When Jesus was dying on the cross all His disciples but John deserted Him. From their perspective, all that they had learned and prepared for over the last three years was over, finished. How could Jesus let them crucify Him? It didn't make any sense at all. Yet as we well know now, the most important work in history was being accomplished and the disciples thought God was absent. How shortsighted our perspective can be.
The Danger of a Nice Explanation
But with this truth comes the danger of a nice explanation. Even though we know and trust that there is a purpose to God's discipline and His patience towards ultimate judgment, that doesn't mean we should somehow regard evil as an expression of God's goodness. In addition, we can be tempted to think that if God has a purpose to evil and suffering, then my own sin can be assigned not to me but to someone else, namely God Himself because He had a purpose in it.
Dr. Robert Pyne puts it this way.
We may not be able to fully resolve the problem of evil, and we may not be able to explain the origin of sin, but we can see the boundaries that must be maintained when addressing these issues. We share in Adam's guilt, but we cannot blame Him for our sin. God is sovereign, and He exercises His providential control over all things, but we cannot blame Him either. God permits injustice to continue, but He neither causes it nor delights in it.
Another danger lies in becoming too comfortable with evil. When we trust in God's ultimate purpose and patience with evil we shouldn't think that we have somehow solved the problem and therefore grow comfortable in its presence. We should never be at peace with sin, suffering, and evil.
The prophet Habakkuk sparred with God in the first few verses of chapter 1 of the book bearing his name by recounting all the evil in Israel. The Lord responds in verses 6-11 that indeed the Babylonians are coming and sin will be judged. Habakkuk further complains about God's choice of the godless Babylonians, to which God reminds him that they too will receive judgment. Yet the coming judgment still left Habakkuk with fear and dread. "I heard and my inward parts trembled: at the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, and in my place I tremble. . . . Yet, I will exult in the Lord." (Habakkuk 3:16-19.) Habakkuk believes that God knows what He is doing. That does not bring a smile to his face. But he can face the day.
"We are not supposed to live at peace with evil and sin, but we are supposed to live at peace with God. We continue to trust in His goodness, His sovereignty, His mercy, and we continue to confess our own responsibility for sin."
He Was There!
Though we have come to a better understanding of the problem of evil, we are still left with our original question. Where was God on September 11th?
While the Christian answer may not seem a perfect answer, it is the only one which offers truth, hope, and comfort. Naturalism or deism offers no real answers. Things just happen. There is no good and no evil. Make the best of it! Pantheism says the physical world is irrelevant or an illusion. It doesn't really matter. Good and evil are the same.
To answer the question we need to understand that God does, in fact, weep over every sparrow and grieve over every evil and every suffering. Jesus is with us in all of our suffering, feeling all of our pain. That's what compassion means, to suffer with another. So the suffering that Christ endured on the cross is literally unimaginable.
"The answer is, how could you not love this being who went the extra mile, who practiced more than He preached, who entered into our world, who suffered our pains, who offers Himself to us in the midst of our sorrows?"
We must remember that Jesus' entire time on earth was a time of sacrifice and suffering, not just His trial and crucifixion. Jesus was tempted in the manner of all men and He bore upon Himself all our sin and suffering. So the answer is quite simple. He was there!
He was on the 110th floor as one called home. He was at the other end of the line as his wife realized her husband was not coming home. He was on the planes, at the Pentagon, in the stairwells answering those who called out to Him and calling to those who didn't.
He saw every face, knew every name, even though some did not know Him. Some met Him for the first time, some ignored Him for the last time. He is there now.
Let me share with you one more story from Gordon MacDonald's experience with the Salvation Army during the initial clean up at the World Trade Center.
"There is a man whose job it is to record the trucks as they leave the pit with their load of rubble. He is from Jamaica, and he has one of the most radiant smiles I've ever seen. He brings a kind of spiritual sunshine to the entire intersection. "I watch him--with his red, white, and blue hard hat--talking to each truck driver as they wait their turn to go in and get a load. He brightens men up. In the midst of those smells, the dust, the clashing sounds, he brings a civilizing influence to the moment. "Occasionally I go out to where he stands and bring him some water. At other times, he comes over and chats with us. We always laugh when we engage. "I said to him last night, 'You're a follower of the Lord, aren't you?' He gave me an enthusiastic 'Yes! Jesus is with me all the time!' "Somehow this guy represents to me the quintessential picture of the ideal follower of Christ: out in the middle of the chaos, doing his job, pressing a bit of joy into a wild situation.
Raymond G. Bohlin is President of Probe Ministries. Dr. Bohlin was born and raised in Chicago, IL and is a graduate of the University of Illinois (B.S., zoology, 1971-1975), the University of North Texas (M.S., population genetics, 1977-1980), and the University of Texas at Dallas (M.S., Ph.D., molecular and cell biology, 1984-1991). He has been with Probe Ministries since 1975 and has lectured and debated on dozens of college and university campuses. He has addressed issues in the creation/evolution debate as well as other science-related issues such as the environment, genetic engineering, medical ethics, and sexually transmitted diseases. Dr. Bohlin and his wife Sue, an associate speaker and Webmistress for Probe Ministries as well as a professional calligrapher and Christian speaker, live in Plano, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, and they have two grown sons. He can be reached via e-mail at rbohlin@probe.org.
