Runaway Schedule

Sometimes your schedule seems to have a mind of its own. When that happens to us our life often becomes a series of “drive-by” experiences. This last weekend was one of those times. We were planning on leaving for a road trip on Monday so, instead of packing our bags, we mistakenly packed our schedule.

Friday morning (June 19), we rise, breakfast and leave for Oceanside beach to celebrate Rachel Bushrow’s 13th birthday. We love the beach and we love Rachel so there is no question about attendance. No problem, we’ll pack later. After a day at the beach, we return home to clean up and pack. Or so I thought. I forgot about a long planned trip to Tommy’s in LA with Dino (friend and brother-in-law). I’m pretty tired at this point, but this would be Joseph’s first Tommy-burger….OK so Tommy’s is a go. 10pm, Joseph, Dino, Lee (long time Dino friend) and I leave to fill ourselves with indigestible joy. After a midnight return to home, a couple of Tums to take the edge off, it was time for a short nap and up again on Saturday.

No time to pack on Saturday. Since we would be busy on Sunday, Julie and the kids prepared breakfast in bed for me to have an early father’s day celebration. They gave me sausage, fruit, coffee and juice. The fruit was just the thing to help my internal organs try to process the aftermath of the Tommy burger. Oh yea, our friends from Tennessee are visiting and this is the only time we will be able to see them. After a flurry of phone calls we decide to meet in Cerritos. Then after another flurry of phone calls they decide to come to our house. ...time to transition into pre-guest mode (vacuuming, dusting, dishes, sweeping, food check, etc.). Our guests arrive with more guests. The party grows and is a lot of fun but we need to leave. We have tickets for a production of “Sound of Music” featuring my little sister Cassie. She is mother abbes and the show starts at 2:00pm. The daughter of another friend, Janie Green, is also in the production. It’s 1:30 and the pizza arrives. Decision time!

Well we leave the party at our house to go to the play. We are sorry we can’t spend more time with our friends but Cassie does not disappoint. During the production, I was thinking that Cassie’s acting was really good. Then, she sang, “Climb Every Mountain” and absolutely nailed it. This isn’t just brother/relative bias, when that last note was released the house erupted. Cassie, you were simply remarkable!! That’s my sister people!! Yea baby!

OK, so back to the 21st century, where was I? Oh yea, afterwards we went to the Joseph house to celebrate the Cassie talent, oddly enough, without Cassie…go figure. After some good food, comedy and family sarcasm, we returned home to pack. I was too tired to pack and Julie came to me and said, “What do you think about letting the girls sleep in tomorrow?” “I wish we could but we are visiting a supporting church and I’m giving the message. We’ll pack tomorrow.”

Well Sunday morning comes quick. We get ready go to church, have a good time at church and return home. Let’s pack, oh wait…we planned to go to Chuck and Lois’s house to celebrate father’s day and we still need to burn Chuck’s DVD (his father’s day gift). I sit down to burn the DVD and realize the DVD burner is not working. Two hours later, the CD is ready and we leave for Fullerton. We enjoy some more good food and family comedy and return home at 11:00pm. No we have to pack because we leave tomorrow morning. OK, so this time we have to stay up late and pack. Will we make it and if we do, will we be able to drive? Did I mention that Julie has a doctor’s appointment at 8:00am?

Dr. Livingstone, I Presume

Far out in the jungles,
Of deep Timbuktu,
I’m Henry M Stanly,
Prey, tell, who are you?

I’m in search of a man,
Dr Livingstone’s his name,
I hope he’s safe from man-eaters,
That hunt, thrash and maim.

Would you care to come with me?
We’ll search far and wide,
A journey’s less difficult,
With a friend at your side.

So take courage and come,
No beast shall we fear,
Yet keep your gun ready,
If roars you do hear.

The journey’s been long,
Yet now in this room,
I believe that I’ve found him,
“Dr Livingstone I presume.”

Ruins in the Jungle

By

A. Joseph Mosse' IV

Far within the jungle gloom,
Lay the signs of city’s doom,
Like a body, ruins rot,
Spiders feast on flies they caught.

Crumbling idols, in once grand halls,
Stone eyes inspect their ruined walls,
No longer worshiped, or revered,
Their bodies cracked, their faces smeared.

Abandoned palaces, in past ages,
Had been abode, to kings and sages,
Now are home to wild things,
Through the halls, a beast’s roar rings.

Perhaps mimicking lords long dead,
Who, as I’ve heard it has been said,
Would bellow, yell and then cry,
“That man displeases me, and so must die!”

But all a memory it is today,
How long ago, I cannot say,
It was when men first went to roam,

And left behind their ancient home.

Closing Day

April 25, 2009 was Anya’s and Micah’s last day of t-ball and softball. No sublime or profound thoughts here. We just had a good time watching. Here is Anya’s final team and parent on field celebration.




Here is a picture of our little girl (LG), the catcher, intimidating the third base runner. You can just hear it, "Go ahead...run...make my day."

I Just Don't Get It!

In October, after receiving $85 billion in bail out finds, AIG spend $440,000 hosting a corporate retreat at St Regis Monarch Beach resort, on the California coast. (see http://www.wisebread.com/the-aig-retreat-pictures-why-its-worse-than-you-think). Today we are surprised and indignant that AIG is paying bonuses.

Let me get the big picture in focus. AIG executives manage to loose $61.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008 taking the prestigious record for the largest corporate loss in history. The US government gives these same executives $170 billion in bail out funds to save the company because the company is "too big to fail." Now everyone is surprised that AIG turned around and paid out more than $165 million in bonuses to these same executives. I don’t know who I am more disgusted with: the people who give out our tax dollars, the people who receive them or the people who are suprised that business practices haven't changed. If we give billions of dollars to people who have mismanaged billions of dollars, why are we surprised that the money is mishandled again?

