Just this week I noticed my first "Wag More, Bark Less" bumper sticker. I'm all for that slogan and think that is something that we all should practice more.
I bark a lot at my dogs. When I take my dogs out to attend to their various duties, I often times yell loudly at them to hurry up or stay in the yard. My youngest daughter says she has some friends that are afraid to come over to our house because of how mean I am to the dogs.
I hope my girls don't think that I am always yelling at them. I have a temper and sadly my girls get the knee jerk reaction of my temper when I blow up at them.
So I'm gonna wag more and blow up less.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
It's Not All About You
Yesterday was my birthday. I am past the halfway mark. In fact, halftime was several years in my rear view mirror.
It was fitting that my birthday, this year, would fall on Friday the 13th. I am not superstitious, so I am not embarrassed to say that I was born on Friday the 13th. Many jokes have been had at my expense when I tell people this little fact.
There wasn't anything unlucky about yesterday. In fact, it was a wonderful day. I received dozens of birthday messages on Facebook. Yesterday was my casts turn to perform at Rodgers Memorial Theatre. Afterwards, both casts had a pool party.
Perhaps the best part of the day was the little card I got from my 10 year old daughter, Makall. It was homemade. She drew all the pictures. The pictures represented each of the years of her life. Unfortunately, I can't scan in the card, but here are the words from the card as only Makall could write them.
Dad
To the #1 Dad
Year 5
I had loved it when you kissed me on my tiny little head
and asked me to say the prayer before I went to bed.
Year 6
I loved it when you sang me your funny made up songs
and hummed that tiny tune in your head and asked me to sing along.
Year 7
I loved it when you made up your own big humongous words
like hold on to your "snikies", that's one I've never heard.
Year 8
I loved it when you cooked up food that mother loves to make,
but one thing that you didn't know is that I really love to bake.
Year 9
I loved it when you let me try on all your ties,
as long as I didn't spill any pen, ink, or dyes.
Year 10
I love you Dad with all my heart
No matter how much I use my art!
Happy Birthday Day.
I discovered something on my birthday that was a priceless gift. It was a simple yet profound truth and that was this: even though it was my birthday, it really wasn't about me.
When the performer, on stage, realizes that it's not about him and that it is really about the audience, that is when the performer really gets it and really gives a good performance. It's not about attention seeking. It is all about audience participation. Connecting with people. Have a two way conversation. Giving all your heart to touch someone else's.
And all those notes sent to me via the Internet. I intend to respond to all the thoughtful messages sent to me on my birthday cuz it's not all about me, it is about saying thank you to those who took the time to reach out and wish me a happy day. That is what makes Facebook work. Not the pay per click ads or all the sales pitches. Not the self serving bragging or begging. It is about people being friendly and nice and reaching out to each other.
The newspaper said some nice things about the Music Man, and our cast. Again, it's not about me or one or both casts, or which cast is better. It is about the audience and their experience. Each night when we have curtain call and we bow, it is a bow of thanks, not a bunch of ego's on stage.
It is too bad it took half my life to finally see it. Let's hope the second act is better than the first.
Who said Friday the 13th is unlucky?
It was fitting that my birthday, this year, would fall on Friday the 13th. I am not superstitious, so I am not embarrassed to say that I was born on Friday the 13th. Many jokes have been had at my expense when I tell people this little fact.
There wasn't anything unlucky about yesterday. In fact, it was a wonderful day. I received dozens of birthday messages on Facebook. Yesterday was my casts turn to perform at Rodgers Memorial Theatre. Afterwards, both casts had a pool party.
Perhaps the best part of the day was the little card I got from my 10 year old daughter, Makall. It was homemade. She drew all the pictures. The pictures represented each of the years of her life. Unfortunately, I can't scan in the card, but here are the words from the card as only Makall could write them.
Dad
To the #1 Dad
Year 5
I had loved it when you kissed me on my tiny little head
and asked me to say the prayer before I went to bed.
Year 6
I loved it when you sang me your funny made up songs
and hummed that tiny tune in your head and asked me to sing along.