Most of the answers I've read are of the cheesy "God is in control....we just have to trust him" variety. There are also those on the other end of the spectrum who put the blame on religion for the fanaticism that led to 9.11 and use the event as further evidence that God wasn't there at all. He either doesn't exist or he doesn't care.
The following response to the question, Where Was God on 9.11, is the best I've read:
by Dr. Ray Bohlin
The events of September 11th are indelibly etched in our hearts and minds. The horrible memories of personal tragedy and suffering will never really go away. As well they shouldn't. As Christians we were all gratified to see so many of our national, state, and local leaders openly participate in prayer services and calling upon people of faith to pray for victims' families and injured survivors.
What was lost underneath the appearance of a religious revival was the clear cry of many that wondered if our prayers were justified. After all, if we pray to God in the aftermath and expect God to answer, where was He as countless individuals cried out to Him from the planes, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon? The skeptical voices were drowned out because of the fervent religious outcry seeking comfort and relief. But make no mistake; the question was there all the time. Where was God on September 11th? Surely He could have diverted those planes from their appointed destinations. Why couldn't the hijackers have been intercepted at the airports or their plots discovered long before their designed execution?
Why so many innocent people? Why should so many suffer so much? It all seems so senseless. How could a loving God allow it?
It is important to realize also that the suffering of those initial weeks is only the tip of the iceberg. There will be military deaths and casualties. The war on terrorism will be a long one with mounting personal and economic costs. The clean up will also continue to take its ever-mounting toll in dollars, lives, and emotional breakdowns.
Former pastor Gordon MacDonald spent time with the Salvation Army in caring for people and removing debris and bodies from the rubble of the World Trade Center. He relates this encounter from his journal of September 21 in Christianity Today.
"Later in the night, I wandered over to the first-line medical tent, which is staffed by military personnel who are schooled in battlefield casualties. The head of the team, a physician, and I got into a conversation.
"He was scared for the men in the pit, he said, because he knew what was coming 'downstream.' He predicted an unusual spike in the suicide rate and a serious outbreak of manic depression. . . . Many of the men will be unable to live with these losses at the WTC. It's going to take an unspeakable toll on them."
So why would God allow so much suffering? This is an ancient question. The problem of reconciling an all-powerful, all-loving God with evil is the number one reason that people reject God. I will try to clarify the question, provide some understanding, and make some comparisons of other explanations.
Psalm 73 and Asaph's Answer
The Bible answers the question of where God was on September 11 in many passages, but I would like to begin with the answer from Asaph in Psalm 73. My discussion will flow from the excellent discussion of the problem of evil found in Dr Robert Pyne's 1999 book, Humanity and Sin: The Creation, Fall and Redemption of Humanity.
In Psalm 73, Asaph begins by declaring that God is good. Without that assumption, nothing more need be said. He goes on in verses 2-12 to lament the excess and success of the wicked. In verses six and seven he says, "Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence. From their callous hearts comes iniquity; the evil conceits of their minds know no limits." (Psalm 73:6-7). From this point Asaph lets his feelings be known by crying out that this isn't fair when he says in verse 13, "Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence."
The wicked seem to snub their noses at God with no apparent judgment, while Asaph strives to follow the Lord to no benefit. We have all experienced this in one form or another. Some things in this world simply aren't fair. In the last ten verses of the psalm, Asaph recognizes that the wicked will indeed realize their punishment in the future. God's judgment will come. He also realizes that God is always with him and that is sufficient.
18th century philosopher David Hume stated the classical problem of evil by saying that if God were indeed all powerful He would do something about evil, and that if He were all-loving He would want to do something about evil. Since evil exists, God must either not be able or not want to do anything about it. This makes God either malevolent or impotent or both. But Hume chooses to leave out the option, as Asaph resolves, that God is patient. Hume, like many before him and after him, grows weary with a God who is patient towards evil.
We long for immediate justice. But before we pray too earnestly for immediate justice, we'd better reflect on what that would be like. What would instant justice look like? Immediate justice would have to be applied across the board. That means that every sin would be proportionately and immediately punished. We soon realize that immediate justice is fine if applied to everybody else. Dr. Pyne quotes D. A. Carson as saying, "The world would become a searing pain; the world would become hell. Do you really want nothing but totally effective, instantaneous justice? Then go to hell." I think we're all quite comfortable with a God that does not apply immediate justice.
Evil and the Sovereignty of God
Next, I want to focus on God's sovereignty. We understand that God knew what He was doing in creating people with the ability to choose to love Him or hate Him. In order for our love for Him to be real, our choice needed to be real and that means creating creatures that could turn from Him as well as love Him. In order to have creatures with moral freedom, God risked evil choices.
Some would go so far as to say that God couldn't intervene in our evil choices. But in Psalm 155:3, Psalm 135:6, and in Nebuchadnezzar's words of praise in Daniel 4:34-37 we're told it is God who does whatever He pleases. However, God does perform acts of deliverance and sometimes He chooses not to. We are still left with the question "Why?" In the book of Job, Job basically proclaims his innocence and essentially asks why? God doesn't really give Job an answer, but simply reminds him who is in charge. (Job 38:2-4) "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?" the Lord asks Job.
