It's now 15 months since my own personal recession started. With the increased amount of time to watch our elected officials pull us out of the recession and the high unemployment rates comes greater clarity.
I remember Ronald Reagan once intoned on his radio commentary " Government in, of, and by itself has no wealth. The only wealth government can have is that which government has taken away from the governed.". In other words those who actually did the work to create the wealth in the first place. The late ex-President's remarks implied that government does not (should not?) create wealth. Further, government does not create anything that brings wealth. Not because it is without collective intellect, not because it is inherantly evil (that can't be true because government is made up of US), not because government is without justification in some form. Government cannot exist without "our" money to spend. Government by itself does not earn a living and pay the bills. It takes from us what it needs to survive.
This protracted recession has been plied with "stimulus" from the public treasury. Banks were propped up when they did not generate liquidiy on their own. Jobs are not being created in sufficient numbers to bring down unemployment. What's going on here?
The House and Senate are wrangling over passing or changing the Bush tax cuts. The biggest issue is what to about the wealthy. In fact, part of that debate revolves around what is wealthy? At least part of the debate of wealthy is how to include profitable existing companies and the small businesses that average Americans start from zero. How much do we tax the very people we all either work for or want to work for?
How about a short business lesson. First, the profit is not a luxury. It's evidence of greed. It's a requirement for any company to survive. That's becauase the legal definition of net income does not include all the spending required for that company to compete in it's market place. Profits go to develop new products, explore and penetrate new markets for existing products. Profit is also what pays for employee raises, cost increases in benefits, cost increases on inputs to the company's products, and the asset base the business requires. Bulldozers, flower delivery trucks, and vertical boring mills don't last forever but niether do they routinely wear in less than a year.
Profit is also what drives the hiring of additional employees, and one facet of convicing management to replace the ones that leave. What else gets paid out of profits? Federal, state, local..........governments, through taxes. Higher taxes mean lower profits, a shrunken pool of resources to continue the business in a healthy state.
Any business has a life cycle, just like its products. They start out as an innovation of some kind and conintue on a rising tide of sales volume. As the product matures (ages) adn competition develops, sales dollars level off. When that happens, other newer products take over the market and the original leader in the market place declines in sales volume. Eventually, the mature product becomes obsolete and sales revenue disappears.
That cycle describles the marriage between companies, profits, and a healthy a healthy job market. The mature comapanies' workforces go through layoffs and at the same time new jobs are created by the newer products and companies in the same economy. Profitable companies that successfully develop replacement products and processes as the maketplace requires maintain a stable or growing employee base. Those that don't, shrink or cease to exist.
Over time, the U.S. has lost jobs, mostly manufacturing, to foreign countries for a variety of reasons. Wage rates are the predominant reason, but also countries that have less developed governmental bureaucracies have been more attractive. Singapore offered a five year tax holiday to companies that would open offices there in the 1980's and 1990's. America has become a population of people trying to sell each other insurance or investments. Nothing against people who work in those pursuits, just a metaphor. We have ceased to be the planets chief innovator.
The debate in Washington is over raising more revenue. The federal government is trapped in to doing this due to the moutainous (even by federal standards) level of the deficit. The above narrative is to say simply this. How do we reduce the deficit? More revenue? Less spending? If government takes more moeny out of the economy (tax rate increases over 2009) less will be available to companies to stay competitve and growing. Are the rates limited to personal income rates? That includes a lot of people who put the self employment income on their 1040's. Those companies will be less likely to grow in to job creating engines.
The foundation of job creation is the relationship between companies on the rise and companies on the decline. Those on the rise come largely from sole propietor's that invest time, talent, and hard work to start what eventually become new enterprises. There is a flaw in the remedy politicans seem want for our economy. That's right, ours, the American citizenry. Just ask Cheter Cadieu Sr. (QuikTrip) or T. D. Williamson Sr. (TD Williamson Inc.) how that works, then pass on what you learn to Washington.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Tonight at 7:00 Central....................
LaBron James returns to Cleveland, Ohio to play his first game in that city after his elongated, over elevated, over publicized move to the Miami Heat. This is not just a run of the mill event, it's Cleveland and its storied but tortured sports history.
