01-11-2011 Cultural Post #5: Balancing Technology

“Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal….”

(Albert Einstein)

“Many people see technology as the problem behind the so-called digital divide; others see it as the solution. Technology is neither. It must operate in conjunction with business, economic, political, and social systems….”

(Carly Fiorina)

“We've arranged a civilization in which most crucial elements

profoundly depend on science and technology….”
(Carl Sagan)

“Technology is a way of organizing the universe so

that man doesn't have to experience it….”

(Max Frisch)

About four years ago (or more, i can’t remember for sure), i foreran a movement.  i didn’t know i was a forerunner, mind You, but such is not altogether unusual to hear people who know me tell it.  The movement has become known lately as the “unplugged” movement, and it includes people who have decided to “unplug” themselves from at least some of the technological devices which have become commonplace in our society.

my own journey toward balancing the insanely mesmerizing technologies available to us was a mix of circumstances somewhat forced upon me and somewhat discovered after looking intensely for the right calibration.  i lost my mobile phone, and i didn’t want to become the person i was watching many other mobile-phone users become.  my wife worked for a mobile phone company, and everyone she knew who worked there (and, therefore, many people i knew by proxy) were not addicted to their mobile phones.  Addicted would indicate a choice and possibly a level of what might otherwise be considered normal functioning that would be attached to and most likely adversely impacted by the usage.  No, no.  This is way worse than that….

i’m talking about otherwise normal, rational, and often highly intelligent & capable people who would take a chance on killing someone by texting as they drove on the interstate or – worse – the small, residential street on their way home from their corporate job at dusk…who would go through entire lunches with their colleagues while on the phone and never once acknowledge the waiter (often someone else ordered for them) or engage with who else was at lunch with them…who would use so many minutes that it would dwarf the largest plan sizes…who ceased to use any other form of computer…who would become so oblivious to those around them in public that they would sometimes lose their children.  No, i’m not kidding….

Now, i’m all for technology.  i’m a musician, a writer, a researcher, a theologian, a philosopher, and other roles.  Technology has made most of those jobs easier, and it’s made better the ones it hasn’t made easier.  i like technology, and i embrace much of it.  However, here’s the problem with technology: the user.  As my dad used to tell me, it involves “operator problems.”

Guns don’t kill people – people kill people.  Cars don’t drive drunk – people drive drunk.  Computers don’t sabotage nations – people working for nations or terrorists sabotage electrical grids and national security databases and such.  Televisions don’t watch pornography – people watch it.  It’s the same with mobile phones, digital music players, etc.  i get that, and i’m not saying anything different.

However, i am concerned about the cultural impact of embracing technology.  Recently, due to the recession, i was listening to an economist discuss why this particular recession has had such a drastic impact on retirement savings, career options, home values & the attached lack of geographical mobility, and other sub-factors.  He made a very astute observation: the last depression (the Great Depression) occurred in a time when people still knew how to basically take care of themselves and were allowed to do it.  This recession that is bordering on a depression (the latest job figures are that the real unemployment rate is either at or above 20%, according to government figures, and that still doesn’t include underemployment) is occurring during a period of American culture where very few people know how to farm.  Unlike the Great Depression, people can’t just go out back and plant food to eat later – they don’t know how to do that.  They don’t have those skills.  However, even if they did have those skills, in some instances they could not use them.  Municipalities don’t allow You to have Your own water supply or septic systems or to just not use electricity or garbage collection services.

In college, i learned (as a math major) to graph on computers and to use calculators for complex calculations.  Also, my professors (at a leading math school in Texas) required me to use calculators to “check” easy calculations, too.  i wasn’t allowed to just do the multiplication in my head.  i understand the reasoning.  They wanted engineering students to be used to checking everything on a calculator before signing off on a civil project and certifying that a particular bridge was going to actually hold the load required by the transportation department.  However, now i know adults who were part of that generation who can’t quickly and without paper tell You what 75 * 65 is or what pi is or how to figure a derivative in less than 5 seconds.  Before calculators, most people could tell You those things as a part of “common sense.”  Today, however, “common sense” is not so common anymore…

In the end, my problem with the use of technology is that people have let it master them, and yet they have failed to master it.  And that – in sum – is the problem with any inanimate, mechanistic tool: will it master You by Your own choice as You give the enemy a foothold in Your Life?

Personally, i mostly find the investment of time, energy, and skill to master software programs or technological devices to be not worth the return.  As a musician, i have chosen to master some skills that are, for others, just not important enough to merit such an investment of personal capital.  It’s like that with everyone.  However, there is another factor that is not so requisite.

i have chosen to quit eating with people unless they turn off their mobile phones.  It dawned on me one day when i was watching football with a couple of friends who are in their twenties.  They would watch the TV sometimes, but mostly they just watched their laptops for updates on their fantasy players.  That day woke me up to the fact that the younger generations just simply don’t process information the way i do as a forty-year old male.  i know hardly anyone under the age of 30 years who has a favorite football team, because they don’t watch football for the purpose of rooting for their favorite or hometown team.  They watch, because it determines how their fantasy team fares.  And, in that realization that they are much more interested and vested in the success of individuals than teams, is the basis of my rebellion against being completely consumed by technology.

So, why don’t i eat with people unless they turn off their mobile phones, You ask, and what does that have to do with fantasy football?  What a fabulous question, and – since You asked – i’ll be glad to answer it for You.  i don't eat with people unless they will turn off their mobile phones because they are worth too much and i have too much respect for myself.  Let me explain....

It is now one of the highest goals of my Life to pay attention to people.  i consider it a matter of great and substantial personal importance to me that people know i will grant them my undivided attention if they so desire.

Listening is the forgotten courtesy of our time.  No one does it anymore.  Pay attention?  How can You pay attention if You can't even listen to someone?  Invest?  How can You invest in someone if You can't focus on them for more than 15 seconds before getting Your next email on Your PDA fix?  Care about someone?  How can You care about or for someone if You can't even be sensitive to discern what they are experiencing or how You might aid them due to Your lack of empathy as a divided-mind technocrat?

It is not annoying to not be able to pay attention to people; it is the result of being consumed by something from which You cannot break free.  If that’s not You and You assert that You are not consumed to the point of not being able to break free and pay attention to people, then not paying attention when asked is annoying.