The parameters are clearly set. God in His power is always capable of intervening in human affairs, but sometimes He doesn't and we aren't always given a reason why. There is tension here that we must learn to accept, because the alternative is to blaspheme by assigning to God evil or malevolent actions. As Asaph declared, God is good!
This brings us to the hidden purposes of God. For although we can't always see God's purpose, we believe He has one in everything that occurs, even seemingly senseless acts of cruelty and evil. Here is where Jesus' sufferings serve as a model. The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before Him. (Hebrews 12:1-3) So then, we should bear our cross for the eternal joy set before us. (Hebrews 12:11, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18) But knowing this doesn't always make us feel better.
When Jesus was dying on the cross all His disciples but John deserted Him. From their perspective, all that they had learned and prepared for over the last three years was over, finished. How could Jesus let them crucify Him? It didn't make any sense at all. Yet as we well know now, the most important work in history was being accomplished and the disciples thought God was absent. How shortsighted our perspective can be.
The Danger of a Nice Explanation
But with this truth comes the danger of a nice explanation. Even though we know and trust that there is a purpose to God's discipline and His patience towards ultimate judgment, that doesn't mean we should somehow regard evil as an expression of God's goodness. In addition, we can be tempted to think that if God has a purpose to evil and suffering, then my own sin can be assigned not to me but to someone else, namely God Himself because He had a purpose in it.
Dr. Robert Pyne puts it this way.
We may not be able to fully resolve the problem of evil, and we may not be able to explain the origin of sin, but we can see the boundaries that must be maintained when addressing these issues. We share in Adam's guilt, but we cannot blame Him for our sin. God is sovereign, and He exercises His providential control over all things, but we cannot blame Him either. God permits injustice to continue, but He neither causes it nor delights in it.
Another danger lies in becoming too comfortable with evil. When we trust in God's ultimate purpose and patience with evil we shouldn't think that we have somehow solved the problem and therefore grow comfortable in its presence. We should never be at peace with sin, suffering, and evil.
The prophet Habakkuk sparred with God in the first few verses of chapter 1 of the book bearing his name by recounting all the evil in Israel. The Lord responds in verses 6-11 that indeed the Babylonians are coming and sin will be judged. Habakkuk further complains about God's choice of the godless Babylonians, to which God reminds him that they too will receive judgment. Yet the coming judgment still left Habakkuk with fear and dread. "I heard and my inward parts trembled: at the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, and in my place I tremble. . . . Yet, I will exult in the Lord." (Habakkuk 3:16-19.) Habakkuk believes that God knows what He is doing. That does not bring a smile to his face. But he can face the day.
"We are not supposed to live at peace with evil and sin, but we are supposed to live at peace with God. We continue to trust in His goodness, His sovereignty, His mercy, and we continue to confess our own responsibility for sin."
He Was There!
Though we have come to a better understanding of the problem of evil, we are still left with our original question. Where was God on September 11th?
While the Christian answer may not seem a perfect answer, it is the only one which offers truth, hope, and comfort. Naturalism or deism offers no real answers. Things just happen. There is no good and no evil. Make the best of it! Pantheism says the physical world is irrelevant or an illusion. It doesn't really matter. Good and evil are the same.
To answer the question we need to understand that God does, in fact, weep over every sparrow and grieve over every evil and every suffering. Jesus is with us in all of our suffering, feeling all of our pain. That's what compassion means, to suffer with another. So the suffering that Christ endured on the cross is literally unimaginable.
"The answer is, how could you not love this being who went the extra mile, who practiced more than He preached, who entered into our world, who suffered our pains, who offers Himself to us in the midst of our sorrows?"
We must remember that Jesus' entire time on earth was a time of sacrifice and suffering, not just His trial and crucifixion. Jesus was tempted in the manner of all men and He bore upon Himself all our sin and suffering. So the answer is quite simple. He was there!
He was on the 110th floor as one called home. He was at the other end of the line as his wife realized her husband was not coming home. He was on the planes, at the Pentagon, in the stairwells answering those who called out to Him and calling to those who didn't.
He saw every face, knew every name, even though some did not know Him. Some met Him for the first time, some ignored Him for the last time. He is there now.
Let me share with you one more story from Gordon MacDonald's experience with the Salvation Army during the initial clean up at the World Trade Center.
"There is a man whose job it is to record the trucks as they leave the pit with their load of rubble. He is from Jamaica, and he has one of the most radiant smiles I've ever seen. He brings a kind of spiritual sunshine to the entire intersection. "I watch him--with his red, white, and blue hard hat--talking to each truck driver as they wait their turn to go in and get a load. He brightens men up. In the midst of those smells, the dust, the clashing sounds, he brings a civilizing influence to the moment. "Occasionally I go out to where he stands and bring him some water. At other times, he comes over and chats with us. We always laugh when we engage. "I said to him last night, 'You're a follower of the Lord, aren't you?' He gave me an enthusiastic 'Yes! Jesus is with me all the time!' "Somehow this guy represents to me the quintessential picture of the ideal follower of Christ: out in the middle of the chaos, doing his job, pressing a bit of joy into a wild situation.
