Twenty dollar bill

A well-known speaker started off his seminar holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this."

He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air. "Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now, who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air.

"My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We may feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you. The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE. You are special - Don't EVER forget it."

The story of the twenty dollar bill is one of those that has floated around and I am simply retelling it here. (I do that sort of thing from time-to-time and in fact just shared this story four months ago). I like it a lot though and it speaks to a number of things. Mostly it says count your blessings, not your problems.

Why do the shootings keep happening?

Yesterday in Texas, right after shooting his grandmother, a man went to an elementary school and began shooting at the kids. Summer vacation was almost here. Yesterday was the second to last day of the school year. At least 19 children were killed. How could this happen? Why?

Earlier this month there was a massacre at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. The next day a mass shooting occurred at a church in California. Add to these the long list of mass shootings at various places across the US. There was the 2017 Las Vegas shooting that claimed 60 lives. Remember too the Orlando nightclub shooting in 2016 where 49 people were killed. In 2007, 32 were killed at Virginia Tech. Twenty seven lives were lost at the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012. This is only a partial list. The shootings keep happening.  Why are we willing to live with this carnage?  Why?

Why is it easier to buy a gun than to get healthcare for the bullet wound? What is the answer to this gun violence? Does anybody care? Why do the shootings keep happening? Look at the rest of the world - mass shootings aren't happening anywhere else? How come it keeps happening here? Oh and can somebody explain this open carry thing? Seriously. There are 42 states that allow for open carry of some or all firearms. I'm from California (where that is not allowed) and I just don't understand why someone needs a long-gun when they go pickup their coffee at Starbucks. Why?

Last night, Golden State Warriors coach, Steve Kerr asked an important question: "When are we going to do something?" I wish I had the answer. I am convinced that something can be done, so why wasn't anything been done yet? Why?

Lots of good times and kindness

It was on May 22, 1992 that Johnny Carson said goodnight to America for the last time from that familiar stage at NBC Burbank. Can you believe it's been thirty years?

From Groucho Marx, Rudy Vallée, and Joan Crawford to Robin Williams and Bette Midler, it seems like all of our favorite stars appeared with Johnny. It seems that everyone stayed up to watch him. Many performers began their careers on his show. Ellen DeGeneres, David Letterman, Joan Rivers, Drew Carey, David Brenner, Tim Allen, Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, Arsenio Hall, Howie Mandel, Jeff Foxworthy, and Don Rickles became household names because of him. I still enjoy the old reruns of the show on Antenna TV, and clips on youtube. Carson was fun. The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was the late-night place to be.

On daytime television a fixture for the past nineteen years has been The Ellen DeGeneres Show.  I can remember Ellen's first visit to Johnny Carson and I've enjoyed her performances in many venues over the years.  Her daytime program though is ending soon, with the last new show coming this Thursday.  Despite some controversy in the past few years, it will be missed.  Like Johnny, Ellen introduced us to a lot of new friends.  She also taught us the importance of being kind.

Noting the end of two great talk shows may seem like an odd focus for this space, but I write here about doing good things and about making a positive difference.  I think Johnny Carson and Ellen DeGeneres have both done that.  I'm grateful for all of the good times they have given us.

Another Mass Shooting

It was an “outrageous act of violence” according to Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. “Area residents, commuters, and others simply must have the peace of mind that this highly trafficked area is safe, and it is time for more specific, concrete steps to be taken to address this area once and for all,” she said. This latest mass shooting has left two people dead and eight wounded just blocks from the Magnificent Mile.

It's not just a Chicago thing. It happens everywhere. The week began with a mass shooting in a California church. Last week ended with the slaughter of ten people in a grocery store. With over 200 mass shooting in 2022 so far, just 20 weeks into the year, it averages out to about 10 such attacks a week. I think that's outrageous.

According to Gun Violence Archive, 2019 saw 417 mass shootings in the US. The next year it went up to 611. Last year there were 693 mass shootings. The numbers keep rising. How much worse will it get before people demand some positive and helpful action? Last night at a fast-food place. Last Saturday it was at a supermarket. The very next day a church was a shooting scene. Where can you go and feel safe these days?

I hope that people will began speaking up and demanding action. I hope our leaders will respond to Chicago Mayor Lightfoot and finally take some concrete steps. I hope that folks will begin to care.

Nice

"Have a nice day!" we tell folks. Many years ago, I used to close my radio program saying "It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice." I think we can all agree that NICE is good. I also used to say that nice is never out of style! I know some production people in LA who say that all the time too.

George Foreman was a fighter, so it might surprise you that he has spoken of the importance of being nice. Foreman said "It's very important that people know that I really enjoy everything that has happened to me. And I tell my kids 'you're not going to be the tallest, fastest, prettiest, the best track runner, but you can be the nicest human being that someone has ever met in their life.' And I just want to leave that legacy that being nice is a true treasure."

Lately we haven't seen as much nice as we should. That doesn't mean it is no longer important though. I "think we all just need to try a little harder. That includes me of course. The nice people you encounter today, the nice moments you experience, will warm your heart and you will remember them far longer than any bad moments. Make somebody's day.

Death where is thy sting?