Year 7
I loved it when you made up your own big humongous words
like hold on to your "snikies", that's one I've never heard.
Year 8
I loved it when you cooked up food that mother loves to make,
but one thing that you didn't know is that I really love to bake.
Year 9
I loved it when you let me try on all your ties,
as long as I didn't spill any pen, ink, or dyes.
Year 10
I love you Dad with all my heart
No matter how much I use my art!
Happy Birthday Day.
I discovered something on my birthday that was a priceless gift. It was a simple yet profound truth and that was this: even though it was my birthday, it really wasn't about me.
When the performer, on stage, realizes that it's not about him and that it is really about the audience, that is when the performer really gets it and really gives a good performance. It's not about attention seeking. It is all about audience participation. Connecting with people. Have a two way conversation. Giving all your heart to touch someone else's.
And all those notes sent to me via the Internet. I intend to respond to all the thoughtful messages sent to me on my birthday cuz it's not all about me, it is about saying thank you to those who took the time to reach out and wish me a happy day. That is what makes Facebook work. Not the pay per click ads or all the sales pitches. Not the self serving bragging or begging. It is about people being friendly and nice and reaching out to each other.
The newspaper said some nice things about the Music Man, and our cast. Again, it's not about me or one or both casts, or which cast is better. It is about the audience and their experience. Each night when we have curtain call and we bow, it is a bow of thanks, not a bunch of ego's on stage.
It is too bad it took half my life to finally see it. Let's hope the second act is better than the first.
Who said Friday the 13th is unlucky?
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Because
As I small child I often asked a lot of “Why” questions. Why this? Why that? My inquisitive questioning however was often met by my parents with the short answer: “Because.” So of course I would have to ask the next question, “Because why?” And very often that question was met by another short answer:“Just because.”
We often want to know why something happened or what happened as the result of something else happening. We try to understand the reason or cause for it. We use the word "because", well, because it often helps us understand why something happened.
Many times our questions reach a dead end, not because our parents or others don’t want to answer us, but because they may not know the answer, have a hard time explaining it, or worry that we will not be able to correctly comprehend the answer.
There is a well know principle sometimes simply called cause and effect. It is based on the concept that an action or event will produce a certain response to the action in the form of another event. The cause portion of cause and effect is the “why” it is happening portion. The effect portion of cause and effect refers to “what” is happening.
In order to get to the root of a problem it is often important to understand the relationship of cause and effect.
Finding the cause of something quickly is often crucial, especially if it is life threatening. Medical experts are called in to address the issue immediately.
Legal solutions to problems may not be life threatening but often require the discovery of causation.
While in law school I was introduced to many legal concepts regarding causation. I learned there are two general types of causation in the law; cause-in-fact and proximate (or legal) cause. As law students, in order to understand the cause-in-fact concept, we would us a simple test. It was called the “but-for” test” : but for a certain action, the result would not have happened. For example, but for a driver running a red light, a collision would not have occurred.
In the law, a proximate cause is an effect sufficiently related to a legally recognizable injury to be held in the cause of that injury. For any act to cause a harm, both the cause-in-fact and proximate cause test must be met.
But there were also concepts of causation with regards to legal defenses. If there is a cause that is unforeseeable, it may absolve someone of liability.
For example if a person has carelessly spill gasoline near a pile of cigarette butts in an alley behind a restaurant, the fact that a restaurant patron later carelessly threw a cigarette butt into the gasoline, the gasoline would still be deemed a foreseeable cause and would not absolve the person who spilled the gasoline even though the cigarette butt sparked a fire. However, if the restaurant patron intentionally threw the cigarette butt into the gasoline, because he wanted to see it ignite, this intentional act would likely be unforeseeable and therefore a superseding cause.