Raymond G. Bohlin is President of Probe Ministries. Dr. Bohlin was born and raised in Chicago, IL and is a graduate of the University of Illinois (B.S., zoology, 1971-1975), the University of North Texas (M.S., population genetics, 1977-1980), and the University of Texas at Dallas (M.S., Ph.D., molecular and cell biology, 1984-1991). He has been with Probe Ministries since 1975 and has lectured and debated on dozens of college and university campuses. He has addressed issues in the creation/evolution debate as well as other science-related issues such as the environment, genetic engineering, medical ethics, and sexually transmitted diseases. Dr. Bohlin and his wife Sue, an associate speaker and Webmistress for Probe Ministries as well as a professional calligrapher and Christian speaker, live in Plano, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, and they have two grown sons. He can be reached via e-mail at rbohlin@probe.org.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Working
Happy Labor Day. If you are employed, congratulations. If you are not employed, don’t give up. Most likely you will find a job. Whether employed or unemployed, the following tips are worth reading. They come from Robyn Greenspan’s ExecuNet online newsletter (www.execunet.com).
1. Regardless of where you land, YOU need to take personal responsibility for YOUR future. Don't expect your employer to take responsibility for your career. Take advantage of opportunities to receive training in all areas. Your education is never over. You may be sick of books, but it is essential that you keep learning.
2. Although you want to give your all to your new job/employer, don't neglect development of your "personal brand." Get out there and join appropriate organizations. Make contacts. Network. Don't assume that you will stay in one place very long. From day one, keep a file on those you meet and stay in touch. Read about personal networking.
3. Learn to love change. Throughout your career you will need to manage change, both as one leading change and as one facing change. Nothing stands still any more. If you do, you will be run over. Read some books about change by John Kotter.
4. Be nice. Learn to get along. Help others. You may be real smart and extremely knowledgeable, but much of your potential success will be the result of whether people like you. That's just the reality of things. That doesn't mean being a phony, a suck-up, a brown-nose. People see through that. Learn to genuinely like people and see past the things that may turn you off. Be someone that people like to be around.
5. Do more than you have to. Don't try to just get by. Anyone can do that. Build a reputation as the one who goes the extra mile. And this isn't just for others to see. You will personally benefit when you approach things this way in all areas of your life, whether it be your career, sports, hobbies, relationships, etc.
6. Find meaning to your life. Take time to examine who you are and why you are here
Saturday, August 27, 2011
The Great American Truck Show..For Real
Since I don’t live too far from Dallas, I decided to go the Great American Truck Show (GATS) this week. It was at the Dallas Convention Center. I usually try to attend a “truck show” every couple of years. The Mid-America in Louisville is held in March and it’s the biggest and the best. Las Vegas has a good one and there’s one in Iowa that’s pretty good (plus they’ve got giant pork chops on the menu).
I like going to truck shows. Many of our clients are trucking companies and some of their managers and executives go to the shows. So it’s a great opportunity to meet and greet a lot of folks in one place in a very short period of time. But the main reason I go is that I like trucks. I grew up around trucks and spent over 25 years in the transportation industry before becoming a headhunter. It’s amazing to see the new technology and innovations. All of the equipment just keeps getting better and better. From a “hardware” standpoint, the industry is in pretty good shape.
But, this equipment is of no value on its own. Equipment is only one part of the “Real World Truck Show” (RWTS) formula. The RWTS needs freight, capital, roads, energy and drivers. And it would appear that all of those elements are hard to come by these days. Freight demand is okay, but only because capacity is tight. Capacity it tight because the most important actors in the RWTS are drivers and there aren’t nearly enough them. When freight demand grows (and it will) and assuming capital for more equipment is available (and it will be eventually); there simply won't be enough drivers. Rates will go up and more money will be available for the drivers. But some estimates are that driver pay, benefits, perks and training costs may have to increase by as much as 50% in order to attract truly qualified and capable people into the industry. If that happens, the overall cost of highway transportation will increase 15-20%. That will push some freight on to other modes (rail or inland waterways) and, in some cases, result in certain products just not getting to market.
And then there are roads and energy. The RWTS needs fuel and right-of-way. It’s reasonable to assume that the cost of fuel and taxes will increase 25-50% over the next decade. This will add an additional 10-20% on to the cost of highway transportation. (That’s assuming we have a rational energy policy that includes aggressive petroleum exploration and production along with the development of alternative fuels. If we don’t do that, all bets are off and the rest of this discussion is irrelevant).
So now we’ve increased the overall cost of moving goods over-the-road by 25-40%. The North American economy is so dependent on highway transportation, that this type of cost increase would stifle economic growth for decades. We’re talking about major shifts in populations and production just to offset this cost increase. Lifestyles will change and not for the better. Some folks dream of going back to self-sustaining villages where we all walk or ride our bicycles down to the market every day for a loaf of bread and locally grown fruits and vegetables. (And forget about that cheeseburger, animals will only be allowed in petting zoos). A little bit of this “village” economy is a good thing. But, turning the clock back 150 years across the board would be a disaster.
