Month: October 2016

I have been reminded of this several times lately that words matter, both for ourselves and for others. The words we use can create the reality in which we live, they are the frames of our windows to the outer world, the stones of our shelters and the paths beneath our feet. The words with which we perceive a situation establishes the context of the situation to our life; good, bad or neutral we are the deciders of our fate.

As we interact with others, our words can then become an influence, even if that is not what we intend; we can draw others into our happiness or our unhappiness, our joy or our anger, our love or our hate. Our words to others can help move mountains or end lives.

Each day of our lives, our words should mean something. If you say something, own your words, be responsible. Even when you are wrong, own your words and apologize.

When I was 17 years old I took the following oath.

I, Charles England, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”

I only served on active duty for 8 months and then was medically discharged, but nothing on my DD-214 rescinds that oath.

I stand ready to keep my oath

Because of my shoulders, back, hip and knees; I toss and turn all night as each sleeping position becomes too painful. Well early in the morning I felt like I had a ton of bricks sitting on my knees only to discover my beagle decided that would be a good place to sleep, so I moved him and drifted back off too sleep with the relaxing sound of raindrops falling outside.

At 6:30 my alarm started going off and I hit the snooze because it is Sunday no need to hurry. As I lay there, not even half awake, listening to the rain and the rumble of thunder it suddenly dawned on me that it was raining. And not just raining gently but coming down pretty hard. I started trying to move, I had to wake up and fast.

Earlier this week I stripped the last of the old shingles off of my roof and put down tar paper on the side of the house, in the final stretch of reroofing my house. The problem is that there are three vents on that side, two plumbing and on exhaust for the gas hot water heater. So basically I have three holes in my roof and the rain is just running right in and of course dripping out wherever it can get through.

So at 6:40 this morning I am dressed, running out the garage door with a rain coat and my harness on, hat, gloves and this Energizer light on a head band that I have been using to roof in the dark. Pitch black, pouring rain and about half awake at that point I am on the roof fighting with this 50’x30′ tarp. These tarps are hard enough to manage when they are dry and it is daylight; not to mention walking on the steep roof, trying to step on the button cap nails so the tar paper doesn’t rip. Did I mention that I am hurting, never mind that is a constant. So I am up there, moving as carefully as I can trying to spread out this tarp, back down the ladder to get some rope so I can get it tied off because I know from experience one good gust of wind and back to square one.

It took almost 45 minutes to get the tarp untangled, spread out and tied down. I think it might have gone faster if my hands were not as swollen as they are this morning, felt like I was trying to work with a pair of mittens one, in fact typing all of this with my thumbs because I can barely move my fingers. So I am sitting here typing this up still trying to get warm, by the way cheap Coleman rain coats from wal-mart are not worth buying. Trying to decide if I am up to going to church this morning but hurting more than usual.

First off I am not going into the veracity or sincerity of the apologies I will put forth, I think it is on each of us to decide how we understand our own professed beliefs. I am also not talking about other things that happened immediately following the apologies. What I am offering up here for thought is how our political beliefs can over ride our religious beliefs. The problem with this discussion is it requires us to be truly honest with ourselves.

One person, in this case Hillary Clinton uses a personal email server while in an official capacity, investigations and subpoenas, email was deleted, she offers an apology.

Another person, in this case Donald Trump says he commits sexual assault on tape, tape comes out, he offers an apology.

So I challenge you if you are a Christian to give serious thought to these apologies, your political leanings and ask yourselves are you willing to accept both apologies as a Christian.

Now think on this how does your acceptance or rejection of that apology reflect Jesus.

Another day, another story about Hillary Clinton’s email.

But what we still do not have is a simple bill, voted on and signed into law, that all members of the United States Government, from all three branches of the government, EVERYONE! shall use official government email accounts for the conduct of all government business. That there shall be in effect a specific data retention policy of eternity for all electronic communications and detail specific punishments for violation of the policy.

Surely there is a reason that such a simple bill has not been proposed and passed. See this is the reason why we have regulations, cumbersome or not; we identify a problem and we create laws and regulations to prevent the problem from occurring again in the future. This is why we have a legislative branch. Perhaps though part of the reason they will not propose such a law is that members of Congress use their own personal email servers and it is much simpler to have investigations, spend money and not actually solve the problem at hand.

In conclusion 80+ % of congress is up for reelection on Nov 8th, send the incumbents packing. Because as much as we can bicker and fight about the next president, it is the Congress that is killing this country.

i just do not get all of the women who think all men talk and act like donald trump. Are these the same women who complain about the men in their lives because that is the type of man they keep having relationships with? Perhaps if you think this is ok you are making your own reality, but seriously #notallmen and end the bullshit that boys will be boys.

