“It is one thing to describe an interview with a gorgon or griffin, a creature who does not exist. It is another thing to discover that the rhinoceros does exist and then take pleasure in the fact that he looks as if he didn’t.” – G.K. Chesterton
In daily life, we are confronted with various people – some friendly, others not so much. We watch the news and see that some people are, in fact, quite horrible. Adding to our disillusionment is the fact that most people we encounter on the street don’t quite look like the people who sell things to us during commercial breaks. They aren’t quite up to that “ideal” appearance.
Fundraising and volunteering give us an opportunity to see people as they really are. They are not the mythical creatures peddled to us on the television. They are neither the siren of the commercial, nor are they the minotaur of the nightly news.
However, we do find a lot of dreamers. We find people with vision and ability and a willingness to create something for the good of others. On the outside, they look like the same people that we viewed with a fishy eye at Starbucks when they cut in front of us in line. In fact, they are the same people – however, we only get a chance to meet them fully when working together on a project we love.
The joy in fundraising is the opportunity to be inspired daily through the people we meet at work. This week, Phyllis Hanicke donated so that she could complete her next status on the Honor Roll. She is a long-time St. Louis Scientologist. In fact, she was working with the subject before there was an organization in the area… and before there was a “Scientology.” She gave so that the staff could have a nice place to work. I had no idea that was her reason for giving. Isn’t that great? Once again, I have met someone “new” who was standing beside us the whole time.
Filed under News/Blog by on Aug 2nd, 2011. 
I read The Stranger by Albert Camus while flying to LA last week. The below paragraph was worth the effort required to read the rest of the book, as it reminded me of a wonderful story.
“I know that at one time or another you’ve wished for another life.” I said of course I had, but it didn’t mean any more than wishing to be rich, to be able to swim faster, or to have a more nicely shaped mouth. It was all the same. But he stopped me and wanted to know how I pictured this other life. Then I shouted at him, “One where I could remember this life!”
- Albert Camus, The Stranger
I love this statement. Imagine if we could “remember” the results of all the decisions we’d made before we made them. How would our lives be different?
A woman and her mother came into the church and asked to hear about the Purification rundown. I was the person available to tour them. The mother was obviously nervous, but interested. Her daughter, who appeared to be in her mid-40′s, was nervous to the point of distraction. It was clear to me that she was in pain of some sort, and that this kept her from being “present” enough to answer even the simplest of questions.
During our discussion, I discovered from the mother that her daughter was experiencing drug withdrawals. She had quit taking meth just three days prior. Their family had reached a breaking point and the mother felt something had to be done. The daughter could not hold a job and was unable to care for her child, who was cared for by the mother; and the mother feared that if the daughter did not recover soon, she would become a “new mom” again and would raise the son to adulthood by necessity.
The daughter did the Purification rundown and some additional counselling to assist her with her drug addiction, during the course of which her body and face once again took on an appearance more appropriate to her age – 26.
Since that time, the daughter has gotten married and has re-united with her son, and is stably employed in a career which she enjoys. I talk with the mother periodically, and she explains that while neither she or her daughter describe themselves as Scientologists, they tell everyone they know about Scientology and how it saved her daughter’s life. The daughter now has the opportunity to live a new life while remembering the results of her earlier decisions.
The Stranger is a horrid little book. Mr. Camus used it as a vehicle to express the philosophy of “absurdism,” which demands that humanity cannot find meaning in an apparently meaningless universe; and further, that one must recognize that this conflict is impossible to resolve – which amounts to the worst sort of apathy.
Mr. Camus and other materialists who hold similar views can keep their universe in which human kindness, dignity and courage don’t mean a thing when pitted against an uncaring cosmos. In the meantime, I’ll keep working with people – those of any faith or decency – who think that it is worthwhile to relieve the pain of drug addiction or to re-unite a mother with her son.
Filed under News/Blog by on Jul 28th, 2011.
Filed under News/Blog by on Jul 26th, 2011.
Read these words and try to determine their source.