However both the act and the injury must be unforeseeable. For instance, if a contractor was responsible for fencing or marking a hole in the ground where construction work is taking place, and negligently fails to do so while a subcontractor is working in the hole. Then a driver negligently does not take his or her medication before driving and drives into the unmarked hole, injuring the subcontractor, the contractor would most likely still be liable for the injury to the subcontractor even in light of the intervening negligent act (failure to take medication/bad driving) of the driver. This is because even though the negligent act of the driver is not foreseeable, the fact of the injury is foreseeable (a car falling into a hole because there is no fencing).
There are proximate factors and ultimate factors related to cause and effect in all the areas of our lives. Cause and effect have often been referred to as a part of a universal law known as the universal law of cause and effect.
There are other universal laws that have similar characteristics to the law of cause and effect. Newton’s 3rd law of motion, for example can be stated this way: There is an equal and opposite reaction to every action. Although it is not identical to the concepts of cause and effect, this scientific law is soundly based in a similar principle of action and reaction.
A lot of people I know are going though hard times and are facing problems that are hard to comprehend or explain. Life has its share of not fair.
During these times "because" doesn't seem like a good enough answer. But sometimes "because" is really the only answer.
We often want to know why something happened or what happened as the result of something else happening. We try to understand the reason or cause for it. We use the word "because", well, because it often helps us understand why something happened.
Many times our questions reach a dead end, not because our parents or others don’t want to answer us, but because they may not know the answer, have a hard time explaining it, or worry that we will not be able to correctly comprehend the answer.
There is a well know principle sometimes simply called cause and effect. It is based on the concept that an action or event will produce a certain response to the action in the form of another event. The cause portion of cause and effect is the “why” it is happening portion. The effect portion of cause and effect refers to “what” is happening.
In order to get to the root of a problem it is often important to understand the relationship of cause and effect.
Finding the cause of something quickly is often crucial, especially if it is life threatening. Medical experts are called in to address the issue immediately.
Legal solutions to problems may not be life threatening but often require the discovery of causation.
While in law school I was introduced to many legal concepts regarding causation. I learned there are two general types of causation in the law; cause-in-fact and proximate (or legal) cause. As law students, in order to understand the cause-in-fact concept, we would us a simple test. It was called the “but-for” test” : but for a certain action, the result would not have happened. For example, but for a driver running a red light, a collision would not have occurred.
In the law, a proximate cause is an effect sufficiently related to a legally recognizable injury to be held in the cause of that injury. For any act to cause a harm, both the cause-in-fact and proximate cause test must be met.
But there were also concepts of causation with regards to legal defenses. If there is a cause that is unforeseeable, it may absolve someone of liability.
For example if a person has carelessly spill gasoline near a pile of cigarette butts in an alley behind a restaurant, the fact that a restaurant patron later carelessly threw a cigarette butt into the gasoline, the gasoline would still be deemed a foreseeable cause and would not absolve the person who spilled the gasoline even though the cigarette butt sparked a fire. However, if the restaurant patron intentionally threw the cigarette butt into the gasoline, because he wanted to see it ignite, this intentional act would likely be unforeseeable and therefore a superseding cause.
However both the act and the injury must be unforeseeable. For instance, if a contractor was responsible for fencing or marking a hole in the ground where construction work is taking place, and negligently fails to do so while a subcontractor is working in the hole. Then a driver negligently does not take his or her medication before driving and drives into the unmarked hole, injuring the subcontractor, the contractor would most likely still be liable for the injury to the subcontractor even in light of the intervening negligent act (failure to take medication/bad driving) of the driver. This is because even though the negligent act of the driver is not foreseeable, the fact of the injury is foreseeable (a car falling into a hole because there is no fencing).
There are proximate factors and ultimate factors related to cause and effect in all the areas of our lives. Cause and effect have often been referred to as a part of a universal law known as the universal law of cause and effect.
There are other universal laws that have similar characteristics to the law of cause and effect. Newton’s 3rd law of motion, for example can be stated this way: There is an equal and opposite reaction to every action. Although it is not identical to the concepts of cause and effect, this scientific law is soundly based in a similar principle of action and reaction.
A lot of people I know are going though hard times and are facing problems that are hard to comprehend or explain. Life has its share of not fair.