Now, being annoying is nothing new, and people have been annoying for as long as they have existed.  my hope is that the next time You are being annoying, You won’t blame technology anymore than we blame cars for killing and maiming via drunk drivers.  Seriously, put down the mobile phone – it will be OK.  You’ll be fine through dinner.  You might even enjoy the company.  Your body will process the food better (a proven scientific fact, by the way).  And Your brain and eyes will be appreciative – not to mention Your kids or friends or whoever else has lost You….

01-10-2011 3P Post #5: The Place Of Rhetoric

“Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men….”

(Plato)

“Power is the most persuasive rhetoric….”

(Friedrich von Schiller)

““He steps on stage and draws the sword of rhetoric,

and – when he is through – someone is lying wounded and

thousands of others are either angry or consoled….”
(Pete Hamill)

Words.  They are powerful.

Words, linguistically speaking, are signposts or markers of concepts.  For humans, words are not necessary to communicate, but they allow a depth and a sophistication of communication that is difficult in any other way.  This is not because of the words themselves, but because of what words denote.

When i was getting my graduate philosophy degree, i studied a linguistic / philosophical pursuit called “deconstructionism.”  Basically, it is the work of philosophers to say that words have either no meaning or – more accurately – only the meaning that the person reading or listening assigns to them based on his/her linguistic contextualization and not the meaning the author intended to be conveyed.  At least, that is one of my perspectives on what it means (no ideological pun intended).  i was fascinated by deconstructionism (and still am), but i found it mostly pointless.  However, i do think that what i consider to be the primal impulse of it is valid: to point out that communication is based more on the exchange of concepts than on the description of them.

Words function in many ways for human beings – and other types of beings, too.  For example, vows are made, generally, with words and sealed in blood.  The blood is obviously important, but the words define what the blood consequences.  Where would we be without the words of those who Love us, hate us, support us, oppose us, encourage us, belittle us, or provide other contexts for us.

When i was a kid, people used to say, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me.”  Well, those people are just flat-out wrong.  i know what they meant, though.  In high school, i was the main basketball player on my team.  i LOVED it when opposing players, fans, or coaches would run their mouth about me to the newspapers or their players or whoever.  It made me play better, because it motivated me.  It wasn’t my primary motivation, but it supported my primary motivation of winning.  Words cause us to react, and – often – they do harm and harm greatly.

When i leave this earth, for many of my Loved ones my voice and what i have said to them over the years will be the only thing they can recall about me besides isolated events.  When the “tapes” play in my beLoveds’ heads, i want them to recall that i said constantly to them, “i Love You.”  i hope those tapes yield hours and hours of me telling them in all kinds of circumstances and environments and situations that i Love them…of encouragement to fight the temptation to merely exist and press forward in war to Truly Live…of mercy and grace and compassion and hospitality…of wise counsel and godly advice and shrewd strategy…of kindness and gentleness and affection….

Words are most powerful when accompanied by other phenomena.  This is because words appeal to the mind, which is part of our physical being but also impacted greatly by our emotional and spiritual components as opposed to the “heart,” which is the biblical term used to refer to the nexus of Your soul, spirit, and body.  So, when words are combined with passion (the soul) or with action (the body) or with eternal perspective (the spirit), they become more than just words.  They become a glimpse into Your heart.

People today have been talking about the shooting over the weekend of an Arizona congresswoman, judge, congressional staffer, and others.  They have been wondering about the place of rhetoric in our society.  There is talk of “toning down” the rhetoric, of being more measured in our speech, of considering that our words have impact beyond just breath formed like smoke rings into sound waves that penetrate ears of all types.

When i was a kid, i remember being told often by many adults around me that cussing was a sign of stupidity.  It was a forgone conclusion that the only people who cussed were those who were so undereducated and, therefore, incapable of forming a thoughtful, rational, & clever response to any given situation because of a deficit of analytical & rhetorical skills and also a lacking & poor vocabulary.  Well, rhetoric ought to serve a purpose, and i later discovered that cussing was funny, for example.  i was a great trash-talker when i played basketball and frequently embarrassed my opponents equally with my words and my skills.  Over the years, i have learned that any words – whether they are rhetoric, poetry, confession, teaching, testimony, admonishment, pronouncement (Blessing or cursing), instruction, information, treaty, speech, etc. – should serve the people hearing them.  The people listening should endure little to walk away having gained much.  That is what is not happening in our society.  The words spoken in our society cause us to endure much to pick over barely-carcassed bones for little nutrition – and, indeed, often for poisoning.

Contrast that with Y’shua – the Word of God.  He is the epitome of what words should be: simultaneously just & merciful while all along humbly injecting the Love of God into the world.  A mystery, indeed.

Words, in the end equation, reflect the character of the speaker.  And while non-verbal signals are more cumulatively than the spoken signals, words are the most overt and obvious signals.  They can also be the most unTrue – often the Truth of words is hard to discern while other types of signals such as body language, electrical impulses, glandular secretions, and the like are more telling harbingers of the integrity of the linguistic.  But whether or not someone is lying still reveals their character.  This is why it is important, for example, that people put their trust in Y’shua instead of Scripture, because Scripture can be twisted, perverted, and distorted by the enemy himself whilst Y’shua is always “Faithful & True.”

We need to listen to what people say.  When the leader of Iran says he wants to remove Israel from the map or Hitler makes radical statements, they should be heeded.  But so should the sweet whispers of snakes in the Jungle Book story or the Garden of Eden.  Rhetoric betrays thoughts, and thoughts betray intentions.  When You listen to politicians, be careful to evaluate anything but fruit, for all else is often preceded by rhetoric, occasioned by excuses, and results in harm.  Words are the decoration on the corpses that lay silently in lost promise, on the prison bars holding those who dissent, and the uniforms of those who succumb to the overpowering tyrants who talk in platitudes without substance....

01-07-2011 F3A #4 - All Things LeBron

i was having dinner with some friends Wednesday night, and – for my Friday Free-For-All post – they asked me to repost an article i wrote on July 11th, 2010 for my Facebook account about LeBron James' announcement that he was going to play for the Miami Heat in the 2010-2011 NBA Season.  i will repost it – as they asked – and then make some updated comments, since now we have a couple of months of the actual NBA season to go off and deduce conclusions...
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[Re-Posted from an original Facebook Note from July 11th, 2010...]