The $165 million was payable to executives by Sunday and was part of a larger total payout reportedly valued at $450 million. The company has benefited from more than $170 billion in a federal rescue.

AIG reported this month that it had lost $61.7 billion for the fourth quarter of last year, the largest corporate loss in history. The bulk of the payments at issue cover AIG Financial Products, the unit of the company that sold credit default swaps, the risky contracts that caused massive losses for the insurer.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/03/16/lawmakers-target-aig-executive-bonuses/ (March 16, 2009)

The Sunday shows have paraded a number of solutions:

"Maybe it's time to fire some people," he said, adding that the bonuses were "rewarding incompetence." Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass

Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., chairman of the subcommittee, said in a statement that lawmakers would investigate the bonuses at the hearing.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/03/16/lawmakers-target-aig-executive-bonuses/ (March 16, 2009)

Maybe it’s time to fire some people? Let’s investigate? I propose a very simpler solution.

• Demand the $170 billion back
  
• Resolve that AIG will not get one more cent of bailout money.
  
• Make it a deal breaking condition that any company that intends to pay bonuses, or does pay bonuses will receive no bailout money.
  

How hard is this? If you want help…don’t pay bonuses, don’t take corporate vacations, no raises, use every cent of your capital to strengthen your company until you can stand on your own and pay back what you borrowed. Then you can do what you want.

I can hear it now. But we have contractual obligations! Answer: Not our problem!!! If you want the money, those are the conditions, you figure it out.

The formula is easy:
Pay bonus = LOSE BAILOUT MONEY!

Ambidextrous Faith

When we first moved to Kiev in June, 2003 one family that befriended us was the Burkett family. I remember the first time Joseph went to their apartment to play. After several hours he came back with all kinds of stories about what they did. He was very excited and was talking very fast. I noticed that he wasn’t using many names, so I stopped him and asked what the kid’s names were. He said, “Well, there is the oldest, the youngest, Andrew and the girl.” He had so much fun that he had forgotten to ask their names. We enjoyed their company so when they moved to Lutsk a year later, we rejoiced that God was opening a new work but were sad to see them go. Over the years, Herb, Kim, Josh, Andrew, Ashley and Jacob have had a vibrant ministry in Lutsk and have been a blessing and inspiration to us. They are models what a family can be. The love each other, they serve the Lord together and are kind to the people in their lives. In the picture Andrew is the young man on the bottom right with both hands on the floor. Next to him is his father Herb, then his brother Josh. The next row is his sister Ashley and mother Kim and on top is his little brother Jacob.

Andrew was sick with the flu. Last Monday, he seemed to be worse so they took him to the doctor who diagnosed him with double-pneumonia. They began treatment right away. Andrew’s condition worsened, they were moving him to another hospital when his heart stopped and they were not able to revive him. He died. Just like that. How is the human soul supposed to process such a thing?

In a book by Philip Yancey, I read that Gregory of Nissa once said that Basil the Great had ambidextrous Faith. He explained that his faith was ambidextrous because Basil welcomed pleasures with his right hand and afflictions with his left. Later, Yancey talks about John Donne (17th century poet and dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London). Donne lived and ministered during a time a great pain. The bubonic plague took tens of thousands and eventually Donne himself fell sick and suffered greatly. At first Donne’s devotions reveal a fearful struggle with God. He often asked God, “Why me?” Gradually, his question changed to “Will I trust God with my pain, anger and fear?” This is, of course, the correct and more difficult question. Donne realized that the source of the pain was not at issue, the response to the pain was at issue. That is ambidextrous faith.

As I ponder the lives of men like Basil, Donne and the Burketts and compare the many blessings in my life, I am ashamed at my decidedly “right handed faith”. I am ready to praise God and thank Him for any and all blessings. When pain, hardship – even minor ones, come, I am so quick to ask “Why me?” “Lord, why don’t You simply spare me the pain?” My heart runs to the wrong question. Why don’t I instinctively respond with the question, “Will I trust, will I bless?” It is because my faith is right handed. I desire and fear to develop ambidextrous faith. I fear it because there is only one way for it to grow - on the job training – practical experience. I desire it because I want to be like Jesus.

As I grieve with the Burkett family from afar, I am amazed at their ambidextrous faith. I pray that they will continue to trust God as they bare the weight of this tragedy with their left hand. May they have the strength to mourn, trust and bless.

True to our Founding Documents

As I watched the 44th President of the United States of America take the oath of office this morning and listened to his first speech, I thought the tone solemn and appropriate. I was also struck and pleasantly surprised by one particular phrase.

At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents. (President Barak Obama, January 20, 2009).

President Obama seems to be indicating that he places a high value on the ideals of our forbearers, and…our founding documents. I find this encouraging because our Constitution, Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence and even the Federalist Papers are not often consulted when policy is being discussed. I pray that President Obama intends to keep the intentions of our forbearers in mind as he leads our country. I pray that he doesn’t see our founding documents as “living documents” in the sense that they are understood by the axiom “What does this mean to me?”. I pray that the he follows the more appropriate axiom, “What did the author intend?”

Taking an example from Deuteronomy 17:14ff, I suggested in an earlier entry (He Shall Write for Himself), that the next president might want to consider, as an early act in office, hand copying each document and have each copy approved by an appropriate expert. The pledge to read them regularly and use these hand written documents as his personal reference copies. I think this act (maybe about 30 hours of our President’s time) would do wonders for helping him direct the country.

When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, and you possess it and live in it, and you say, “I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me,” you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses, one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves….Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. It shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or the left, so that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel. (Deuteronomy 17:14-15, 18-20)