During these times "because" doesn't seem like a good enough answer. But sometimes "because" is really the only answer.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Wow What a Week It Has Been.
Last Thursday I changed my schedule and made an unexpected visit to see my Grandmother. One week later and I was a pall bearer at her funeral.
My mother’s mother lived to be 86. Old age really didn’t take its toil until recently. In fact, the night of her death, she was surrounded by one son, one daughter, one daughter in-law, and three grandchildren. No one coordinated the visit, and no one expected Grandma to pass away within minutes of everyone’s arrival.
I made it there two minutes too late. But I was glad I stopped to see her last Thursday.
Farewell Grand Ma! We love you and we will miss you!
My mother’s mother lived to be 86. Old age really didn’t take its toil until recently. In fact, the night of her death, she was surrounded by one son, one daughter, one daughter in-law, and three grandchildren. No one coordinated the visit, and no one expected Grandma to pass away within minutes of everyone’s arrival.
I made it there two minutes too late. But I was glad I stopped to see her last Thursday.
Farewell Grand Ma! We love you and we will miss you!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Pull From The Roots
It's a saturday in the middle of July. Yardwork is calling me, but I'm not listening. Blogging is better than weeding. But the weeds just keep growing.
I remember as a small boy the chores of the summer, which included mowing the lawn and pulling weeds. I dreaded pulling the weeds the most. It always seemed like there was an endless supply of weeds. And, for some reason, the weeds always grew faster than the grass. For this reason it was easy to spot the weeds on the lawn, especially the dandelions.
I learned, over time, that the weeds were easier to pull out of the ground, if the earth was moist. If I waited until midday when it was dry and hot, it was practically impossible to pull out the weeds.
Sometimes I did not pull out the weeds before I mowed the lawn. I would just skip that task. And, when the lawn was freshly cut, no one could tell there had been any weeds at all.
But within only a day or two, the weeds would return, sometimes in greater numbers, and they always grew faster than the grass.
When my mother realized what I had done, she would promptly send me out again to the lawn or to the garden to pull weeds. But the second attempt was often as futile as the first. This time, instead of mowing down the weeds, I would just pull off the tops of the weeds.
At first glance, it looked like I had successfully removed the weeds. But in a day or two there would be compelling evidence, all over the lawn: a new crop of weeds would implicate me for my carelessness.
My mother would send me out again, but this time she would follow me, saying things like “If you had done it right the first time you wouldn’t be doing it again.” I watched her pull a few weeds, sometimes with a tool, and sometimes with just her bare hands. As she pulled the weeds she would often say. “if you want to get rid of the weed, once and for all, you have got to pull from the roots.”
Over the years I have often thought of my mother’s statement while pulling weeds in my own yard. I would reflect on her words “Pull from the roots” over and over again.
Solving life’s problems require that we do more than scratch the surface. We need to get to the root of the problem. We need to pull from the roots.
A friend once said to me “We’ve all got problems, stand in line.”
I laughed at first at this comment, but then I quietly thought about what he said. My friend was right. No one is exempt from problems. We live in a world full of problems. And there are some really big problems out there. Here is list of a few:
Abortion
Addiction
Aging/ Elderly Issues
AIDS
Alcoholism
Being a single parent
Child abuse/ Spousal Abuse
Civil Disorder
Crime
Debt
Divorce
Disabilities
Drugs/Drug violence
Economic Survival
Education Crisis
Environment issues
Ethnic Strife/Prejudice
Famine/Starvation
Financial Crisis
Gangs/ Gang violence
Greed
Health Care Costs
Homelessness
Homicide/ Suicide
Illiteracy
Incest/ Sexual Abuse
Insurance Costs
Legal Costs
Massacres/Holocaust
Media influences
Moral Decay
Natural Disasters
Oppression/ Tyranny/ Slavery
Pornography
Poverty
Racism
Rape
Sexism
Smoking Addiction
Taxes
Terrorism
War
Wide spread Diseases
World Economic Competition
The above list of problems is not a complete list, but newspapers are filled, every day, with headlines and news reports covering tragic stories about problems like these.