 

OK. i have had enough. i am going to write only once about the NBA and its free agency whirlwind this summer – specifically about LeBron James and his decision to join Dwayne Wade & Chris Bosh in Miami as a member of the Heat franchise.
For the record, i told several people early this year in 2010 (before the playoffs even began) that – if LeBron James was smart, and i know that he is – he would make sure he met with Dwayne Wade after the season and went to play with Wade for the foreseeable future – whatever & wherever that required. Everyone either laughed at me as if i had just said something absurd or else said, “Well, that would be nice, but that’s kind of a pipe dream.” Well, exactly what i said would happen has now occurred, and everyone is bashing LeBron for it. Amazing. i haven’t heard one person defend LeBron James. Well, here’s my perspective on the whole situation.

[Full Disclosure: i like LeBron James. i always have, since before he was a household name (yes, i knew who he was before he was on Sports Illustrated as an 18-year old and his high school games were broadcast on ESPN). He’s not my favorite player, and he’s not someone i root for or usually follow – but he is someone i like in a casual sort of way. In all sincerity, i guess i would say i’m kinda neutral about him – although i will admit that i am becoming a fan over the last several days….]

First, there are the “personal” issues. We’ll get to the basketball issues later, but i want to first address some of the stupidity relating to comments, judgments, accusations, slander, etc. made about the characters involved. Finally, we’ll address more general sports issues after first discussing the personal issues and then the basketball issues secondly.

OK – let’s get it all out…

Issue #1: Personal Issues

i find it LUDICROUS that sports reporters, commentators, water-cooler geeks, casual fans, etc. are upset at LeBron. i have read, heard, witnessed, & observed almost universal criticism of LeBron the last few days from almost every front. Most of the criticism revolves around a perception of “classlessness” about the “way” he did what he did or some misguided sense of “betrayal” towards Cleveland or the Cavaliers organization or whatever. Wow…

Let me just say that i have never heard anything more absurd in my entire Life. OK, well – maybe the Iranian president claiming the Holocaust never happened is a little more absurd…but not much.

People are assaulting LeBron personally on every level. i have yet to meet anyone who actually knows him personally, but they feel free to make all kinds of judgments about him, anyway. They question his decision, they impugn his motives, & they assail his loyalty. Really? Is that all You have to do with Your Life? Go after some kid who’s doing his best?

They argue that he and Dwayne Wade had already decided to play together and that this decision was somehow “premeditated,” and – they howl – that, if that is True (because they don’t really know and refuse to take LeBron at face value when he claims it isn’t), it is somehow unfair and sets a bad precedent and is unethical to the integrity of the league and bad for the credibility & intrigue of the Association and – i’m quite sure i’ve heard this somewhere – the end of the world. Really? Shut up!!!

i think LeBron handled this situation stupidly, because i DO take him at face value. i believe him when he says that he only made up his mind on Thursday morning. To me, that shows great indecisiveness and lack of vision. i think he should have made this decision in January…

It should have been premeditated. Don’t give me that crap about it being bad for the league. How is the entire world talking about basketball in July (the off-season) bad for the league? How is putting three superstars on a team (in a legitimate way via free agency, i might add, and not through back-room scandals and cheating deals like the Lakers do all the time) bad for the league? How is making Miami (a nominal basketball, or any other sport for that matter, town) the epicenter of the basketball universe bad for the league? How is keeping Kobi from winning six titles to match Jordan or preventing the biggest narcissist in the history of the NBA (Phil Jackson) from winning his fourth three-peat and somehow “fulfilling” his self-described “destiny” that God told him to come back next year to make God’s plan come True bad for the league? It isn’t…none of it is bad for the league – despite whatever the media-biased, self-absorbed idiots in New York or Chicago or L.A. tell You…

If it wasn’t premeditated, then i have much less respect for LeBron and Dwayne Wade as businesspeople. What is there not to like? Play with Your friend making tons of money in a beautiful, tropical city and give Yourself the chance to be successful at the sacrifice of not making as much money as You could make while still making millions? Uh, what was the question?

And why is that a stupid decision?

It isn’t a stupid decision. It would have been stupid to do anything else, so – for LeBron’s sake – i hope it was premeditated and that he wasn’t that short-sighted or insecure or just downright dumb that it took him until Thursday morning to make up his mind. i hope he’s saying that he only made up him mind on Thursday morning out of some misguided notion of allaying everyone’s fears that he really did listen during the Clippers presentation. (Yes, honest to God, the Clippers made him a presentation and said they could win with LeBron as their centerpiece. Give me a freakin’ break – the Clippers, as long as Donald Sterling is their owner, anyway, couldn’t win if Jesus was their star and He played both invisibly and froze all the other players on the court at the same time). i hope LeBron is just trying to go through the free agent process like other players do and not – for whatever reason – show his hand that he and Dwayne decided this during their Olympic Games championship run where they (yes, the two of them, were the mainstays and foundation of the best team in the world...Not sorry at all about that contention, either, Kobi). But, whatever the Truth, i think it was almost unforgivable for him to not have decided to play with Dwayne Wade several years ago – much less several months ago or even a few days ago.

People say LeBron had bad motives. Reallly? And what, pray tell, would those have been? Making good money? Playing for an owner who isn’t a jerk and having a better work environment? Working for an organization that is competent (like the Heat) and not incompetent (like the Cavaliers)? Living in a great city (like Miami) instead of an awful place (like Cleveland)? Working with Your friends as partners? Exactly what was wrong with his motives?

O, i see. You think he was selfish. i got it…

You think him having his own television special to announce his decision was selfish…or that the millions of people, dozens of news networks, hundreds of reporters, and all the fans didn’t really care at all except for LeBron forcing them to pay attention. You think he hyped all this up, even though – for the last two years – he has kept mum about it while everyone else has speculated incessantly about it in every medium on every platform and without any solid information. i see…You think he is the problem. Wow. i laugh at Your naïveté…

The television special was genius – if, for no other reason (and trust me, there are many other reasons), than for my personal convenience. Yes, i could have found out on SportsCenter Thursday night, but i didn’t want to wait. i’m glad they did a special, and – no – it wasn’t James’ idea. i thought James handled this whole situation the last couple of years with adept aplomb and ample grace. He always spoke highly of Cleveland and its fans, ownership, & organization. He politely listened to people and organizations he never should have (uh, like the aforementioned Clippers who have absolutely no business even being in existence – much less pitching LeBron). He granted interviews to almost anyone wanting one, even though he was sick of talking about it. He kept his circle tight, family-oriented, & largely mute. He did everything right, in my opinion.  O, wait - did i mention that all the proceeds of the ESPN Special went to the Boys Clubs of America?  What!?!  An athlete capitalizing on his fame for, gulp, charity and, gasp, a good cause?  Say it ain't so, Cleveland!