The drive. Ninety nine yards in the closing minutes by the Denver Broncos and John Elway. No Super Bowl for the real Browns. The fumble. The next year, again versus the Broncos and Elway, Ernest Byner loses the ball before not after goiing in to the endzone for the winnig touchdown. Once more, no Browns Super Bowl.
Go back in history. In 1954, Willie Mays made the catch of his life against the Indians in the World Series. An over the shoulder grab nearly to the center field wall. Giants win the series, Giants win the series, Giants win the series. The Indians never return until 1996 when closer Jose Mesa and his 100 MPH fastball blew up in the ninth inning and gave the Braves that piece of history.
This is the city that lost the Browns to Baltimore because of a prudent financial decision. Cleveland's economy was in a down cycle and spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a new stadium just wasn't rational. So Art Modell left for Baltimore, itself jilted when the Colts ran off and eloped with Indianapolis. This is the city that got a new set of Browns years later and drafted Tim Couch as its quarterback of the future. Couch was a better piece of furniture than a passer.
Remember that the Los Angeles Rams were the Cleveland Rams before they moved west. Remember that this was the city reffered to as the "mistake on the lake" when Dennis Kucinich was mayor. Remember, if memory serves that Cleveland either declared, or came close to declaring bankruptcy in the 1970's. Remember this was the city that referred to its NBA franchise as the "Cadavers", not Cavaliers, in the teams early years. This is the city where the river that flows through it caught fire, chemical slicks float on the surface. This city has been left at the alter without a bride, the border without a visa, the drive through window without a menu.
LaBron James can't be held accountable for the past that is Cleveland's. He didn't create the history. He can't be held accountable for his decision. Owners routinely trade players before their contracts are done, though some players have rights of refusal. Why shouldn't the dethroned King James be able to make a decision after he has completed his contract?
What James did was rub Cleveland's nose in the situation of the floor. The length of the tease, the one hour "decision" show, the mysterious process he went through with Cav's owner Dan Gilbert.
Tonight's game warrants an answer for all the above. Clevelanders will blame James for everything they can think of. By the time the game starts, they will think its his fault the intern forgot the donuts for the planning meeting. Will he do the powder throw tonight? Is it nostalgia when the memory turns your stomach in to a brick?
When I lived in the Akron-Cleveland area, it was as a child and adolescent. When I look back on those memories, its as an adult recounting youth. We always had heros. Most of them were athletes and the adulation connected the adults and the kids for some really special moments. James jumped in to that process as a high school aged man, then left for greener pastures. He can't be faulted for that. Show the guy some repect and say thank you for the time with us. You will never have it that good with the fans again.
The drive. Ninety nine yards in the closing minutes by the Denver Broncos and John Elway. No Super Bowl for the real Browns. The fumble. The next year, again versus the Broncos and Elway, Ernest Byner loses the ball before not after goiing in to the endzone for the winnig touchdown. Once more, no Browns Super Bowl.
Go back in history. In 1954, Willie Mays made the catch of his life against the Indians in the World Series. An over the shoulder grab nearly to the center field wall. Giants win the series, Giants win the series, Giants win the series. The Indians never return until 1996 when closer Jose Mesa and his 100 MPH fastball blew up in the ninth inning and gave the Braves that piece of history.
This is the city that lost the Browns to Baltimore because of a prudent financial decision. Cleveland's economy was in a down cycle and spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a new stadium just wasn't rational. So Art Modell left for Baltimore, itself jilted when the Colts ran off and eloped with Indianapolis. This is the city that got a new set of Browns years later and drafted Tim Couch as its quarterback of the future. Couch was a better piece of furniture than a passer.
Remember that the Los Angeles Rams were the Cleveland Rams before they moved west. Remember that this was the city reffered to as the "mistake on the lake" when Dennis Kucinich was mayor. Remember, if memory serves that Cleveland either declared, or came close to declaring bankruptcy in the 1970's. Remember this was the city that referred to its NBA franchise as the "Cadavers", not Cavaliers, in the teams early years. This is the city where the river that flows through it caught fire, chemical slicks float on the surface. This city has been left at the alter without a bride, the border without a visa, the drive through window without a menu.
LaBron James can't be held accountable for the past that is Cleveland's. He didn't create the history. He can't be held accountable for his decision. Owners routinely trade players before their contracts are done, though some players have rights of refusal. Why shouldn't the dethroned King James be able to make a decision after he has completed his contract?