Problems can make us feel helpless and hopeless. It is easy to get caught up in problems because there are so many and some are so very severe.
But the biggest problem could be that, as individuals, and as a society for that matter, we have become too problem focused. And we have become to jaded and numb because of it.
The first problem that could be in the way of progress is that the problem focus is the problem. Of course we need to give problems proper attention, but not too much attention. We need to strive to find solutions. We need to be solution focused!
So what is the solution. We need to be action oriented!
I better go pull some weeds.
I remember as a small boy the chores of the summer, which included mowing the lawn and pulling weeds. I dreaded pulling the weeds the most. It always seemed like there was an endless supply of weeds. And, for some reason, the weeds always grew faster than the grass. For this reason it was easy to spot the weeds on the lawn, especially the dandelions.
I learned, over time, that the weeds were easier to pull out of the ground, if the earth was moist. If I waited until midday when it was dry and hot, it was practically impossible to pull out the weeds.
Sometimes I did not pull out the weeds before I mowed the lawn. I would just skip that task. And, when the lawn was freshly cut, no one could tell there had been any weeds at all.
But within only a day or two, the weeds would return, sometimes in greater numbers, and they always grew faster than the grass.
When my mother realized what I had done, she would promptly send me out again to the lawn or to the garden to pull weeds. But the second attempt was often as futile as the first. This time, instead of mowing down the weeds, I would just pull off the tops of the weeds.
At first glance, it looked like I had successfully removed the weeds. But in a day or two there would be compelling evidence, all over the lawn: a new crop of weeds would implicate me for my carelessness.
My mother would send me out again, but this time she would follow me, saying things like “If you had done it right the first time you wouldn’t be doing it again.” I watched her pull a few weeds, sometimes with a tool, and sometimes with just her bare hands. As she pulled the weeds she would often say. “if you want to get rid of the weed, once and for all, you have got to pull from the roots.”
Over the years I have often thought of my mother’s statement while pulling weeds in my own yard. I would reflect on her words “Pull from the roots” over and over again.
Solving life’s problems require that we do more than scratch the surface. We need to get to the root of the problem. We need to pull from the roots.
A friend once said to me “We’ve all got problems, stand in line.”
I laughed at first at this comment, but then I quietly thought about what he said. My friend was right. No one is exempt from problems. We live in a world full of problems. And there are some really big problems out there. Here is list of a few:
Abortion
Addiction
Aging/ Elderly Issues
AIDS
Alcoholism
Being a single parent
Child abuse/ Spousal Abuse
Civil Disorder
Crime
Debt
Divorce
Disabilities
Drugs/Drug violence
Economic Survival
Education Crisis
Environment issues
Ethnic Strife/Prejudice
Famine/Starvation
Financial Crisis
Gangs/ Gang violence
Greed
Health Care Costs
Homelessness
Homicide/ Suicide
Illiteracy
Incest/ Sexual Abuse
Insurance Costs
Legal Costs
Massacres/Holocaust
Media influences
Moral Decay
Natural Disasters
Oppression/ Tyranny/ Slavery
Pornography
Poverty
Racism
Rape
Sexism
Smoking Addiction
Taxes
Terrorism
War
Wide spread Diseases
World Economic Competition
The above list of problems is not a complete list, but newspapers are filled, every day, with headlines and news reports covering tragic stories about problems like these.
Problems can make us feel helpless and hopeless. It is easy to get caught up in problems because there are so many and some are so very severe.
But the biggest problem could be that, as individuals, and as a society for that matter, we have become too problem focused. And we have become to jaded and numb because of it.
The first problem that could be in the way of progress is that the problem focus is the problem. Of course we need to give problems proper attention, but not too much attention. We need to strive to find solutions. We need to be solution focused!
So what is the solution. We need to be action oriented!
I better go pull some weeds.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Seventeen
Time goes by so quickly. I must have blinked and the years raced by.
Today is my anniversary. I have celebrated 16 days like this before. Today is number seventeen. A few celebrations have been on trips to exotic places. Some have been at fancy restaurants.
