Been a Long Day!

After a long day, it is nice to sit down at my computer, Odie sound asleep at me feet and all is well with the world. Today was a very challenging, rewarding, difficult, blessed day. I began the morning very early, heading up to Jacob’s Chapel UMC to meet with their pastor and then begin our trek northward to Indianapolis. Our first stop was the Cracker Barrel in Sellersburg where we met the 3rd member of our party and then immediately headed northward to the Cracker Barrel in Seymour to pick up the last of the Southern contingent of our Covenant Group. Along the way, we were yelled at by a State Cop and run off the road by a semi:) Our final destination was BD Mongolians in Indianapolis where we met with the Northern contingent of our Covenant Group.

The meal was excellent. I will have to take Karen there sometime. (Actually, there is one in Louisville) I am not sure if she will like it, but I loved it. After a couple of hours in meetings, we finished our work and headed back home, dropping everyone off at their appointed Cracker Barrel. As soon as we got back to Jacob’s Chapel, I went across the Bridge to Louisville to visit a parishioner who is in Intensive Care at Jewish Hospital (not at all my favorite hospital). This is where my day began to fall apart. First of all there was an accident on the bridge. It seemed to take forever getting across. Then I hit downtown Louisville right at about 4:00 PM. That was a big mistake. After my visit was over, I sat in the parking garage for about 45 minutes trying to get out. Not very good for a car that tends to overheat when it isn’t moving.

I finally fought my way through the traffic and arrived back in Corydon just in time to pick up poor Mimi’s ashes, make a stop at the nursing home and then finally back home to return a half dozen phone calls.

A couple more things to do here on the computer and I am going to relax with a piece of Karen’s B-Day cake and call it a night:)

(Tomorrow is Karen's Birthday:)

Blessings

I Think I am Going Back to Seminary!

I have been feeling a little out of the loop and a little out of sorts here lately as I have been reading the emails that my seminary has been sending out discussing the beginning of a new school year. I have also read many Facebook posts and read the thoughts of my colleagues as they prepare for another year of seminary education. What is missing this year? Me:(

The interesting thing (sad thing) is that I am not sure exactly how I feel about that. I know that I won’t miss those eight hour round trips in the car, or will I? I spent a great deal of quality time simply deep in thought and prayer during those trips. Perhaps on second thought I will miss those trips. (I, of course, am not speaking for my car, It never did enjoy the trips)

I certainly won’t miss all of those hours sitting in class! Or maybe I will. I learned so much simply being in that environment of great thought and ideas. I guess that those hours were so formative that maybe I will miss them after all.

I know for a fact that I will miss the people. This will be the most difficult part of all in not returning to seminary this fall. Ok, now I am getting depressed, maybe I should call over to MTSO and re-enroll in fall classes…Somebody talk me down here!!!!

Wait a minute, I know! I won’t miss the thousands and thousands of dollars that I have had to pay…Ok now I am felling better, and I won’t miss the hours spent writing what other people wanted me to write, and come to think of it, now I have time to read the books that I want to read, and I may actually have a little time for things like kayaking and fishing, oh and that rekindled RC airplane thing.

Whew, I was worried for a moment, I almost had to scrap this ministry thing and re-enroll in seminary. I thought I might have to start all over again just because I was going to miss it so much.

Good thing I talked myself out of it. Besides, Karen would have killed me and then divorced me, or maybe divorced me first and then killed me, either way, it’s a good thing I saw the light before it was too late:)

Blessings

Happy Anniversary!!!

I let a rather important anniversary slid past the other day without really any mention at all. August 12th was the one year anniversary of the beginning of my blog. Over the period of one year I have posted 266 blogs, which compared to 365 days in a year, that isn’t too bad of a percentage. I have had 5061 visits which compared to some of my juggernaut blogging friends that isn’t many, but it is far above what I would have ever dreamed of.

Over that time I hope that you have laughed along with me, cried with me, been angry with me (and at me:) and hopefully, just shared the simple joys and mundane things of life together.

I have been thankful to have you come along with me on this journey. It has been a difficult, wonderful, challenging, aggravating, and inspirational year for me. I have learned more than I could ever have imagined, been challenged more than I thought was possible and accomplished things that I wouldn’t have dared hope were possible. And, you have been with me every step of the way, through the good the bad and yes even through the ugly.

When I began this blog, I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to deal with the stress and pressure that was building in my last year of seminary. I had just completed a challenging interview by the District Board of Ordained ministry and they made it quite clear that the road to Commissioning would be extremely difficult. I was facing my last year of seminary, a trip to El Salvador that I wasn’t sure how I would be able to pay for, and oh yes that little thing about the March interviews with the Board of Ordained Ministry that would have at stake my entire future in ministry. It was with those obstacles and challenges facing me that a friend reminded me how much better it would feel to write these things down and how much better perspective I could get simply by putting my thoughts and concerns down on paper.

So with that thought in mind, I began my blog, not having any idea if I would write for a week, a month, a year or who knows how long, and certainly not imagining that anyone would be interested in reading my inner most thoughts. (kind of scary sometimes aren’t they:) A year later I can now look back and reflect on those obstacles, some of them were simply mole hills and others truly were mountains. But, through it all, you have been right there with me and for that I am very grateful.