What James did was rub Cleveland's nose in the situation of the floor. The length of the tease, the one hour "decision" show, the mysterious process he went through with Cav's owner Dan Gilbert.
Tonight's game warrants an answer for all the above. Clevelanders will blame James for everything they can think of. By the time the game starts, they will think its his fault the intern forgot the donuts for the planning meeting. Will he do the powder throw tonight? Is it nostalgia when the memory turns your stomach in to a brick?
When I lived in the Akron-Cleveland area, it was as a child and adolescent. When I look back on those memories, its as an adult recounting youth. We always had heros. Most of them were athletes and the adulation connected the adults and the kids for some really special moments. James jumped in to that process as a high school aged man, then left for greener pastures. He can't be faulted for that. Show the guy some repect and say thank you for the time with us. You will never have it that good with the fans again.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Christmas Parade? - Shariah Law?
The controversy that blew up this morning makes me wonder as well as wander.
Tulsa has had a traditional "Christmas Parade" for years. I remember going to it in the 1950's with my own parents. It's been labeled a "Christmas Parade" throughout its history. So this year a new sponsor renamed it, "Holiday Parade".
In the first chapter of the Book of Acts we find the following statement by Jesus himself. "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be my witnesses in Jersusalem, and in all Judea, and to the ends of the earth." This was spoken to the Apostles by Jesus himeslf after His crucifixion and before He ascended to Heaven. This verse is commonly called "The Great Commission". In many denominations, and in my mind, this is interpreted as Jesus speaking to all Christians throughout time. Why is it a problem to use the word "Christmas" which includes the word "Christ", making it a candidate for exclusion in favor of the blander and less meaningful "Holidays"?
This on the heels of a court decision that delays the effective date of State question 755 "State Question 755 poses a clear violation of my religious freedoms," the executive director of the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said. "Throughout American history, the courts have found in favor of the Constitution." according to Maneer Awad who filed the initial legal action. The question bans the recognition of Islamic Shariah law in Okalhoma as well as other portions of international law. http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20101201_16_A13_CUTLIN506944
The U.S. Consitution's Bill of Rights states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establiishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise excercise thereof: or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press: or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of greivances." The first sentence of the first amendment to the Constitution is about "freedom of religion". Is that not a message rrom the founding fathers on their prioirties?
The two events are dis-similar but joined by subject. No law was passed in the parade issue. A change in sponsors brought a change in title. The question is "why?". What is it about the presence of the the word "Christ" that must be dealt with? It's not even a standalone word, it a syllable. Its been the topic of the parade since I was a child, a time when dirt was a relatively new substance. Is the Great Commission fading from our conscious will as a group?
The state question is a different type of story. Over 70% of those voting on this question in the last election voted yes for the ban. Webster's Student Dictionary, pub date 1999, defines "respecting" as "about or concerning". The same volume defines the root "respect" as "concern or consideration". In other words favoring.
We live in a time when committment and sacrifice are waning. The great commission was enunciated shortly before the ascention and before the stoning of Stephen for merely speaking out in defense of Jesus teaching. The Constitution was written after a war for independence based on principles. Today, the divorce rate (committment to marriage and one's spouse) is rising. Voting (committment to one's democracy) is lower than ever. Church membership, in the mainstream denominations, is in great decline. That trend is only partially offset by the rise of the Mega Churches such as John Hagee, Rick Warren, and locally Bob Yandian, Willy George, and others. Change and evolution are good things in a lot of areas of life. Society without fundamental foundations is like houses built on sand. They may start with a foundation but it soon cracks, costs a lot to repair, and ends up not supporting what it was intended to.
Tulsa has had a traditional "Christmas Parade" for years. I remember going to it in the 1950's with my own parents. It's been labeled a "Christmas Parade" throughout its history. So this year a new sponsor renamed it, "Holiday Parade".
In the first chapter of the Book of Acts we find the following statement by Jesus himself. "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be my witnesses in Jersusalem, and in all Judea, and to the ends of the earth." This was spoken to the Apostles by Jesus himeslf after His crucifixion and before He ascended to Heaven. This verse is commonly called "The Great Commission". In many denominations, and in my mind, this is interpreted as Jesus speaking to all Christians throughout time. Why is it a problem to use the word "Christmas" which includes the word "Christ", making it a candidate for exclusion in favor of the blander and less meaningful "Holidays"?