What’s that? O, You think he was disloyal, huh? Hmmm…let me think about that for just a minute…

Loyalty. Yea, You’re right. Sports, especially, is such a loyal endeavor. i don’t know what i was thinking?

i mean, teams never change cities. Franchises never sell to other owners. Referees and umpires and officials and players and agents and owners and commissioners never cheat. Fans never fade in their support. i must be kidding myself. i’m so sorry…i had forgotten that sports models to us exactly how loyalty should be Lived out in each of our Lives.

i mean, i know – in the old days – that sports teams NEVER traded players back before players could become free agents. (Well, other than Babe Ruth being traded by the Red Sox, i mean…O, and Wilt Chamberlain being traded…O, and…well, maybe i’ll just leave that alone for now). But, obviously, owners always paid players what they deserved, and free agency came about just because of the agents being jerks – not because the owners weren’t treating the players fairly....

Loyalty? Are You freakin’ kidding me!?! LeBron wasn’t loyal to Cleveland, but they weren’t loyal to him, either. They didn’t trade for good players. They didn’t spend money to sign top free agents. They didn’t get rid of incompetent personnel. They had seven years to assemble the help LeBron needed, and he gave them a lot more chances than i would have to show him they were both competent and willing. Loyalty…You must be joking…

People gripe about James calling himself “the king.” Really? That is just pathetic. i have had lots of nicknames in my Life, and i have been called all kinds of names. LeBron didn’t give himself the nickname “King James,” and the fact that he embraced it isn’t any reflection on him negatively. i mean, i know everyone else LOVES it and accepts it when people give them demeaning or degrading nicknames but hates it and refuses it when people give them exalting or endearing nicknames, but that is not right. Stop whining about his nickname, people. It shows You to be immature….

People are saying LeBron “betrayed” Cleveland. No, he didn’t. Cleveland betrayed him. They didn’t help him, and now they are blaming him for both the conflict and the resolution. i’ve been married – i know how this game works. Trust me, LeBron didn’t betray anybody, and it’s just plain stupid to say otherwise. To prove betrayal, You would have to demonstrate the he owed Cleveland something, and he didn’t owe them jack. He gave them everything, and so they got spoiled and used to his lavish gifts. But them misinterpreting his generosity as an obligation instead of as a gift just shows their dysfunction as fans, a city, and an organization. Sheesh…

And what about LeBron's "lack of class?" What about it? How was he classless? Because he didn't personally call the Cavaliers owner to tell him he was going to Miami? O, i'm sure all of You have never left a job without hunting down the owner to personally tell him that You were taking another job offer. It's not like LeBron didn't notify them. He had his business partner (the appropriate person) call the Cavaliers GM (the appropriate person) and notify them. It was done in an appropriate time frame though a legitimate channel. my God, what are people thinking?

When someone has a legitimate personal axe to grind, let me know. Until then, shut up….

Issue #2: Basketball Issues

Everyone is jumping on LeBron for going to play with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh – two other superstars who are perennial all-stars, fellow top draft picks, and highly sought free agents. For the Life of me, i just don’t understand this…

People are always griping about sports stars and saying that the athletes don’t care about winning enough (which shows fans’ dysfunction) or the community enough (which shows the community’s dysfunction) or whatever. People claim athletes only care about the money and the fame. Well, James took less money than he could have made (actually, all three of them did) and already had fame but eschewed it to go to a team where he will be perceived (however True or not that notion is) as the second-best player, and yet people somehow claim he made the wrong decision. Uh, no – he didn’t…

Let me explain. LeBron James is, in my humble opinion, the best athlete i have ever seen. Basketball players are commonly considered to be among the best overall athletes in the world along with water polo, triathlon, and gymnastics athletes. Their skill sets require agility, strength, endurance, balance, and much more. They run 10-12 miles minimum every game and more in practices. They have to deal with officials, split-second decisions, strategy, pressure, and more – all in a highly creative, oppressively competitive, & restrictively political culture. LeBron James is the best athlete i have ever seen. But, he is not a “closer.”

He needs a closer. And at least James is smart enough to admit it.

LeBron is unselfish – yes, that’s right, the exact opposite of what people are claiming about him. He always has been unselfish. He likes comradery and team play and passing and winning or losing together. He’s always said that, and his actions have always demonstrated that. There has never been any conflict between his verbal assertions and his behavioral actions. He has much more integrity than most people who are criticizing him.

LeBron is a great player – one of the best to ever play basketball, by most people’s count. But a Closer has to have four traits – all of which are non-negotiable, and James only has three, at best. A Closer must have: 1) Natural talent for precision shooting, 2) Internal Confidence, 3) Developed ability to get his own shot, and 4) Absolute Ruthlessness. James doesn’t have #1 and, therefore, i think, doesn’t have #2. i also question his #4.

Dwayne Wade has all of them. Kobii Bryant has all of them. They are the only two players currently playing who do. LeBron would have been an idiot to not play with one of them, and he’s too good a person to play with Kobee.

He could have gone to Chicago, and that would have been a great decision – as long as Wade went there. But Wade didn’t go there, and so it would not have been a good decision. Charles Barkley said several weeks ago that to be Truly great, You have to be the best player on the best team. That is not True. Charles says that out of frustration, because he never was what he described. However, being Truly great is about being unselfish and sacrificing for the success of the team and caring about people as people in the process – and LeBron has done and will do that…

He makes it virtually impossible to double-team Wade or Bosh from a strategy point of view. He can run the point from any position. He is a lock-down defender who doesn’t have to score to be engaged in the game or feel like he’s contributing. He’s an all-around player – something most current fans don’t remember or know how to properly value.