But usually this day goes by unnoticed by most. Marked with a few small gifts and thoughtful messages in cards.
But there couldn't be a more wonderful day in all the world. Especially because of the woman I share it with. There isn't a more beautiful woman in the world to me than her. She is the quintessence of elegance. She is remarkable in so many ways that just thinking about them is like counting my blessings.
She doesn't brag or bring attention to herself, so I'm probably out of line for writing all of this, but getting to know her, over the years, has been fantastic and fascinating. Her quiet way has a calming effect on my soul.
I haven't blogged in a long while, but I couldn't let this day go by without declaring my endless love for her and shouting it across the earth. I love my eternal sweetheart and though earth and hell have tried to combine to destroy what we have, here's to seventeen years of true love and the brightness of hope for all that is in store for eternity.
I love ya Nancie! Happy Anniversary!
Today is my anniversary. I have celebrated 16 days like this before. Today is number seventeen. A few celebrations have been on trips to exotic places. Some have been at fancy restaurants.
But usually this day goes by unnoticed by most. Marked with a few small gifts and thoughtful messages in cards.
But there couldn't be a more wonderful day in all the world. Especially because of the woman I share it with. There isn't a more beautiful woman in the world to me than her. She is the quintessence of elegance. She is remarkable in so many ways that just thinking about them is like counting my blessings.
She doesn't brag or bring attention to herself, so I'm probably out of line for writing all of this, but getting to know her, over the years, has been fantastic and fascinating. Her quiet way has a calming effect on my soul.
I haven't blogged in a long while, but I couldn't let this day go by without declaring my endless love for her and shouting it across the earth. I love my eternal sweetheart and though earth and hell have tried to combine to destroy what we have, here's to seventeen years of true love and the brightness of hope for all that is in store for eternity.
I love ya Nancie! Happy Anniversary!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Death & Taxes
Happy Reality Check Day! Isn’t that what April 15th is? Isn’t today like a national holiday or something? Doesn’t it make its annual appearance faithfully every year like most holidays?
If only today were really a holiday? We get most holidays off, but today, because I have procrastinated until the bitter end, I will be consumed by doing my taxes well into the night. As the saying goes nothing is as sure as death and taxes.
But April started out to be such a good month with Easter and Conference.
I studied tax law in law school, but knowing the law and living the law are two different things. The laws of prosperity are closely linked to the laws of the harvest. Even as you sow so shall ye reap. And you reap what you sow if you don’t plan ahead for taxes.
When we fail to plan ahead for taxes we plan to fail. But, more often than not, like a head on collision, we are blinded sided by tax issues. I have talked to more people this year about tax problems than any previous year. One individual inherited a lump sum of money from the death of a relative. Although he had put some money aside for taxes, the increase in income put him into a higher tax bracket and he owes more money than he has left in his inheritance. Another woman won prizes on a game show, only to have to sell the bulk of the prizes to pay the taxes owed. Another individual spent thousands of dollars on medical bills but did not qualify for the itemized deduction for these expenses and has no money to pay his taxes. Still another individual took out his retirement to start a business, only to find that his capital gains taxes are greater than the income he made from the business all year.
My own procrastination is related to my bigger problem of fiscal irresponsibility. I should pay my taxes quarterly. I do not. Therefore, I don’t live within the reality of what my real tax burden is and I don’t, like the grasshopper, put enough away for taxes. I get caught up in the pursuit of wealth only to find that April 15th is an annual wake up call. Too bad this prodigal tax payer doesn’t learn his hard lessons and repeats that same mistake every year.
For me the pursuit of wealth can become a material blindness. I think I suffer from financial reality syndrome which is related to a far worse disease: Imagination Disorder. When we want something to go a certain way, sometimes we desire it so much that we pretend things will be ok. We become pretenders and then spenders and then defenders until eventually our make believe financial world appears to be real. But that reality is shattered on tax day. What goes up must come down.