This on the heels of a court decision that delays the effective date of State question 755 "State Question 755 poses a clear violation of my religious freedoms," the executive director of the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said. "Throughout American history, the courts have found in favor of the Constitution." according to Maneer Awad who filed the initial legal action. The question bans the recognition of Islamic Shariah law in Okalhoma as well as other portions of international law. http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20101201_16_A13_CUTLIN506944
The U.S. Consitution's Bill of Rights states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establiishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise excercise thereof: or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press: or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of greivances." The first sentence of the first amendment to the Constitution is about "freedom of religion". Is that not a message rrom the founding fathers on their prioirties?
The two events are dis-similar but joined by subject. No law was passed in the parade issue. A change in sponsors brought a change in title. The question is "why?". What is it about the presence of the the word "Christ" that must be dealt with? It's not even a standalone word, it a syllable. Its been the topic of the parade since I was a child, a time when dirt was a relatively new substance. Is the Great Commission fading from our conscious will as a group?
The state question is a different type of story. Over 70% of those voting on this question in the last election voted yes for the ban. Webster's Student Dictionary, pub date 1999, defines "respecting" as "about or concerning". The same volume defines the root "respect" as "concern or consideration". In other words favoring.
We live in a time when committment and sacrifice are waning. The great commission was enunciated shortly before the ascention and before the stoning of Stephen for merely speaking out in defense of Jesus teaching. The Constitution was written after a war for independence based on principles. Today, the divorce rate (committment to marriage and one's spouse) is rising. Voting (committment to one's democracy) is lower than ever. Church membership, in the mainstream denominations, is in great decline. That trend is only partially offset by the rise of the Mega Churches such as John Hagee, Rick Warren, and locally Bob Yandian, Willy George, and others. Change and evolution are good things in a lot of areas of life. Society without fundamental foundations is like houses built on sand. They may start with a foundation but it soon cracks, costs a lot to repair, and ends up not supporting what it was intended to.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Back from the dead
The University of Tulsa football team continues its resurrection this Saturday. After a season opening heartbreak at East Carolina (51-49) in which a 6'6" receiver out jumped a 6'0" (if that) TU defender for the decisive score, TU suffered the ignominy of losing to Oklahoma State (65-28) in which the entire OSU roster out jumped TU's best for the whole game. The turnaround benchmark was the victory over Notre Dame (28-27) followed by a (64-27) pasta-ing or pasting of Rice University. Tulsa's roster accepted the acclaim for an historic victory, let it go and prepared for a new game one week later, and surgically took apart that opponent.
That OSU team has pummeled nearly everyone on the way to this Saturday. It has a change to pull off the Boone Pickens Christmas gift, beating Texas and OU in the same year. That Notre Dame hasn't beaten anyone of note but itself on the way to a worse season than last year. TU has one loss margin that was likely correct (OSU), and one win that was richly deserved and earned (Notre Dame).
Now TUlsa goes to Houston to face off against the other Houston based school, one of the West division leaders. A win would give Tulsa a tie breaker advantage over Houston (head to head win). Tulsa's other nemesis (SMU) owns an earlier (21-18) win over the Hurricane, so first place is not entirely in the Hurricane's hands. It is on the horizon if they can take it.
But consider the way this weekend's game looks to the players and coaches at Tulsa. No matter what the venue Houston plays in, or the number of fans that attend the game, or the attitude and volume the Houston fans produce, it cannot compare with the same factors Tulsa faced in South Bend, Indiana and overcame. Tulsa will have to take the confidence it gained at Notre Dame and the focus and clarity of purpose it showed against Rice and focus all on Houston. Tulsa has shown the tools to beat Houston.
What's all this got to do with a blog by a still unemployed accounting and finance worker bee? Greatness is not just found in large scale movements or accomplishments. Greatness is found in the small as well as large. The fallacy of the BCS conferences in any sport is that they limit themselves. They look for and find their supremacy only in the large scale stadia, the large TV markets, the large population centers, the large universities with their huge dollar budgets to spend on sports. Volume and size are not the totality of greatness. Greatness is not only grandeur. Success is not just spectacle.