People say he’s not a competitor for going to play with DWade and Bosh. Excuse me? That is complete rubbish and just flat-out stupid. Magic Johnson is the best comparison i know of to LeBron. Magic wasn’t a closer, either. He needed a closer, and he had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lew Alcindor). But Magic wasn’t criticized when the Lakers drafted James Worthy (and, yes, his last name is ironic since he isn’t worthy of as much of the acclaim he gets) or when they stole Mychal Thompson or got Byron Scott or whatever. No one said Larry Bird (the best basketball player to ever Live) wasn’t a competitor when they traded for Robert Parrish or drafted Kevin McHale or picked up Dennis Johnson or added Bill Walton. The Pittsburgh Steelers or New York Yankees or Dallas Cowboys or Edmonton Oilers never saw their stars diminished by having other great players on their teams, but – then again – they weren’t LeBron James. LeBron will never be able to make anyone happy, no matter what he does or how humbly or well he does it…

To all the people bashing LeBron: Get over it…

Issue #3: Sports Issues

What i find most laughable about all this is the reverence people have for sports. i like sports, but i used to Love them before i was delivered from their hold on me. my calendar used to revolve around the sports seasons – not the sun's movements. A lot of this LeBron-bashing is due to people having an unhealthy interaction with sports based on either a pathetic dependence on it as a key coping mechanism in their Lives or a sad misunderstanding of what is appropriate behavior based on perceived “virtues” derived from sports (such as competition)…

Sports are a joke. They always have been and always will be. People who put any stock in them are sad….

Championships are inherently political. They are much more often acquired with money or influence or favor or than by sheer talent, hard work, and fairness. Basketball is especially so.

In “Remember The Titans,” Coach Boone walks out to a football field and is confronted head-on with this reality. He makes the absurdly stupid and naïve statement, “Ah…this is my home…this is always right.” Unbelievable that a grown man could say something so dumb, and Coach Boone figures that out when the administrator of the new segregated school explains to him that the white folk only put him in so that they could fire him the first time he lost and give the job to his white counterpart…

i haven’t ever witnessed a championship in my Lifetime that was legitimate on any level. Championships are based on competition – one of the great evils of the world and one of the great tools & developments of Satan.

Anyone who wins a championship in any field or who is the top salesperson in any industry or who wins any award of any kind or succeeds in any endeavor in any way ought to be thankful to all the people who made them successful, and they ought to realize that they only won it because other people wanted them to win it. Psychologically, You just cannot make the case that people succeed by themselves or without the help of administrators, officials, and other bureaucrats. It’s just not possible.

As Americans, we are particularly crazed with “winning,” and it harms us as a nation. There are good lessons to be learned from sharpening one another, but competition is a ruse of the enemy that only demoralizes, demeans, and degrades people. It is a mechanism for establishing a hierarchy, and that makes it – by definition – bad and unrighteous. we evaluate people based on whether they win or not, and that is awful. we condition our kids to “win” at all cost (or sometimes at only ethical or appropriate or fair costs), and we teach them – in so doing – to be like the world and not to value faith and sharing and sacrifice above winning. In fact, we actively teach them that those godly values don’t really work, and that – though they are nice ideas, in theory – the way things really work is to seize power and grab for Yourself and get Your own.

LeBron wants to win more than he wants to be rich, so he is sacrificing. Now, there’s no good way for him to navigate this, but i like the way he did and is doing it. As for all the critics, You might want to take out the forest of logs from Your own eye before seeing whether or not he even has a speck in his eye that You could remove – if the damage to Your own sight isn’t permanent, that is…

In short, don’t believe the crap You’re hearing about LeBron “King” James. No one knows enough to say the things they’ve been saying, and he will show his True colors in the coming years. At least he wasn’t on trial for rape or hasn’t cheated with performance-enhancing drugs or pulled stunts like pretending to work for one franchise so You can give Your old one the steal of the century or manipulating games like the NBA refs and commissioner’s office. No, apparently, LeBron’s foul is much worse: he’d like to win and enjoy it by doing it the right way and - apparently most aggregiously, gasp - with a couple of his best friends!  What is the world coming to!?! Way to ruin the curve for the rest of us, dude. Now, we’re all going to hate You for it…or at least most of us….

 

[End of Re-Post...]

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Well, the Heat got off to a slow start, but they are just going to get better and better for the next 5 years.  They are nowhere near their potential, and yet they are reeling off double-digit win streaks.  Pray, people.  Pray for mercy for the rest of the league.  i'm not convinced they can beat the Celtics this year, but the Celtics had better get younger before the end of next year.  The Magic?  Please.  Even with adding the always-packing 007 himself, Gilbert Arenas, they can't hang with the Heat.  And the West: the Laker girls, the Spurs, the Mavs?  i don't think so.  i'm not a Heat fan, but i prefer heat to cold....

01-06-2011 Personal Post #4: Embracing The Quiet

“Saying nothing sometimes says the most….”

(Emily Dickinson)

“Silence is the True friend that never betrays….”

(Confucius)

“Better to keep Your mouth shut and appear stupid
than to open it and remove all doubt....”

(Mark Twain)

Well over a decade ago, i was asked to apply for a church’s worship leader position.  i didn’t get the job, and i’m pretty sure i know why…

To start, my friends (and enemies – but, in general, just anyone who knows me fairly well) have always described me as “very intense.”  So, i tend to wear on people really quickly.  People either tend to get annoyed by me or addicted to me in fast order.  Also, that intensity tends to scare people, because they aren’t used to Living (as we discussed earlier this week), they are simply used to existing.  To eat something rich bothers them, and to embrace Life and Live it with all the zest and gusto and passion they can must is just beyond their comfort zone.  Hence, they “stall out” and coast through most of it.  i don’t want that to be said of me…

So, back to the church position…

This church was a somewhat progressive church (or at least they fancied themselves that way), but they wanted a worship leader who could really push the envelope (thus, my name was given to them and they asked me to apply).  One of the questions on the questionnaire was, “What are some elements of postmodern, contemporary worship that You think are not embraced in churches, and how could they be used?”

After i quit laughing, i formulated my response.  It included about 7 to 10 different things, as i recall, and one of them was “Silence.”  i wrote about how churches are afraid of silence – completely and utterly scared to death.  Silence makes church leaders turn into little girls screaming as they run away from the monsters in their closet….