So the time has come where we must look at better ways to transport products. Equipment technology must continue to improve. We need a 50% improvement in fuel efficiency over the next decade. We need to move larger loads and utilize all available capacity. A 25% improvement in capacity utilization (to include larger, combination trailer configurations) is a reasonable goal. Highway improvements are a must. We need more highway capacity, including truck only lanes connecting major markets. The entire pick-up & delivery, load/unload process has to be streamlined. Packaging and material handling has improved significantly over the past 20 years but we need to do more.
All of these issues have been cussed and discussed for years. We have made some progress. But we are falling behind, especially on highway improvements and the training and development of a new generation of drivers. I’m not a big fan of government involvement, but these are two areas where the government must take the lead. The issues are too big for companies or an industry to tackle on their own. How do we pay for it? It’s tough, but we’ve got to make meaningful changes to social security, medicare/medicaid and military spending. And we have to increase tax revenues. (Notice that I didn’t say just print more money). All of these steps will be painful. And the jobs created building roads and driving trucks won’t be nearly enough to offset the pain. But if we don’t step up and address these issues, life as we know it North America will cease to exist. A lot of people don’t realize it, but we really do need the RWTS.
I like going to truck shows. Many of our clients are trucking companies and some of their managers and executives go to the shows. So it’s a great opportunity to meet and greet a lot of folks in one place in a very short period of time. But the main reason I go is that I like trucks. I grew up around trucks and spent over 25 years in the transportation industry before becoming a headhunter. It’s amazing to see the new technology and innovations. All of the equipment just keeps getting better and better. From a “hardware” standpoint, the industry is in pretty good shape.
But, this equipment is of no value on its own. Equipment is only one part of the “Real World Truck Show” (RWTS) formula. The RWTS needs freight, capital, roads, energy and drivers. And it would appear that all of those elements are hard to come by these days. Freight demand is okay, but only because capacity is tight. Capacity it tight because the most important actors in the RWTS are drivers and there aren’t nearly enough them. When freight demand grows (and it will) and assuming capital for more equipment is available (and it will be eventually); there simply won't be enough drivers. Rates will go up and more money will be available for the drivers. But some estimates are that driver pay, benefits, perks and training costs may have to increase by as much as 50% in order to attract truly qualified and capable people into the industry. If that happens, the overall cost of highway transportation will increase 15-20%. That will push some freight on to other modes (rail or inland waterways) and, in some cases, result in certain products just not getting to market.
And then there are roads and energy. The RWTS needs fuel and right-of-way. It’s reasonable to assume that the cost of fuel and taxes will increase 25-50% over the next decade. This will add an additional 10-20% on to the cost of highway transportation. (That’s assuming we have a rational energy policy that includes aggressive petroleum exploration and production along with the development of alternative fuels. If we don’t do that, all bets are off and the rest of this discussion is irrelevant).
So now we’ve increased the overall cost of moving goods over-the-road by 25-40%. The North American economy is so dependent on highway transportation, that this type of cost increase would stifle economic growth for decades. We’re talking about major shifts in populations and production just to offset this cost increase. Lifestyles will change and not for the better. Some folks dream of going back to self-sustaining villages where we all walk or ride our bicycles down to the market every day for a loaf of bread and locally grown fruits and vegetables. (And forget about that cheeseburger, animals will only be allowed in petting zoos). A little bit of this “village” economy is a good thing. But, turning the clock back 150 years across the board would be a disaster.
So the time has come where we must look at better ways to transport products. Equipment technology must continue to improve. We need a 50% improvement in fuel efficiency over the next decade. We need to move larger loads and utilize all available capacity. A 25% improvement in capacity utilization (to include larger, combination trailer configurations) is a reasonable goal. Highway improvements are a must. We need more highway capacity, including truck only lanes connecting major markets. The entire pick-up & delivery, load/unload process has to be streamlined. Packaging and material handling has improved significantly over the past 20 years but we need to do more.
All of these issues have been cussed and discussed for years. We have made some progress. But we are falling behind, especially on highway improvements and the training and development of a new generation of drivers. I’m not a big fan of government involvement, but these are two areas where the government must take the lead. The issues are too big for companies or an industry to tackle on their own. How do we pay for it? It’s tough, but we’ve got to make meaningful changes to social security, medicare/medicaid and military spending. And we have to increase tax revenues. (Notice that I didn’t say just print more money). All of these steps will be painful. And the jobs created building roads and driving trucks won’t be nearly enough to offset the pain. But if we don’t step up and address these issues, life as we know it North America will cease to exist. A lot of people don’t realize it, but we really do need the RWTS.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
If I Had A Hammer....
….I probably wouldn’t have a job. If I was a registered nurse or a software developer with JAVA/J2EE or .Net proficiency or a truck driver with a clean driving record; I would have my pick of jobs. And therein lays the problem with the “Jobs Problem” in the United States. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 3.1 million job openings in this country. Certainly not back to pre-recession levels of 4.5 million but much better than the 2.2-2.3 million we saw in 2009. So why aren’t we making more progress on reducing unemployment? There are 13.9 million reasons (the number of officially unemployed) plus probably another 10 million or so we don’t count. Every story and situation is personal and unique. I get that and we should not minimize that fact.
HOWEVER, I think we have to be honest with ourselves and if it means being politically incorrect or insensitive, so be it. I think there are 4 major factors driving unemployment. I think these factors are so embedded in our society that it is likely we will continue to see a large number of our fellow citizens out of work or, at best working in jobs that will not support a reasonable standard of living without some sort of government assistance.