Greatness is also in what you overcome on the way to your accomplishment, not the size of what you end up with. Writing a great book can be done with double A batteries as one of the tools. It doesn't take much talent to find a lunker bass with a fast boat and on-board radar. It just takes money and time. Finding the lunker by just looking the signs of structure and knowing the lake does take talent. It also takes time.
We all can achieve great things. Pursue it for yourself. We're are small compared to Boone Pickens wealth and touchdown Jesus, but not bereft of skills, value, and ability. We are not insignificant. Pursue jobs over time and learn as you go. Follow what the job search experts tell you to do. Always remembering you can overcome anything, even that which is bigger than you.
That OSU team has pummeled nearly everyone on the way to this Saturday. It has a change to pull off the Boone Pickens Christmas gift, beating Texas and OU in the same year. That Notre Dame hasn't beaten anyone of note but itself on the way to a worse season than last year. TU has one loss margin that was likely correct (OSU), and one win that was richly deserved and earned (Notre Dame).
Now TUlsa goes to Houston to face off against the other Houston based school, one of the West division leaders. A win would give Tulsa a tie breaker advantage over Houston (head to head win). Tulsa's other nemesis (SMU) owns an earlier (21-18) win over the Hurricane, so first place is not entirely in the Hurricane's hands. It is on the horizon if they can take it.
But consider the way this weekend's game looks to the players and coaches at Tulsa. No matter what the venue Houston plays in, or the number of fans that attend the game, or the attitude and volume the Houston fans produce, it cannot compare with the same factors Tulsa faced in South Bend, Indiana and overcame. Tulsa will have to take the confidence it gained at Notre Dame and the focus and clarity of purpose it showed against Rice and focus all on Houston. Tulsa has shown the tools to beat Houston.
What's all this got to do with a blog by a still unemployed accounting and finance worker bee? Greatness is not just found in large scale movements or accomplishments. Greatness is found in the small as well as large. The fallacy of the BCS conferences in any sport is that they limit themselves. They look for and find their supremacy only in the large scale stadia, the large TV markets, the large population centers, the large universities with their huge dollar budgets to spend on sports. Volume and size are not the totality of greatness. Greatness is not only grandeur. Success is not just spectacle.
Greatness is also in what you overcome on the way to your accomplishment, not the size of what you end up with. Writing a great book can be done with double A batteries as one of the tools. It doesn't take much talent to find a lunker bass with a fast boat and on-board radar. It just takes money and time. Finding the lunker by just looking the signs of structure and knowing the lake does take talent. It also takes time.
We all can achieve great things. Pursue it for yourself. We're are small compared to Boone Pickens wealth and touchdown Jesus, but not bereft of skills, value, and ability. We are not insignificant. Pursue jobs over time and learn as you go. Follow what the job search experts tell you to do. Always remembering you can overcome anything, even that which is bigger than you.
Tyranny of the minority?
A lawsuit was filed yesterday challenging the constitutionality of state question 751. That's the one that requires all official state communications to be in English or Native American languages. A local attorney filed the suit on behalf of Delilah Gentges, a local resident. A previous action to prevent the state question, as well as SQ 751, from being on the November second ballot at all, failed. Gentges was a plaintiff in that action as well.
Normalcy seems to be under attack in today's society. We speak English in the United States. We do so exclusively because that's what is taught in our homes and our schools. Its not done that way with malicious intent. Its tradition and its practical. One common language is universally understandable. Public discourse is accurately communicated.
When I lived in Houston, Texas, I was taught rudimentary Spanish starting in the fourth grade. That was a voluntary act on the part of the school district. There was a significant Spanish speaking population close to our city, Mexico. Mexico had not yet come to America, but we might want to visit there some day. When my family moved to Ohio, the Spanish stopped. Why? It wasn't needed. Our closest "foreign" neighbor was Canada. There is no official language called "Canadian" so no need to teach it, though I still don't understand what a "hoser" is.
There is a difference between personal initiative in learning a language, organizational initiative in teaching students a skill they "might" need later in life, and a mandate or requirement that mandates multiple languages. Simply put, its the free market. If a language variant is needed and beneficial, the free market will come up with a way to handle that. The free market will also ignore a non English language if it chooses because in the free market majority rules.
