Taking Care of the Small Stuff

In this blog and in other places, I have expressed my dislike for the asinine practice called Daylight Savings Time (DST).  In the Spring of each year, people throughout the USA lose one hour of sleep and their internal clock is in a state of confusion.  This toying with Mother Nature is actually detrimental to your health as well as your pocketbook.

The only benefit I see in DST is the manner in which Fire Departments and safety advocates use it.  Whenever we move our clocks forward in the Spring or back in the Fall, we are reminded to change the batteries in our smoke detectors.  This is a government program that actually makes sense.

Evidently Malaysia has no such program.  It is being reported that one reason Flight 370 has not been discovered in the past year is that the battery on the jet’s underwater locator beacon had expired.

I don’t mean that it had died and lost its charge in recent days before it took flight.  Not at all, the battery on the beacon attached to the Flight Data Recorder had expired in December of 2012.

Flight 370 was a Boeing 777 that had a price tag somewhere in the neighborhood of $261 million. Do you have any idea how much the battery cost?  Admittedly, the pilot or mechanic could not have stopped at a Walmart or Radio Shack and picked one up on the way to work, but it only cost $750.

While $750 isn’t exactly pocket change, it is a drop in the bucket compared to $261 million.  It is a small investment to make when you are trying to track a very expensive jet that is full of precious human cargo—mothers, fathers, sister, brothers, aunts, uncles, and children.

Neglecting small details can have catastrophic and costly results.  If you don’t put oil in your vehicle, the motor will seize-up and die.  If you don’t drink enough water it can lead to dehydration.

You may easily understand this fact when it’s discussed in the context of the mechanical or the physical, but the same is true for the spiritual.  If you fail to take the small steps, disaster may be lurking in the shadows.

alarm-clock-vector_GyJTaxwOOne of the secrets to the rapid growth of the early church, was they developed the habit of doing the simple things:  “They were devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (Acts 2:42).”

I do a very simple task every night before I get into bed.  I plug my cell phone into the charger, so it will be powered-up for the next day.  When I get up the next morning, I make a cup of coffee and sip it in while I power-up for the day ahead, and I recharge my spiritual battery by putting Acts 2:42 to practice.

I encourage you to plug into the God’s Word and to power-up through prayer—it will keep you flying when you encounter turbulence in your life.

Be Purposeful in Your Random Acts of Kindness

The purpose of a newspaper headline is to capture your attention, so you will read the article.  The same is true with the bold heading on the pages of the internet.  They scream of a horrible crime, announce a recent tragedy, and some of them announce a random act of kindness.

I like random acts of kindness, and I’ve included a few that I found this morning:

  • A waitress at the Route 6 Café was stunned to find a diner had left a $1,000 tip for a $15.61 meal.
  • Whenever golfer Phil Mickelson sees kids selling lemonade stand, he buys a cup with a $100 bill and walks away.
  • Tamba Hali of the Kansas City Chiefs recently left a $1,000 tip at a steakhouse
  • After Bubba Watson won the Masters in April, he left a $148 tip at a Waffle House.

You might say, “Those are people who are wealthy and they can afford to do that.”  True, but they were not required to do it.

A few days prior to Christmas, I was given some money with the instructions:  “Use it however you can to help whoever needs it.”  I purchased 10 hams and several gifts cards and gave them in acts of random kindness to people I met.

To many of these people, the ham meant they would have a good meal for Christmas.  The gift cards, at least for a moment, removed the wrinkles that the framed the faces of people stressed by the worries of life.  Every one of the people who received the gift expressed their gratitude for this kind act made possible by the person who funded the effort.

One lady wrote a letter that said:  “I would like to think the man from your church who gave me and my children the gift card.  It was a wonderful act of kindness and great lesson for my children.”

When she was a child, Traci Bild and her brother scrounged up some spare change and decided to buy a Christmas Tree.  They showed the salesman their handful of change in their tiny palms, and he said:  “I think I have the perfect tree for you.” He walked away and came back with the largest tree on the lot.”

The Huffington Post printed a recent article of Bild’s as she retells this story to her children:  “Not too long ago I took my kids to Urbana, where I grew up. Driving past the cemetery we decided to pull in. “I want to show you something,” I said. I pulled up to what is now Jugs gravesite and tears fell from my eyes as I saw his name inscribed in stone. I told my kids about his amazing generosity to me both when I was a child of seven in search of that tree and later again in life as a teen of 15 in search of a job (he hired me to work at the Dairy Queen). This man, no longer alive will forever be present in my heart- his single random act of kindness played out in my mind over a lifetime. He probably had no idea what kind of impact he made on my life and that is what makes this story so special. He gave from the kindness of his heart, when no one was looking, because he could. What about you — can you do something unexpected for someone today?”

The kind acts of Jugs were moments that helped to jog the mind of Traci Bild, and set her on the right path in life.  What kind deed will you do?

Paul never used the phrase, random act of kindness, but he encouraged you to behave in such a way:  “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality (Romans 12:10-13).”

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Communication: Do You WiFi or Wee-Fee?

3-golden-rules-for-team-communicationDo you pay a Wee-Fee for your WiFi, or do you hee-hee when some people say Wee-Fee?  Most people reading this blog know that WiFi  is the wireless networking technology that uses radio waves to provide wireless high-speed connection to the internet.

What you may not know is that about 7% of the people living in Arkansas pronounce WiFi as Wee-Fee; however, they are not alone.  In fact, there are several countries that have a significant number of people who opt for the Wee-Fee pronunciation of the word:

  • Spain 49.3%
  • France 46.1%
  • Hungary 41%
  • Belgium 34.4%
  • Netherlands 33.7%

The meaning of WiFi does not change if it is pronounced Wee-Fee, but in some situations a mispronounced word can lead to heated circumstances.