Number 4 issue: Mobility. Many of the unemployed are not living where the jobs are. If we can’t sell our home or we can’t afford to move away from our spouse’s job; we’re going to be unemployed, or at best under-employed, for a long time.
Number 3 issue: Skills. The politicians talk about creating jobs. I’m not sure what that means (and obviously they don’t either.). But I do know this, if you cannot produce a product or a service that people are willing to pay for, you are not going to have a job (unless it’s a government job.) We have to start with the demand side of the jobs equation. What do we need done? Who’s going to pay for it? And, how do we motivate/assist people in developing the skills necessary to do that work?
Number 2 issue: Downsizing. 92 million baby-boomers are going from spenders to savers. In addition, their kids have developed different values and are actually more conservative when it comes to spending money. Smaller homes, smaller cars, smaller vacations, fewer clothes, fewer “toys”. Sure at the high end, we see some big spenders among baby-boomers and baby-boomer offspring. But for the most part, I think there is a fundamental shift away from the “shop ‘til you drop” mentality. This downsizing, de-leveraging, payoff the credit cards, live within your means is a good thing over the long-run. But, for now it means much slower job creation.
Number 1 issue: Demographics. And here’s where it gets so P.I. The “Have Not” population is growing much faster than the “Have” population. Certainly there are some “Have’s” who have become “Have Not’s” or “Have Less’s”. But the real growth in the “Have Not” population is coming the old-fashion way…they are having more babies. This is not just a racial issue, although the statistics would say that race is a major factor. It’s not just a regional issue, again even though statistics point to regional differences and those have racial overtones as well. I really believe it is an across the board issue that is more related to economic and educational factors.
The Best and the Brightest among us are barely reproducing enough to replace themselves. If your parents are among the “Best and Brightest”, odds are that you have a good chance of becoming one of the “Best and Brightest”. But if you’re one of five kids growing up in poverty in SE Oklahoma with an “I’m going back for my GED someday”- occasionally employed for minimum wage, chain-smoking, food stamp shopping, watching Married With Children reruns, single parent….if that’s your circumstance…the deck is stacked against you. And these folks, the “Have Not’s”, whether living in rural poverty or the inner cities, make up the majority of the next generation. These and the children of immigrants, some illegal.
The good news is that those “Have Nots” who do beat the odds often turn out to be the “Best of the Best and the Brightest of the Brightest”. They have to be in order to beat the odds. But, they cannot do it alone. Better public education, more relevant and more invested in developing citizens who can fully contribute and participate in our society; not just pass minimum standard tests; is the key. If we do nothing, a generation from now twice as many people will be unemployed. And, at some point, society starts to breakdown. When the people fail, nations fall. That’s just how it works.
HOWEVER, I think we have to be honest with ourselves and if it means being politically incorrect or insensitive, so be it. I think there are 4 major factors driving unemployment. I think these factors are so embedded in our society that it is likely we will continue to see a large number of our fellow citizens out of work or, at best working in jobs that will not support a reasonable standard of living without some sort of government assistance.
Number 4 issue: Mobility. Many of the unemployed are not living where the jobs are. If we can’t sell our home or we can’t afford to move away from our spouse’s job; we’re going to be unemployed, or at best under-employed, for a long time.
Number 3 issue: Skills. The politicians talk about creating jobs. I’m not sure what that means (and obviously they don’t either.). But I do know this, if you cannot produce a product or a service that people are willing to pay for, you are not going to have a job (unless it’s a government job.) We have to start with the demand side of the jobs equation. What do we need done? Who’s going to pay for it? And, how do we motivate/assist people in developing the skills necessary to do that work?
Number 2 issue: Downsizing. 92 million baby-boomers are going from spenders to savers. In addition, their kids have developed different values and are actually more conservative when it comes to spending money. Smaller homes, smaller cars, smaller vacations, fewer clothes, fewer “toys”. Sure at the high end, we see some big spenders among baby-boomers and baby-boomer offspring. But for the most part, I think there is a fundamental shift away from the “shop ‘til you drop” mentality. This downsizing, de-leveraging, payoff the credit cards, live within your means is a good thing over the long-run. But, for now it means much slower job creation.
Number 1 issue: Demographics. And here’s where it gets so P.I. The “Have Not” population is growing much faster than the “Have” population. Certainly there are some “Have’s” who have become “Have Not’s” or “Have Less’s”. But the real growth in the “Have Not” population is coming the old-fashion way…they are having more babies. This is not just a racial issue, although the statistics would say that race is a major factor. It’s not just a regional issue, again even though statistics point to regional differences and those have racial overtones as well. I really believe it is an across the board issue that is more related to economic and educational factors.
The Best and the Brightest among us are barely reproducing enough to replace themselves. If your parents are among the “Best and Brightest”, odds are that you have a good chance of becoming one of the “Best and Brightest”. But if you’re one of five kids growing up in poverty in SE Oklahoma with an “I’m going back for my GED someday”- occasionally employed for minimum wage, chain-smoking, food stamp shopping, watching Married With Children reruns, single parent….if that’s your circumstance…the deck is stacked against you. And these folks, the “Have Not’s”, whether living in rural poverty or the inner cities, make up the majority of the next generation. These and the children of immigrants, some illegal.