The state question stated that English was mandated for all state communications was practical. The suit is not. Legal immagration demands the immigrant learn Endglish, at least conversationally. It also demands the immigrant learn our history. If the immigration process is followed, the individual will learn English.
The simply truth is the SQ 751 simply put in black and white a practical limitation on state publications that would both save money and require a part of the legal immigration process be observed. The idea received a 74% yes vote. How can those facts be ignored by the filing of a law suit on behalf of one person or even one class of people?
Normalcy seems to be under attack in today's society. We speak English in the United States. We do so exclusively because that's what is taught in our homes and our schools. Its not done that way with malicious intent. Its tradition and its practical. One common language is universally understandable. Public discourse is accurately communicated.
When I lived in Houston, Texas, I was taught rudimentary Spanish starting in the fourth grade. That was a voluntary act on the part of the school district. There was a significant Spanish speaking population close to our city, Mexico. Mexico had not yet come to America, but we might want to visit there some day. When my family moved to Ohio, the Spanish stopped. Why? It wasn't needed. Our closest "foreign" neighbor was Canada. There is no official language called "Canadian" so no need to teach it, though I still don't understand what a "hoser" is.
There is a difference between personal initiative in learning a language, organizational initiative in teaching students a skill they "might" need later in life, and a mandate or requirement that mandates multiple languages. Simply put, its the free market. If a language variant is needed and beneficial, the free market will come up with a way to handle that. The free market will also ignore a non English language if it chooses because in the free market majority rules.
The state question stated that English was mandated for all state communications was practical. The suit is not. Legal immagration demands the immigrant learn Endglish, at least conversationally. It also demands the immigrant learn our history. If the immigration process is followed, the individual will learn English.
The simply truth is the SQ 751 simply put in black and white a practical limitation on state publications that would both save money and require a part of the legal immigration process be observed. The idea received a 74% yes vote. How can those facts be ignored by the filing of a law suit on behalf of one person or even one class of people?
Sunday, October 3, 2010
The Fan
Little old Tulsa (the University of....) is the smallest enrollment in division 1 football. That division has multiple former names so I can't tell you if my current name for it is correct. Let's just say the big boys. I don't really care how they market themselves. We all know some of them are the ones that pay players more than I make on unemployment. Tulsa is one of many institutions that don't do this. "The many" are the usual names you normally would think. The church schools (Baptists, Presbyterians, et al). The academics (Northwestern, Standford, so forth).
Saturday night, TU won a game against the U of Memphis. Memphis has been good in the past, they are not this year. Tulsa wound up and laid a (41-7) hay maker on them. Tulsa is now (3-2), Memphis (1-4).
I say all this because I admire the underdog. Not the put upon, sad sack that we see in the comics. I admire the everyday worker bee that keeps coming back. Practice one day at a time, do one class assignment at a time, play one game at a time. No one is promised a win if you do everything right. No one is guaranteed an "A" if they write the great American essay in a lit class. But if you approach life one day at a time, one task at a time, you earn the rightful rest of knowing what you did and the way you did it was right and good. And you earn the responsibility to come back tomorrow and do it all over again.
We spend so much time in this society identifying the "most beautiful", the "highest grossing", the "best actor or director". We have lost our concept of the greatness of the road travelled. We marvel at "Entertainment Tonight" and forget the neighbor that keeps the lawn net and clean or the family that raises their children to be compassionate adults.
Tulsa beat a Memphis team it probably should have. The University of Tulsa has roughly 2,500 undergrads and 1,700 graduate students (overgrads?). Memphis has tens of thousands of students and is in a much larger city. The greatness of collegiate athletics is that once the game is over, you get to go back to practice. Your opportunity is renewed, your preparation begins anew, your class assignments are still there. And you have the chance to win.
Blow off "Entertainment Tonight" and watch or listen to TU football. It has much more substance and its more fun. By the way, these guys play Notre Dame later this season. Presbyterians versus Catholics.
Saturday night, TU won a game against the U of Memphis. Memphis has been good in the past, they are not this year. Tulsa wound up and laid a (41-7) hay maker on them. Tulsa is now (3-2), Memphis (1-4).