Needless to say, i didn’t get the job.  While it may not have been completely about that one response, that was certainly a huge factor.  i can just imagine the responses of the readers on the search committee saying to themselves and then to each other, “my god, why would anyone want to be quiet – especially in church?”

Well, and therein lies the problem, huh?  Our inability to be quiet is killing us.  From congresspeople shouting “You lie!” in a State of the Union speech to college kids rambling endlessly on a 20 page term paper and saying nothing to the incessant droning of a nagging spouse (of either sex – Yes, guys, we do it, too) to the belligerent ravings of extremists to the bullshitting of any reality TV show or the local guy at the bar, we can’t tolerate silence.  We have no capacity for it anymore, and – worse – we have no thirst for it….

But silence is golden as they say.  To be quiet is often to be still, and still is good.  Quiet & still is how successful hunters stalk prey.  Still is where You know that He is God.  Quiet & still is when babies sleep.  Quiet & still is when You can hear all the things masked by noise and movement and friction and collision.

One of my favorite all-time songs is Learn To Be Still by The Eagles.  Here are the absolutely masterful lyrics:

It's just another day in paradise as You stumble to Your bed
You'd give anything to silence those voices ringing in Your head
You thought You could find happiness just over that green hill
You thought You would be satisfied, but You never will learn to be still

We are like sheep without a shepherd – We don't know how to be alone
So we wander 'round this desert, and wind up following the wrong gods home
But the flock cries out for another, and they keep answering that bell
And one more starry-eyed messiah meets a violent farewell – Learn to be still

Now the flowers in Your garden – They don't smell so sweet
Maybe You've forgotten the heaven lying at Your feet

There are so many contradictions in all these messages we send
i keep asking, “How do i get out of here?  Where do i fit in?”
Though the world is torn & shaken – Even if Your heart is breakin'
It's waiting for You to awaken, and someday You will learn to be still

You just keep on runnin'...Keep on runnin'

Henri Nouwen used to talk a lot about solitude.  i tried to listen...


Today, maybe try to reduce the noise pollution in Your Life a bit and instead embrace the quiet.  Try a little silence at breakfast punctuated with short “Thank You, God”s or a quiet lunch attenuated by reflections of good times – maybe even noisy times – with friends in college or let a quiet hush settle on You in the easy chair tonight as You contemplate how bright the future is if the people who Love You can somehow be assuaged from cheap turnings and just continue to make Your Life way more than You deserve it to be….

01-05-2011 Theological Post #4: The Intrinsic Value Of Others

“You play, You win, You play, You lose.  You play.  It’s the playing that’s irresistible.

Dicing from one year to the next with the things You Love,

What You risk reveals what You value. ….”

(Jeanette Winterson)

“Who is the happiest of men? He who values the merits of others, and

in their pleasure takes joy, even as though 'twere his own….”

(Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749 – 1832)

“There is a space between self and other where the boundaries melt…

Where being myself means being attuned to others…

Where being in sync with those around me means finding my self of worth….”
(Monica Diaz)

God is infinite.  In the Old Testament, the Shema (“Hear, O Israel – the LORD Your God is one…”) is referring with the word “one” more to the conceptual aspect of “infinite” than to the notion of singular (for which a different word meaning “one” is almost exclusively used).  Sometimes, people are shocked to learn that Isaiah lists the seven spirits of God.  i’m not going to blog today about how God is infinite (that will be for another time), nor am i going to post about how God is Themself community.  However, i do want to write about what the facts of the nature of God (being infinite & communal) say about the value of every…every single one.  In multiplicity, there is aggregate value, by definition.  It can’t be any other way, unless – of course – You want to argue that there isn’t value in any of it….

The Truth is that we are made in the Divine image.  We reflect what God is….

In the Jewish world, people are taught to not dare speak evil against another person or even an angel (cf. Jude 1:9).  Why?  Because of whomever they might be speaking evil is a creation of God – just like them.  To speak condemningly about another creation is to speak against the Creator.  The viewpoint is that it’s just not within the human purview to speak of such things.  This attitude is a proper one – to let God be God and to let creations be creations.

As creations, human beings are being made in the image of their Creator.  It’s not that we were made in the Divine image, but rather that we are being made in Their image.  In human terms, we might say something like, “God’s not through working on me yet,” or “i’m a work-in-progress.”  That is the reality, and it testifies of our Creator’s ongoing interest in us…

Knowing that, perhaps it should inform our opinions of the value we assign to one another – and to ourselves, too.  Our appraisals of the value of human beings (whether us or others) is only valid to the extent that it matches and mirrors the appraisal that our Creator and Father has of us.  In fact, we have no right to set a value on either our own Life or the Lives of others, because we do not own the other (cf. 1^st Corinthians 6:19-20).  We are indeed not our own, for we were bought with a price by Y’shua.  YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name) is the only one with both the authority and the ability to determine the worth of any creation – including You or me.

So, recognize the intrinsic value of an “other” by realizing the inherent worth that he/she carries to his/her Creator.  And, when You recognize that and pair that recognition with the remembrance that he/she doesn’t belong to You but rather to God, then maybe You will be able to speak with more grace, more encouragement, or more Love…or maybe just speak less at all…

01-04-2011 Cultural Post #4: What’s Missing

“Great dancers aren't great because of their technique;

They are great because of their passion….”

(Unknown)

“There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the passion of Life….”

(Federico Fellini)

“They may forget what You said, but

they will never forget how You made them feel….”

(Carl W. Buechner)

Here’s the thing: Life isn’t really Life without passion.  i call it “existence.”

There’s only one reason to Live, and that’s to Love.  There isn’t really any point to anything beyond the Love of it.  You can tell me all You want about whatever motivates You or what legacy You want to leave or whatever other blather You can come up with, but – in the end – it just doesn’t matter very much.  The only thing that will remain when all else is said & done and everything evaporates and is gone is Love.

But now there are three: faith, hope, and…

Today, i invite You to consider what it is that sparks You.  What makes You pursue someone who is out of Your league?  What makes You do the work when You aren’t getting paid?  What makes You play ‘til Your fingers bleed?  What makes You scream at a basketball game until You have no voice left?  What makes You run into a fire?  What makes You pick up a gun and stand a post?  What makes You show up to teach again when no one listened yesterday?  What makes You open Your closet and remember others when no one is watching and – since they are Your enemy – there’s seemingly nothing in it for You?  What makes You paint the smallest detail on Your kid’s soapbox derby car?  What makes You volunteer to help kids who don’t have parents and no one else to stand up and speak for them in the courtroom?  What makes You pick up trash on the sides of the road?  What makes You take food to a friend’s house when their second parent died and they haven’t hit puberty yet?  What makes You lend her money?  What makes You pet Your cat more than it desires?  What makes You plow again when last year’s crop got hailed out?  What makes You root for them when Jerry Jones owns them?