The good news is that those “Have Nots” who do beat the odds often turn out to be the “Best of the Best and the Brightest of the Brightest”. They have to be in order to beat the odds. But, they cannot do it alone. Better public education, more relevant and more invested in developing citizens who can fully contribute and participate in our society; not just pass minimum standard tests; is the key. If we do nothing, a generation from now twice as many people will be unemployed. And, at some point, society starts to breakdown. When the people fail, nations fall. That’s just how it works.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Someone Else's Tomorrow
“All the memories fade, send the ghosts on their way
Tell them they've had their day, it's someone else's tomorrow…”
-from the song Someone Else’s Tomorrow, written and performed by Patty Griffin
Back in the mid-90’s, we lived in Western Montana. It’s a great place. We often question why we ever left and why we don’t move back. (And when it’s 110 in Texas and it hasn’t rained in months, we ask those questions more frequently.) There are a lot of answers to both of those questions and most of them drift into the realm of TMI. We know why we left, but we always had it in our heads that we might move back someday. We’ve gone back several times and we just spent the last week up there. Western Montana is still a great place, but it’s not the same place we left in the 90’s. And for that matter, we’re not the same. Eventually all places become “Someone Else’s Tomorrow”. We don’t like to admit it, but it’s true. And this truth goes way beyond just places on the map. Change is inevitable and rarely do things change back to the way they were. This is what makes change so difficult.
Which brings me back to Montana. I love Glacier National Park, especially the eastern side. It is spectacular. It used to belong to the Blackfoot Indians. Then the Whiteman took their land. The life today’s Blackfoot lives in places like Browning, Montana is a big step down from how they lived before the whites came and took away their tomorrow. But, to keep things in perspective, the Blackfoot took the land from other Indians and not all that long ago. In the early 1700’s the Blackfoot invaded from the North and chased the Flatheads over the Continental Divide. And in less than 150 years those valleys west of the Divide along with most of Montana and Idaho also became “Someone Else’s Tomorrow” for ranchers, loggers, miners, railroad workers, factory workers, truckers, retirees and most recently the “rich and occasionally famous”. And today there are a lot of multi-million dollar homes for sell at reduced prices. Someone’s dream home will become someone else’s tomorrow.
Texas and the entire Southwest have gone through the same cycle. The Comanche Indians were late comers to the region. When they arrived, life changed dramatically for the Wichitas, Caddos and Tonkowas. Mexico then opened the door to Anglo-Saxon immigrants and everything changed for Mexico and for the Indians. And everything kept on changing, rapidly. Even now, the Texas I grew up in is not the Texas I live in today. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I may well live to see the day when Hispanics once again outnumber Anglos in this state. When the “all bidness” is no longer big business. When there is not enough water to irrigate West Texas cotton and communities can no longer afford to build multi-million dollar high school football stadiums.
Montana and Texas are just blips on the map of world history. When one looks at the bigger picture, change has always been and will always be. It can be hard to swallow, especially if a society has lived with the myth that children will always have better lives than their parents. I guess it depends on how one defines “better”. The truth is that the children will always have different lives than their parents. Just ask a Blackfoot Indian.
Tell them they've had their day, it's someone else's tomorrow…”
-from the song Someone Else’s Tomorrow, written and performed by Patty Griffin
Back in the mid-90’s, we lived in Western Montana. It’s a great place. We often question why we ever left and why we don’t move back. (And when it’s 110 in Texas and it hasn’t rained in months, we ask those questions more frequently.) There are a lot of answers to both of those questions and most of them drift into the realm of TMI. We know why we left, but we always had it in our heads that we might move back someday. We’ve gone back several times and we just spent the last week up there. Western Montana is still a great place, but it’s not the same place we left in the 90’s. And for that matter, we’re not the same. Eventually all places become “Someone Else’s Tomorrow”. We don’t like to admit it, but it’s true. And this truth goes way beyond just places on the map. Change is inevitable and rarely do things change back to the way they were. This is what makes change so difficult.
Which brings me back to Montana. I love Glacier National Park, especially the eastern side. It is spectacular. It used to belong to the Blackfoot Indians. Then the Whiteman took their land. The life today’s Blackfoot lives in places like Browning, Montana is a big step down from how they lived before the whites came and took away their tomorrow. But, to keep things in perspective, the Blackfoot took the land from other Indians and not all that long ago. In the early 1700’s the Blackfoot invaded from the North and chased the Flatheads over the Continental Divide. And in less than 150 years those valleys west of the Divide along with most of Montana and Idaho also became “Someone Else’s Tomorrow” for ranchers, loggers, miners, railroad workers, factory workers, truckers, retirees and most recently the “rich and occasionally famous”. And today there are a lot of multi-million dollar homes for sell at reduced prices. Someone’s dream home will become someone else’s tomorrow.