"Death is a very dull, dreary affair, and my advice to you is to have nothing whatsoever to do with it," was the advice of W. Somerset Maugham. I disagree. In the Christian tradition, and that of many other religions, death is actually a joyful occasion, even though it certainly stings. 

Many people that I know have recently died. Too many.  All of them happen to have been Christians, and several of them very actively involved in church life. They were convinced that life was not ending, just changing. Yes, it is very sad when someone we love won't be around to interact with us. I'm not saying it isn't, or that it is unchristian, but Jesus Himself wept at the grave of his friend. The celebration of a person's life is the happier and more joyful way to approach this. Of course, in these days of COVID-19 it seems like we are being cheated out of being with those we love in their final days and unable to do traditional celebrations of their lives.

T. S. Eliot said, "I had seen birth and death but had thought they were different." Are they different though? When someone is born to their earthly life we always rejoice, and it is said that we should do they same, when they are born to eternal life. What is there about a loved one that made you love them? What moments did you share that were special?

Saint Paul said "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" That might not be the most reassuring thing he ever wrote, but in his letter to the Romans, he gives us a blessed assurance that takes away all of our fears when our mortal life is over. "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Remember those who are no longer with us. Rejoice in having known them. Hold your fond memories and even share them with others. Look to the day when you too will be born to eternal life and you will be reunited with family and friends, and be thankful.

Say their names

Pearl Young moved to Buffalo, NY back in 1967 after marrying her husband, Oliver Young Jr. News accounts last night said that she was a Sunday School teacher, a substitute teacher in the public schools, the head of a local food pantry, and for 25 years, a volunteer at her church's soup kitchen.

I never met Pearl Young, but from what I have heard in the last twelve hours or so she was wonderful, the kind of person that everyone loves. Yesterday, her sister dropped her off at the supermarket. It would be the last time Pearl would enter the store. I gunman shot thirteen people in that Buffalo supermarket, ten of them fatally.

Police are investigating this horrible crime, but all evidence indicates that this was a hate crime.  In this predominately Black neighborhood, most of the victims are Black.  Now families are mourning and a  community is reeling from this tragedy, all because of hate. Please don't let this kind of thing keep happening. We need more love. We need to stop the hate.

Please remember the dead. Say their names.

                                                                     

Pearl Young

Roberta A. Drury

Margus D. Morrison

Andre Mackniel

Aaron Salter

Geraldine Talley

Celestine Chaney

Heyward Patterson

Katherine Massey

Ruth Whitfield

How many

Hearing this same question several times in reference to the lgbtq community, I just HAVE to say something. In reference to same sex marriage, I heard it asked "Why should we be concerned about such a small group of the population?" This month I have heard two different people saw the same thing about our transgender sisters and brothers. Just yesterday, I heard someone on television ask why bathroom accommodations should be made when there are so few people involved. I can recall back in the early days of AIDS there was concern about the blood supply, and it was said that too few people were involved to make testing of the blood worthwhile.

How many does it take? When will we stop discriminating. Justification of our various prejudices has often been linked to numbers. If a race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion or any other group is in the minority, some folks think that is reason to discriminate. What about abused animals?  Are tons of dogs, cats, horses, or other animals mistreated in your community? It isn't the number that we should be concerned about, because any abuse, yes ANY, is too much.   "Not many of them, so they don't count."

WRONG!

Everyone counts. Everyone is important. I'm sorry if I seem to keep getting up on my soapbox, but I have to say this. In fact, I want to scream it from the rooftops! All lives matter. Everyone should be able to live a full and rich life without fear or intimidation. Everyone. It doesn't matter how many. Now let me be clear. I'm not saying that any action is okay. We aren't talking about what folks do, but rather who folks are. Discrimination based on identity is wrong.

You are a child of the universe

Last night I kept hearing the words of this poem in my mind, and so I decided to write about it today - The Desiderata. Early in 1972, Les Crane's spoken-word recording of this poem (a poem with a very confused history, but I won't go into that), peaked at #8 on the Billboard chart. I can still remember listening to it over and over back when I lived in Nashville. As you all know though, this is NOT about me.

The words are quite inspirational. "As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons." Who can argue with that? "If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself." Certainly this is another good thought. The poem is full of them! The words - the ideas - the list of things to be desired (the actual translation of desiderata) here are so uplifting!

My favorite part of the poem, is a section that was used as a refrain in the recording: "You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should."

Heartwarming ballpark moment

This week at Rogers Centre in Toronto, the hometown Blue Jays were playing the New York Yankees. Nothing unusual about that. The cool thing though is the reason I am telling you this story. 

Yankees player Aaron Judge's eighth home run in 10 games traveled 427 feet and into the hands of a ... of a Toronto fan. No problem. Seeing a Yankee fan nearby, the man who caught the homerun ball, went over and gave it to this young boy. If you were watching on tv, you would have seen the raw emotion that followed. Oh my!

Young fan had tears of joy upon receiving Judge's ball, but the story doesn't end there.  After the game, both the Blue Jays fan who caught the ball, and the young Yankees fan he gave it to, went down to the Yankee dugout and met Aaron Judge.  What followed were more tears, and I ballpark experience both fans will never forget.

This is the kind of thing I would love to see more of.  This is pure kindness!