Yea, i think You get the picture.  Life isn’t about survival – existence is about survival.  Life is about abundance.  And abundance is only enjoyable if You Love what You have in abundance.  If You have a million M&Ms but don’t like chocolate, then abundance isn’t so great.  But if You have a million friends and hate being alone, that’s called Life.

Today, try to spend that Life instead of wasting it.  And that spending is called passion.  It’s what drives You when all the good reasons You have to justify what You’re doing are all used up….

01-03-2011 3P Post #4: The Big Political Discussion – What It Should Be And Why It Won’t Be

“Among the natural rights of the colonists are these:

First a right to Life, secondly to liberty, thirdly to property;

together with the right to defend them in the best manner they can….”

(Samuel Adams)

“We must stop talking about “The American dream” and

start listening to the dreams of Americans….”

(Reubin Askew)

“i like to see a man proud of the place in which he Lives.

i like to see a man Live so that his place will be proud of him….”
(Abraham Lincoln)

As the 2012 Presidential election cycle winds up in the next few months amidst the clamoring, feuding, & jockeying that will be occurring in the new Congress, it is likely that You will witness a national conversation and public debate unlike anything You have witnessed in Your Lifetime (unless You happen to have been around when FDR was passing The New Deal, but – even then – it won’t be apples-to-apples due to the immeasurable media differences). The conversation & debate – as it is beginning to already take shape – is the issue of what is the right “balance” or calibration between what government should or shouldn’t do in the Lives of its citizens (those who want a more active government would say “for” its citizens). Some will split hairs and say that it isn’t so much about the balance of government’s role as much as it is about the actual role itself that government should play. Then, there will be those who think the argument should focus more on what the citizenry can do, should do, or should expect from government, and this is one of the problems with anyone from either side trying to “frame” this debate – there are simply too many foci regarding which to get distracted, and even having a coherent conversation with one mobile-phone addicted American today is almost impossible. Good luck trying to have a cogent conversation with an entire nation of them.

Personally, i think all or any of these discussions are a little off the mark, but that’s typical of both me and the U.S. national political conversation. The conversation intellectuals want to have (some form of the one aforementioned in the previous paragraph) is interesting, but it doesn’t really fix anything.

So, what? What is the proper conversation to be having? Should we dive more deeply into the American ethos and talk of colonial and revolutionary topics such as autonomy and natural rights and liberty? Or maybe even move beyond the American experience and go even further back into an Enlightenment-era broach of civilization and progress and stewardship. Why stop there? Why not continue the backwards reckoning toward the Greco-Roman philosophical conjectures about character, integrity, equality, justice, fairness, etc.? i mean, seriously, do political types really think You can discuss “sacrifice” regarding a nation at war and the voluntary contributions of citizens alongside the mandated contributions of soldiers or regarding a nation engrossed in the generational debauchery of excess that equals the stealing of resources, opportunity, & hope from the future citizens’ needs to placate the current generation’s whims without first having any of these discussions? Really?

To hope that the general American population is even equipped – given the unbelievably sad state of education in this country – to understand these conversations is a real over-reach. The problems with which we contend currently are not the result of bad policies – they are the result of imperfect people. Every problem we currently have can be traced to leadership that was either incompetent, naïve, corrupt, ignorant, greedy, dysfunctional, or immoral. Seriously, every problem can be traced directly back to one of those postures, and neither side has a monopoly on any of them.

Don’t try to argue that Repugnicans are more responsible than Demoncrats. Do You remember how many southerners (of both parties) were against civil rights and especially the Repugnicans? Do You remember how George W. Bush entered two wars – neither for the right reasons and neither with an end-game? Do You remember how the Repugnican-controlled congress from the early 2000s (after years & years of promoting themselves as the fiscally responsible adults in the room) passed a new entitlement program (prescription drug coverage in Medicare) without paying for it, ran up massive debts in response to 9/11 with wars that weren’t effective and without a financial plan for a changing economy & evolving world, and passed tax cuts during all of that? Do You remember any of that?

And don’t try to argue that Demoncrats are more moral than Repugnicans. Do You remember how the New Deal was more a cheap political play for votes (very similar to the current hopes of Demoncrats to win over the Hispanic voters-to-be with an immigration doctrine that essentially grants amnesty to illegal aliens) by increasing government’s role in the Lives of Americans? Do You remember how the Demoncrats re-enslaved minority groups via the creation and implementation of social engineering like welfare, food stamps, etc. and encouraging – as just one example among too many to count – unwed mothers to have more children to get more government money, and, thereby, reinforcing the corrupt voting imbalance? Do You remember how Bill Clinton dishonored our country and shamed himself? Does any of that ring a bell?

Well, if not, then You shouldn’t be allowed to vote. No, seriously.

But, if it does, then stop the incessant personal attacks against the flavor-of-the-month politician and try and get beyond party politics. It doesn’t become You. You are better than that, even if Your last name is Hitler….

The proper conversation to be having is the one that would also, by pure chance, benefit us the most at this point in our country’s much-more-fragile-than-anyone-imagines development. That conversation would be about something we used to discuss all the time: The American Dream.

Now, the “American Dream” is a term used normally by various people to push various agendas. So, let me describe what i think it meant most generally to past Americans and why we should try to recapture the essence of that meaning today.

When i was growing up, the essence of the American Dream to me was leaving America a better place for the generations to come than it was when we Lived. There are many good derivatives that came from that – almost none of which exist today. Allow me to point out a few….