Tax judgment day, in some small way, is a reflection of what the real judgment day will be like: we will be required to make an accounting. If we got caught in the affluenza trap, if the financial mist of darkness blind us into thinking that “All is well in Zion”, then our lives will reflect that we came up short in what matters most.
The “All is well in Zion” syndrome is all too prevalent in today’s society because too many focus on vain imaginations and the light of reality is slowly growing darker. We spend time and money on that which is of no worth and that which cannot satisfy. Death and taxes are painful because they are real and if you are like me, the reality hits hard for those who don’t face reality very well.
But reality checks can be a good thing. We can, as the prodigal son did, come to ourselves and learn lessons the hard way. The law of the harvest can work for us, not just against us.
Last weekend I spent time in my yard getting ready for summer. I weeded and pruned and raked and trimmed. As I worked I reflected on my childhood and all the times I spent working in my grandfathers garden. My grandparents were especially on my mind because my grandmother is very ill. I thought of her raspberry patch and how I would, every year, prune it. My grandfather has long since passed away, but I remember the instructions he gave me concerning the berry patch. He told me to cut every branch down to the ground. Only a little stub would be left.
I wondered if this was such a good idea to cut off all the branches. But I followed his instructions, and, every year, even though the branches were chopped all the way down, they would grow back with plenty of berries.
At first the pruning wasn’t a problem, but because the rows were long, and there were so many rows, by the time I got to the last row I was on my knees. I was on my knees because the pain in my back was so intense I had to crawl along just to finish the pruning.
One day while, on my knees I thought of someone else who was on his knees in a garden. That touching moment in the garden inspired me to write the following poem.
My Grandpa Jesse's Garden
When I was young there was only one garden that I knew
My Grandpa Jesse’s garden where so many good things grew.
And Grandma helped us mind a patch where berries grow aplenty,
we often ate so many though we left our cans half empty.
And oh the corn it grew so high you couldn't find your brother,
But pumpkins and squash they left us room to chase around each other.
And each potato harvest was like searching for real gold,
the tractor often struck it rich at least a hundred fold.
And when the spuds were gathered into large potato sacks,
we'd wave the tractor trailer on and follow in its tracks.
And when the rains had ended we would chase the frogs around,
or hoe out all the ugly weeds from newly watered ground.
Looking back at such fond memories, they never seemed like toil,
God blessed our lives with countless hours of tending our Grandfathers soil.
But since that time another garden has come into my view
One Grandpa helped us understand and Grandma knew was true
A garden wherein one man knelt there all alone,
and suffered for all the sins the world had ever known.
The only harvest that day was a harvest full of pain,
But somehow the seeds were planted for our eternal gain.
Yet in Gethsemene I think I'd find the very thing,
That Grandpa Jesse's garden would every season bring.
There's a love within the garden, that only children know,
the ones who plant the seeds of faith and watch the branches grow.
From these two gardens then I've learned a simple truth:
my Grandpa Jesse's garden was the Eden of my youth.
When I am brought to my me knees by realities like tax woes, I am reminded of this poem and I find comfort and courage in the fact that I don't face my realities alone.
If only today were really a holiday? We get most holidays off, but today, because I have procrastinated until the bitter end, I will be consumed by doing my taxes well into the night. As the saying goes nothing is as sure as death and taxes.
But April started out to be such a good month with Easter and Conference.
I studied tax law in law school, but knowing the law and living the law are two different things. The laws of prosperity are closely linked to the laws of the harvest. Even as you sow so shall ye reap. And you reap what you sow if you don’t plan ahead for taxes.
When we fail to plan ahead for taxes we plan to fail. But, more often than not, like a head on collision, we are blinded sided by tax issues. I have talked to more people this year about tax problems than any previous year. One individual inherited a lump sum of money from the death of a relative. Although he had put some money aside for taxes, the increase in income put him into a higher tax bracket and he owes more money than he has left in his inheritance. Another woman won prizes on a game show, only to have to sell the bulk of the prizes to pay the taxes owed. Another individual spent thousands of dollars on medical bills but did not qualify for the itemized deduction for these expenses and has no money to pay his taxes. Still another individual took out his retirement to start a business, only to find that his capital gains taxes are greater than the income he made from the business all year.