I say all this because I admire the underdog. Not the put upon, sad sack that we see in the comics. I admire the everyday worker bee that keeps coming back. Practice one day at a time, do one class assignment at a time, play one game at a time. No one is promised a win if you do everything right. No one is guaranteed an "A" if they write the great American essay in a lit class. But if you approach life one day at a time, one task at a time, you earn the rightful rest of knowing what you did and the way you did it was right and good. And you earn the responsibility to come back tomorrow and do it all over again.
We spend so much time in this society identifying the "most beautiful", the "highest grossing", the "best actor or director". We have lost our concept of the greatness of the road travelled. We marvel at "Entertainment Tonight" and forget the neighbor that keeps the lawn net and clean or the family that raises their children to be compassionate adults.
Tulsa beat a Memphis team it probably should have. The University of Tulsa has roughly 2,500 undergrads and 1,700 graduate students (overgrads?). Memphis has tens of thousands of students and is in a much larger city. The greatness of collegiate athletics is that once the game is over, you get to go back to practice. Your opportunity is renewed, your preparation begins anew, your class assignments are still there. And you have the chance to win.
Blow off "Entertainment Tonight" and watch or listen to TU football. It has much more substance and its more fun. By the way, these guys play Notre Dame later this season. Presbyterians versus Catholics.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
A little love story
My son got married last Saturday. It was equal parts ceremony and celebration as all weddings should be. Members of all four sides of the family got to view this monumental occasion. Four? Grandparents of the bride and groom as well as grandparents of the mothers and fathers. Aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, the whole magical magilla. Weddings are a celebration of family as well as love and commitment.
A few thoughts on the future:
1) To the Bride and Groom. The order in the previous sentence is that way for a reason. First its easier to say. Second, it is the traditional role of the husband to respect his bride. This should be the husband's first thought every day. As an equal, not a superior to be sure. Anyway, it evens out when people say husband and wife.
2) Your union has all the elements of a Biblical Covenant. Having traded vows at an altar, in the sight of God and all the elements of the family. Also having exchanged gifts (the rings). Also having began the marriage with a public proclamation of the vows. As such, marriage should be treated as sacred. Each day should carry some reaffirmation of that from both husband and wife, to each other.
3) You now have the challenge of not keeping anything from your spouse while communicating it as a conversation. Whats bothering you bothers your spouse more when it comes out too late to help each other.
4) No conversation should be one way. As many times as needed, the phrase "what do you think?" should pop up. Followed immediately by open ears, not mouth. Silence is only appropriate when you're both asleep.
5) Make no decision unilaterally. This probably will not be the case 100% of the time. It isn't always practical. But whenever humanly possible, follow this rule followed by seeing item 4).
6) Always remember your spouse is not perfect, you aren't either, but the two together are infinitely stronger than the two separate. Solve problems together, not alone or individually. Yes those are two separate things.
No marriage is perfect. Its how you handle each imperfection that makes a strong marriage. And each time you successfully handle imperfection you are stronger for it. Each time you don't, you miss the best oppportuinity of your marriage.
A few thoughts on the future:
1) To the Bride and Groom. The order in the previous sentence is that way for a reason. First its easier to say. Second, it is the traditional role of the husband to respect his bride. This should be the husband's first thought every day. As an equal, not a superior to be sure. Anyway, it evens out when people say husband and wife.
2) Your union has all the elements of a Biblical Covenant. Having traded vows at an altar, in the sight of God and all the elements of the family. Also having exchanged gifts (the rings). Also having began the marriage with a public proclamation of the vows. As such, marriage should be treated as sacred. Each day should carry some reaffirmation of that from both husband and wife, to each other.
3) You now have the challenge of not keeping anything from your spouse while communicating it as a conversation. Whats bothering you bothers your spouse more when it comes out too late to help each other.
4) No conversation should be one way. As many times as needed, the phrase "what do you think?" should pop up. Followed immediately by open ears, not mouth. Silence is only appropriate when you're both asleep.
5) Make no decision unilaterally. This probably will not be the case 100% of the time. It isn't always practical. But whenever humanly possible, follow this rule followed by seeing item 4).
6) Always remember your spouse is not perfect, you aren't either, but the two together are infinitely stronger than the two separate. Solve problems together, not alone or individually. Yes those are two separate things.
No marriage is perfect. Its how you handle each imperfection that makes a strong marriage. And each time you successfully handle imperfection you are stronger for it. Each time you don't, you miss the best oppportuinity of your marriage.
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