“Our earth is degenerate in these latter days. Bribery and corruption are common. Children no longer obey their parents. The end of the world is evidently approaching.”
Were they spoken by members of the political left or the right? Were they heard on CNN, NPR, Fox news or on an End-of-the-world-Mayan-calendar-2012 blog?
Before I answer that, I’d like to say something about the philosophy of pessimism, which has some prevalence in society today.
This is a wonderful philosophy for those who wish to never be wrong without exertion. With smug superiority, anyone can look at a project, a civilization or a planet and say, “it’ll fail.” Then, all one needs to do to apply his philosophy is sit back and wait. Any apparent success is just further fodder for a belief in failure, as everyone knows that, “The higher they fly, the further they fall.”
Most of the people I know are not pessimists. Anyone who would donate to a building or to a church must have some belief that their actions can create a positive result. A pessimist would look at any such effort and write it off as doomed for failure. Here, I agree with G. K. Chesterton, who said that a pessimist is someone who “thinks that everything is bad, except himself.”
Optimists are not starry-eyed dreamers who believe, with Candide, that “it’s all for the best in the best of all possible worlds.” Rather, an optimist believes that his (and his society’s) endeavors will go well - because he’s willing to do something to make them go well.
Optimism does have a cost – it requires action. However, I believe that we are willing to pay that cost in the interest of getting the show on the road.
By contrast, there is no cost for being a pessimist. It’s a very comfortable position to adopt, as in the end, one can always claim he was right.
The above quote is not a modern one. It was not spoken by Rush Limbaugh or written in a pithy New York Times editorial.
It is inscribed on a gravestone which written in 2800 BC.
Filed under News/Blog by on Jul 21st, 2011.
I had an opportunity this morning to fix up my time machine and overhear the following conversation, which happens 150 years in the future. I came back immediately to blog about it because I like you and wanted you to have the information.
…….
“Alright, children, it’s time to gather around your grandfather and let him tell you a story.”
“Aw mom – he drools!”
“Everyone drools when they’re 187 years old. Settle down, now. He’s waking up from his nap.”
“Humph. Alright, children. I will tell you a tale of long ago – one that took place before cell phones, Ipods and the internet. This is a tale of… 1990.”
“Pappy, is it true?! I heard that back in those days, cars still used… gasoline?!”
“Yes, little Jimmy, it is true. That and many crazy things, besides. In those days, the Church was in a warehouse.”
“That’s right. We shared our facility with a dry cleaning company.”
“I have photos right here to show you…
“Eventually, the dry cleaning company moved out and we used the extra space to add a volleyball net.
“Then, on October 31st 1997, we moved to a larger building. This building was much nicer and closer to people walking around and all that. It was a smart idea and a whole lot of people helped make that possible.”
“Here’s a photo of what that building looked like…”
“The move was such a good idea that we had too many people and too little space. Staff members had to share desks and the classrooms would get crowded and hot. No one could talk to each other without bumping into someone else. Heck, we didn’t even have a cafeteria in those days, can you believe it?!”
“Yup. Well, then we had to find a bigger building. We looked and looked, then found one. It was incredible.”
“Do we still have it?”
“Yes, you’ll recognize it as one of the buildings we have today. Here’s a photo.”
“It sure looked boarded up and dirty and stuff.”
“Yeah. A whole lot of people helped to make it look as beautiful as it does today. You can still read the honor roll of all the original donors that made that building happen.”
“I look at that honor roll every time I go in there. It’s always seemed to me that those people were sooooo lucky, that they got to put something here that was soooo important.”
“Yes, that’s very smart of you. You’re right. And you bet – those people are very proud of what they did – and rightly so. Due to the work of all those people, the world is a much happier place today than it would have been otherwise.”
“Gee, thanks, pappy! That was a great story!”
……………………….
That’s it. After that, I zipped back to 2011 with all speed. Keep sending those guesses on Randy’s cattle brand. I’ll let you know the winner on Friday.
Filed under News/Blog by on Jul 13th, 2011.