Here is a thought though, if you support Trump or just vote against Clinton. And you have a son, nephew, grandson; and you find your self one day grappling with a call from them because they have been arrested for sexual assault or rape, you are just as guilty for legitimizing his behavior.

Also this whole yeah but Bill Clinton schtick, if you accept Trumps pathetic apology but not Bill Clintons apology or the marriage counseling the Clinton’s received from Billy Graham then I pity you.

Disclosure: WTFery Institute is a think tank comprised solely of myself; which may or may not constitute a WTFery in and of itself. Read at your own risk.

Several election cycles now we have heard the repeated concerns from Republicans that the US Navy is not as large as it was before World War II. This election cycle we are once again being lauded with the “business acumen” of the Republican presidential candidate as well as this idea that we have to rebuild our Military in part to the same size it was in 1916.

Now I have never run my own business or run for a political office, I have however been employed full time for more than 99% of the last 27 years in various industries and companies. I have also been employed at various times in industries in which I was working at other companies and able to observe that they were run in similar fashions. I have passed a college level economics class, read various writings on business and stayed at a Holiday Inn Express on at least one occasion.

In business, companies utilize things like technological advancements and process efficiencies to reduce company size to maximize profits. The idea is quite simply to do more, do it better and do it with less. This is how many companies operate in order to become more profitable. We have seen how the use of robots in the auto industry has reduced the number of workers in factories. Advances in computers have reduced the need for workers in different industries as fewer people can complete more work on their own. Now I would expect any person touting their “business acumen” to have a firm grasp of these concepts. So why in the hell are we talking about the size of the Navy 100 years ago.

Now I am by no means an expert, but I imagine that the ships our Navy had 100 years ago are nothing compared to today’s ship. I would hope that today’s ships are faster as engine technology has advanced, allowing fewer ships strategically placed to reach areas faster. Weapons technology has advanced exponentially as well allowing ships equipped with things like cruise missiles to engage targets many miles beyond what was possible in 1916.

Now if the argument was to maintain operational force numbers reached at the height of combat operations recently during 2 wars, then that is a discussion founded in reality. Choosing appropriate size of our military based on the number of physical ships at the historical high water mark shows a fundamental lack of knowledge and common sense.

How about instead we have a realistic discussion of fixing tax law, eliminate these farcical loopholes used by people like Donald Trump, as well as the inequality of taxing real work at higher rates than gambling with money in real estate or the stock market. Maybe then we can in turn fully fund the VA and the Military. Freedom is not free, some pay with their lives, some with their bodies and minds, the rest of us have an obligation to pay from our wallets.

I just wanted to share a poem that my father kept on a 3×5 card on his desk that I now keep on mine. This is for all of the warriors who have come home, whose strength I will never question. Because even those who stand rough and ready, who answer a call of service beyond themselves; they too deserve to grieve and mourn for those they have lost and not be questioned in their pain even those for whom it is too much to bear.

If you are able,
save them a place
inside of you
and save one backward glance
when you are leaving
for the places they can
no longer go.
Be not ashamed to say
you loved them,
though you may
or may not have always.
Take what they have left
and what they have taught you
with their dying
and keep it with your own.
And in that time
when men decide and feel safe
to call the war insane,
take one moment to embrace
those gentle heroes
you left behind.

Major Michael Davis O’Donnell 1 January 1970 Dak To, Vietnam
MIA March 1970 Confirmed KIA 2001

 

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.
Mary Elizabeth Frye

I read this poem at my Fathers funeral in 2014 and I found in it comfort. Comfort in the reminder that my father is always with me every step of the way through my life.
As loved ones, family and friends; we endure the loss of those we love and all of the heartache it may bring. Yet they are always with us. We celebrate their lives and join together to share in memories; and they are always with us. We regale each other with stories and they live on.
We mourn our loss and that is ok, because their lives filled a special place in our hearts that only they could fill and it takes time. Our mourning and our grief gives us this time to reflect on those we love and is a process not an event. Give yourself permission to grieve. As the memories come forth, cherish them, if you can write them down and share them with others. Remember the smiles, laughter, quirks; everything that made them the person that you love and cherish. Keep them ever in their place within your heart, so that when you need their encouragement those memories will come forth and lift you up.
If there are things you wish you could have said, say them. If there are dreams that you shared, it is ok to fulfill them. Shed your tears as you need to, unashamedly.