My own procrastination is related to my bigger problem of fiscal irresponsibility. I should pay my taxes quarterly. I do not. Therefore, I don’t live within the reality of what my real tax burden is and I don’t, like the grasshopper, put enough away for taxes. I get caught up in the pursuit of wealth only to find that April 15th is an annual wake up call. Too bad this prodigal tax payer doesn’t learn his hard lessons and repeats that same mistake every year.
For me the pursuit of wealth can become a material blindness. I think I suffer from financial reality syndrome which is related to a far worse disease: Imagination Disorder. When we want something to go a certain way, sometimes we desire it so much that we pretend things will be ok. We become pretenders and then spenders and then defenders until eventually our make believe financial world appears to be real. But that reality is shattered on tax day. What goes up must come down.
Tax judgment day, in some small way, is a reflection of what the real judgment day will be like: we will be required to make an accounting. If we got caught in the affluenza trap, if the financial mist of darkness blind us into thinking that “All is well in Zion”, then our lives will reflect that we came up short in what matters most.
The “All is well in Zion” syndrome is all too prevalent in today’s society because too many focus on vain imaginations and the light of reality is slowly growing darker. We spend time and money on that which is of no worth and that which cannot satisfy. Death and taxes are painful because they are real and if you are like me, the reality hits hard for those who don’t face reality very well.
But reality checks can be a good thing. We can, as the prodigal son did, come to ourselves and learn lessons the hard way. The law of the harvest can work for us, not just against us.
Last weekend I spent time in my yard getting ready for summer. I weeded and pruned and raked and trimmed. As I worked I reflected on my childhood and all the times I spent working in my grandfathers garden. My grandparents were especially on my mind because my grandmother is very ill. I thought of her raspberry patch and how I would, every year, prune it. My grandfather has long since passed away, but I remember the instructions he gave me concerning the berry patch. He told me to cut every branch down to the ground. Only a little stub would be left.
I wondered if this was such a good idea to cut off all the branches. But I followed his instructions, and, every year, even though the branches were chopped all the way down, they would grow back with plenty of berries.
At first the pruning wasn’t a problem, but because the rows were long, and there were so many rows, by the time I got to the last row I was on my knees. I was on my knees because the pain in my back was so intense I had to crawl along just to finish the pruning.
One day while, on my knees I thought of someone else who was on his knees in a garden. That touching moment in the garden inspired me to write the following poem.
My Grandpa Jesse's Garden
When I was young there was only one garden that I knew
My Grandpa Jesse’s garden where so many good things grew.
And Grandma helped us mind a patch where berries grow aplenty,
we often ate so many though we left our cans half empty.
And oh the corn it grew so high you couldn't find your brother,
But pumpkins and squash they left us room to chase around each other.
And each potato harvest was like searching for real gold,
the tractor often struck it rich at least a hundred fold.
And when the spuds were gathered into large potato sacks,
we'd wave the tractor trailer on and follow in its tracks.
And when the rains had ended we would chase the frogs around,
or hoe out all the ugly weeds from newly watered ground.
Looking back at such fond memories, they never seemed like toil,
God blessed our lives with countless hours of tending our Grandfathers soil.
But since that time another garden has come into my view
One Grandpa helped us understand and Grandma knew was true
A garden wherein one man knelt there all alone,
and suffered for all the sins the world had ever known.
The only harvest that day was a harvest full of pain,
But somehow the seeds were planted for our eternal gain.
Yet in Gethsemene I think I'd find the very thing,
That Grandpa Jesse's garden would every season bring.
There's a love within the garden, that only children know,
the ones who plant the seeds of faith and watch the branches grow.
From these two gardens then I've learned a simple truth:
my Grandpa Jesse's garden was the Eden of my youth.
When I am brought to my me knees by realities like tax woes, I am reminded of this poem and I find comfort and courage in the fact that I don't face my realities alone.
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