I clearly remember an unclearly spoken word that created a state of confusion.  I was 18, and was asleep on the top floor of an old Air Force barracks when a backwoods sergeant ran down the hall shouting, “Far! Far!”  I thought:  “Far?  How far am I supposed to go and in which direction?”

“Far” took on new meaning and significance when the smell of burning wood began to find its way into my room.  I realized the sergeant with the hick-accent had not been shouting “far,” but was yelling “FIRE!”

One of the basic rules of communication is found in the acronym KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).  The Apostle Paul could be profoundly simple in the way he stated truth, and he kept it simple and clear in Romans 6:23:  “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The wages of your sin cost God more than just a wee-fee, it cost Him the death of His son on the cross of Calvary.

Your WiFi might be what directs you to the internet, but it’s Jesus who connects you to Heaven.  Jesus said:  “I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the Father except through me.”

 

 

The Iconic Brain or Do Smartphones Make You Smarter?

brain-injury

In the world of information technology the term icon is about as outdated as a dial phone.  In the not so distant past, the images on the screen of your computer were called “ICONS.”  From a religious perceptive, the word means “a window to heaven.”  From the viewpoint of technology “ICON” was used in reference to a window to an application.

The ICON has been buried in the bone yard of outdated computer technology and replaced by the APP.  The birth of the APP has walked in step with the proliferation of smartphones.

A story in US News & World Report has examined a study on the correlation between finger and thumb dexterity and the development of the sensory processing component of your brain while using a smartphone.  Each part of your body, from the top of your head to the tip of your toes, “has a corresponding ‘processing area’ in the emotional center of the brain, a region known as the somatosensory cortex.”

This function of the brain is often referred to as “sensory processing,” and it is the ability of the brain to interpret the information it has received, so it can prioritize and emphasize the components of the data; decide how to understand what is going on; and, decide what you will do based on the information received and processed.

Researchers used an EEG to study the brain activity of 37 people while they were using their cell phones:

  • 26 were using touch-screen smartphones
  • 11 were sing traditional cellphones with keypads

The study was able to distinguish between the length of time the subject had owned a smartphone and the frequency with it had been used.  The change in the brain was associated more with how frequently the smartphone was used over a 10 day period than just owning the phone and using it periodically.

Here’s a thought or two to keep you thinking:

  • How can these findings be applied to your life?
  • Is it more important to pray for a long time every now and then or to have short frequent prayers every day?
  • How does your prayer life mold and reshape the sensory processing region of your brain?

Perhaps this is one of the reasons Paul instructed the Christian to “pray without ceasing.”

 

Where Am I?

A couple of weeks ago I damaged my cell phone and had to replace it.  I liked the iPhone I had, so I replaced it with a new iPhone with newer features.

One of the features I like is called Siri.  I simply push a button and ask a question:  “Where am I?”  Siri will speak to me; answer my question; and, give me my location. 

GPS technology makes it much easier to find your location and to locate what you are trying to find.  I have been a fan of the Global Positioning Satellite technology since it hit the market place.

When I think of GPS technology, I also think about God and the marvellous way that He knows exactly where we are and what we need. Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me,  your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.  For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.  How precious to me are your thoughts, God!  How vast is the sum of them (Psalm 139)!

I hope this is a thought that will keep you thinking.

Thoughtful or Thought-Filled?

I’m not sure that I’m a thoughtful person; however, I have no doubt that I am thought-filled.  My mind races from one thought to another at a speed, that even NASCAR can’t match.

If all these thoughts were positive and constructive, I’d be the envy of the world.  The trouble is that many of them are negative and destructive.

I’ve come to realize that either I control my thoughts or they control me.  Our thoughts are seeds that blossom into feelings and behaviors that make us either blooming idiots or citizens of substance.

Dick Tracy

The increase in technology is directly connected to a decrease in thought-regulating quiet time.  Think with me for a moment about the rapid changes in society.  I can remember the Sunday edition of the paper and the watch-like apparatus Dick Tracy wore on his wrist.  Dick could be seen talking to a fellow detective with this device that was a pre-cursor to cell phones and video conferencing.  Most everyone thought this was far-fetched-thinking that would never happen in their lifetime, but we’ve gone from party-lines to cell phones with video capabilities in just a few short years.

And shortened years just might be the diagnosis, if we don’t learn how to slow down and still keep pace.  The question is:  How can we slow down, when the computer keeps us ramped up?

Here’s something I’m trying.  Every time I do a Google search, I pause just a second before I begin and say something positive and spiritual.  Prayers like this  have their roots in the words of the Apostle Paul:  Pray without ceasing (I Thess. 5:17); and in the thoughts of the old Quaker theologian, Rufus Jones:  Let a person’s inner being be fortified with a faith in God and all his creative powers are quickened, his marching strength is heightened and his grip on everyday things is immensely increased. It is as though he had tapped a hidden reservoir of power.

Let me share a few quick phrases that can be effective keyboard prayers:

·        Bless the Lord, my soul.

·        May Your will be accomplished in me.

·        Not my will, but yours.

·        Teach me. Guide me. Keep me

·        The Lord is the Rock of my salvation.

Instead of embracing the mentality of Atlas and trying to carry the weight of the world on my shoulders, I’m learning to use these mini-prayers as pace-setters as I walk with the Lord.

I think these words of Jesus from The Message provide a good summary of my thoughts:  Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly (Matthew 11:28-30).

I hope this thought keeps you thinking.