Texas and the entire Southwest have gone through the same cycle. The Comanche Indians were late comers to the region. When they arrived, life changed dramatically for the Wichitas, Caddos and Tonkowas. Mexico then opened the door to Anglo-Saxon immigrants and everything changed for Mexico and for the Indians. And everything kept on changing, rapidly. Even now, the Texas I grew up in is not the Texas I live in today. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I may well live to see the day when Hispanics once again outnumber Anglos in this state. When the “all bidness” is no longer big business. When there is not enough water to irrigate West Texas cotton and communities can no longer afford to build multi-million dollar high school football stadiums.
Montana and Texas are just blips on the map of world history. When one looks at the bigger picture, change has always been and will always be. It can be hard to swallow, especially if a society has lived with the myth that children will always have better lives than their parents. I guess it depends on how one defines “better”. The truth is that the children will always have different lives than their parents. Just ask a Blackfoot Indian.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Money, Shoes and Taxes
In today’s edition of the NY Times there is a story about how the rich are doing so well in the recovery. It talks about how high-end luxury stores are actually “marking UP’ their merchandise, yet it's still “flying off the shelves”. The article includes a photo of this gorgeous young woman buying a pair of Louis Vuitton shoes at Bergdorf’s for the mere price of $1495. This “outrageous extravagance” was brought to my attention by the talking heads on MSNBC’s Morning Joe show. (Yes, I must admit that I watch MSNBC on occasion. Just for the record, my morning channels in order of preference are: CNBC, FOX-Business (only because Don Imus is there), CNN, ESPN, The Weather Channel, The Golf Channel, MSNBC, The Cartoon Network and FOX News.)
At any rate, this morning I happened to catch the discussion on MSNBC regarding this young lady’s purchase of a pair of $1495 shoes. There was outrage and expression of disbelief that our nation has come to this point. That the gap between the rich and the poor is too large. That the middle class has been virtually wiped out. That we are a nation of the wealthy, for the wealthy, run by the wealthy. That this again was a clear message that the wealthy should be willing to step up and pay higher taxes instead of buying designer shoes. (Wonder what the sales tax was on those shoes?)
Ok, I’m already on the record as saying that some sort of tax increase must be part of our long-term plan to push the federal deficit down to a more manageable level. And, I fundamentally agree with a moderately progressive tax system where higher income brackets pay marginally higher tax rates. But, if I could wave a magic wand, I’d rather see our young lady friend buy two or three or four pairs of $1500 shoes than give more of her (or someone’s) hard earned money to the government.
Where do the liberals think the money goes when a rich person buys something? Do they really believe that there is a members only economy where just the wealthy are involved in manufacturing, distributing and selling $1500 shoes? Is it just rich folks who build yachts and luxury homes and $80,000 automobiles? The liberals (who now prefer to be called progressives) really believe that $1500 given to the government is better than $1500 spent on a pair of designer shoes. That’s the issue. Plain and simple. When Rachel Maddow looks at the Hoover Dam and preaches that this is the type of super project that only a government can build, their argument makes some sense.
The problem is there are far too many government projects and programs which are not “super”. Frankly, I’m inclined to believe that $1500 spent on a pair of designer shoes does more good for the economy than $1500 given to the federal government. (I would even argue that $1500 given to your state or local government is better than $1500 given to the Feds.)
So if you have some extra money, if you’re one of the rich (whatever that means these days), don’t let the liberals guilt you in to not buying something. The most patriotic thing you can do is go buy something. At least then your dollar has a better chance of going to someone along the line who’s actually earned it. What a novel concept.
At any rate, this morning I happened to catch the discussion on MSNBC regarding this young lady’s purchase of a pair of $1495 shoes. There was outrage and expression of disbelief that our nation has come to this point. That the gap between the rich and the poor is too large. That the middle class has been virtually wiped out. That we are a nation of the wealthy, for the wealthy, run by the wealthy. That this again was a clear message that the wealthy should be willing to step up and pay higher taxes instead of buying designer shoes. (Wonder what the sales tax was on those shoes?)
Ok, I’m already on the record as saying that some sort of tax increase must be part of our long-term plan to push the federal deficit down to a more manageable level. And, I fundamentally agree with a moderately progressive tax system where higher income brackets pay marginally higher tax rates. But, if I could wave a magic wand, I’d rather see our young lady friend buy two or three or four pairs of $1500 shoes than give more of her (or someone’s) hard earned money to the government.
Where do the liberals think the money goes when a rich person buys something? Do they really believe that there is a members only economy where just the wealthy are involved in manufacturing, distributing and selling $1500 shoes? Is it just rich folks who build yachts and luxury homes and $80,000 automobiles? The liberals (who now prefer to be called progressives) really believe that $1500 given to the government is better than $1500 spent on a pair of designer shoes. That’s the issue. Plain and simple. When Rachel Maddow looks at the Hoover Dam and preaches that this is the type of super project that only a government can build, their argument makes some sense.
The problem is there are far too many government projects and programs which are not “super”. Frankly, I’m inclined to believe that $1500 spent on a pair of designer shoes does more good for the economy than $1500 given to the federal government. (I would even argue that $1500 given to your state or local government is better than $1500 given to the Feds.)
So if you have some extra money, if you’re one of the rich (whatever that means these days), don’t let the liberals guilt you in to not buying something. The most patriotic thing you can do is go buy something. At least then your dollar has a better chance of going to someone along the line who’s actually earned it. What a novel concept.
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