An institutional (read “government forced”) occurrence i remember frequently from my childhood was something i will term “Better Access.” Better Access was things like Title IX that mandated that girls have the same sports opportunities as boys, for example, or the creation (much earlier) and maintenance (during my childhood) of a National Parks system or the building / maintenance / improvement / expansion of Interstates.  These kinds of things weren’t just national projects done for the activity’s sake; they were done to improve and expand access for people, businesses, and groups.  In the modern era, we have very few examples of new forms of better access being accomplished by government, but i will give one example for You to ponder.

i remember watching a 60 Minutes report (i think) several years ago about a lawsuit brought against a small Texas town by AT&T and the U.S. government (i think, i’m pretty sure it was the U.S. government joining in and i’m positive it was AT&T or some affiliate/associate thereof).  Seems this small town wanted to install high-speed, high-capacity internet cabling far beyond the capacity being offered by any U.S. provider to allow its town to have internet at the same speeds as already extant in Japan and other places around the world.  The reason they wanted to install such high-speed cabling?  To give them an advantage as a city in attracting businesses to their town.  The city was going to pay for all of it, but they needed the U.S. government’s approval.  AT&T opposed the city.  The U.S. government sided with AT&T.

Why?  Because AT&T and the U.S. government are each greedy in their own respective (the U.S. government wanted more taxes and, therefore, preferred a higher-priced product), and AT&T wanted to avoid a precedent being set and to prevent cities from installing their own cabling, and, therefore, force municipalities to use providers such as AT&T.  So, why would AT&T be opposed to giving customers the highest-speed cabling possible and, therefore, allow customers the best experience possible at the lowest possible price?  Because AT&T wanted to arbitrarily inflate the rates and provide tiered services in order to squeeze as many dollars as possible out of Your wallet every month?  Why?  Because, in America, we all want jobs that pay $100,000 and require us to do very little.  Why?  (i could just keep peeling this onion, but – for sanity’s sake – i’m going to just stop here and move on…).  This is an example of how government hasn't been doing helpful things in recent years, but - instead - doing just the opposite by doing harmful things: to consumers, to businesses, to families, to estates, to the environment, to....

A second example of my definition of The American Dream that i witnessed as a child was what i will term “Generational Accrual.”  It was the idea that a family could amass wealth and property over generations.  Each generation would accrue, steward, & pass on more to the next generation.  Today, this notion is almost non-existent, but – where it is existent in families – it is opposed at every turn by such immoral government behavior as the Death Tax (sometimes referred to by it’s deceitful term, the Estate Tax).  Demoncrats ought to cheer anyone who would be adversely affected by the Death Tax if they were True to their claimed principles, but, alas, they are neither True to their claimed principles nor able to see the logical progression of which i speak.  And Repugnicans argue against the Death Tax (some of them, anyway) but for all the wrong reasons.  Just incredibly sad….

A third example is what i will call “lineage.”  This refers to the idea that families cultivated a culture in their own ranks of things like military / political service, marriage expectations, careers that crossed multiple generations, etc.  Such notions (as in John McCain’s “Faith Of My Fathers”) was common and encouraged.  Now, that has all but been lost in America.

A fourth example is Innovation.  When i was young, it was a noteworthy and noble pursuit to be engaged in furthering progress through science or technology or other means.  It was held up as something to be lauded and appreciated and rewarded.  Innovation today has become little more than an expected contribution by the R&D division of a company to the annual shareholder’s statement.  There is no longer any romance of going to the moon or danger of floating on a nuclear aircraft carrier or challenge turning Space Invaders into Super Mario into Call Of Duty or dreams of building Disneyland and watching them come.

The last example i will mention is what i will call “National Stewardship,” and, by that term, i mean the responsibility of each generation to preserve natural things, create unnatural things, and cultivate relational things.  As a child, i remember Ronald Reagan arguing that peace was built on strength, and – whatever You thought or think of Reagan – i remember the hostages being released when he took office.  There was a Sting song called “Russians” that talked of how he hoped the Russians Loved their children, too, because that would prevent a nuclear holocaust.  i remember people listening to presidential speeches (whether by JFK or Reagan or whomever in the pre-digital and instantaneous information age) and carefully considering what the president said before deciding to throw him under the bus as the village idiot.  Today, that happens before the speech is even given due to pre-published copies distributed to the media.  i already know what he’s going to say before he even says it.

These examples i offer as humble fodder to say this: What happened to the American Dream?  How is it possible that the Baby Boomers and their willing accomplices from generations as far as the eye can see on either side of them have ruined so much so quickly?  Why don’t people care anymore about their children?  Why don’t they want to be remembered as courageous people of action who addressed the hard issues instead of passing the buck to those younger, weaker, less equipped, and not as wise to struggle?

The reason that the national conversation will be about something as useless philosophically as the role/balance/nature of government rather than about something as beneficial as what legacy we are leaving our children that might impart wisdom to them regarding how to handle the future and to accompany the resources, peace, and role we have forged in the world among nations is that it is much easier to theoretically discuss the problems with government than to face up to the problems with ourselves.  The Tea Party was just the beginning, and so is the pushback from the Progressives over Obama not being willing to fight for their beliefs.  Note to politicians: No one likes You.  But recast Yourself as a serious problem-solver (like Chris Christie) or a great communicator (like Ronald Reagan) or a daring dreamer (like JFK) or an empathetic parent (like FDR) and people will adore You.  The only catch is You gotta accomplish stuff.  Let the historians haggle over exactly what it was worth, but just get something done and act like it mattered to You the whole time....

Do those who went before us want us to get shorter, too?  To Live less long?  To know less?

Here is the conversation we ought to be having: How do we get people to Love their children more and themselves less?

12-31-2010 F3A Post #3: The New Year

“An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.….”  (Bill Vaughn)

“The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year – it is that we should have a new soul….”  (G. K. Chesterton)

“New Year's Resolution: To tolerate fools more gladly – provided this does not encourage them to take up more of my time….”  (James Agate)

The New Year is not typically a time i look forward to or remember with great aplomb, but it is something i note.  i’ve already written about my feelings about 2010, however, so here i will just say that i am looking forward to what 2011 might hold and am also trying not to be anxious about what it may bring as well.

The thing i can most say about 2010: Thank God.  The think i can most say about 2011 (in anticipation): Thank God.  And, to quote the king in Amadeus, “There it is….”

i leave You with a poem by William Arthur Ward:

“Another fresh new year is here – Another year to Live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear – To Love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me to Live each day with zest

To daily grow and try to be my highest & my best!

i have the opportunity once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree, and sing more joyful songs!”

Blessings to all of You in 2011 from the LORD Most High….