So where do we go from here? Do I keep writing? Do I say to my blog, mission accomplished and put it away until needed again? I think for now I will be a little like Forest Gump when asked why he was running, to which he replied, “I just felt like running” For now, I just feel like writing and as long as it continues to feel like the thing to do, I will keep doing it, and if along the way my writing helps me to make a new friend, become a little closer to an old friend or just help others to realize that they aren’t alone, then I will be very pleased with the result:)

Thanks for sharing this journey with me!

Blessings

BENJAMIN JAMES HIGDON! YOU ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE!

I just thought I would make a public pronouncement that I am really angry with my son Ben… (Right now, if Crystal, his wife, is reading this, she is saying Uh ohh Ben, your dad is talking about you again, and if Ben is reading this, little beads of sweat are forming on his forehead:) But he did something the other day that I am not sure I will be able to easily forgive.

Has everyone clicked on Ben’s Blog link? If you haven’t, go ahead and do it now. It is titled “Amazing RC Plane Flight.” If he has already posted something new, go ahead and click on it anyway and watch the RC airplane video that he posted. At this point you may be asking what problem I could possibly have with that? (Ben probably already has it figured out) The problem is that it has rekindled a spark and a passion (addiction) that I haven’t had for probably eight years and that is my love for flying RC airplanes. I have already started talking with Karen about where I might set up a workshop here in the parsonage.

This afternoon we took a road trip to Louisville to scope out a couple of Hobby Shops, a pilgrimage that I haven’t made for years. Unfortunately, one of those shops was closed with a bunch of notes hanging on the door, none of which were very nice, with one of them being from the Sheriff. (I doubt that I will be visiting that store in the future:(

I have also done a little research and found the closest Radio Controlled Flying Field, I have been to the Academy of Model Aeronautics web site and got the up to date information on their insurance program. Did you know that the world headquarters for the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) is right here in Muncie, Indiana? On the down side, I have discovered that my all time favorite magazine "RC Modeler" has gone by the way of the dinosaur and I have also discovered that there seems to be a big push for electric flight instead of the nitro methane powered planes that we usually fly. Not me! I love the smell of caster oil and nitro fuel in the morning:)

So Ben you have rekindled my addiction, it is just a matter of time before the Big Brown airplane truck starts making regular stops at my house. Don’t you remember the pain in your mothers eyes when you would ask, “Mommy where did Daddy go?” and she had to tell you the terrible news that a new airplane kit was delivered today and that you wouldn’t see your Daddy for months at a time until the new plane was ready for it’s maiden flight. Ben where is your humanity? How could you do this terrible thing to your mother?

Now for those of you who may be concerned about Karen. Perhaps you should know her true feelings about my time spent away at the flying field. It was customary, as the men would all gather on Sunday afternoon at our RC Flying field, to discuss the important issues of the day and to have a time of male bonding. For instance, one guy would boast that his wife told him that he had to be back home no later than 2:00 PM and he would look at his watch, and point to the fact that it was already almost 3:00 PM and he was still there.

Then the next guy would say, “Well I can top that, my wife told me that I couldn’t go flying at all today, and you can see where I am.” Then they would turn to me and expect me to top their story and all I could do was look down, kick the ground and say, Karen just looked at me and said “Don’t you think that you should get out of the house and go flying?” So perhaps being plunged back into this addiction is a good thing. Maybe I should be thanking Ben instead of being angry with him. But as I figure it, maybe it is Karen that will be the happiest. I think she appreciates getting me out of the house any chance she gets:)

Blessings

Encouraged or Frustrated?

I have got to admit that I have been feeling a little encouraged and frustrated here lately. Now you might ask, how does one feel both encouraged and frustrated at the same time? Well that is the problem that I am having. This morning while swimming laps at the pool, I was reflecting on where I started from shortly after July 1st and where I am at now in my exercise program. I remember the first time in the pool, after I had already exercised for about 30 minutes, I swam 1 lap and had no doubt that I had gone as far as I could possible go.

Over the past 6 weeks or so, I have seen some remarkable changes. I am now swimming ¾ of a mile each time I swim and I have reduced my time by a little over 10 minutes. It now takes me about 54 minutes to swim ¾ of a mile.

Another thing that I have found encouraging is that Terry Laughlin in his book Total Immersion: The Revolutionary Way to Swim Better, Faster and Easier, (If it were only possible LOL) says that only 2% of all Americans can swim a quarter mile without stopping. Well, I don’t know for sure if his numbers are true, but I am pretty sure that I have never been in the top 2% of all Americans in anything before and especially never in any form of athletic endeavor. So whether his numbers are true or not I will just savor the thought that possibly I can now do something that only 2% of the people can do.

So wouldn’t you think I should be very encouraged by all of this?

The frustrating part is that I haven’t seen the good results from the YMCA translating into my everyday life. I still seem to get out of breath way too easy walking up stairs and such. I really haven’t lost much weight. I started out beginning in the middle of June and lost 14lbs pretty quickly, and over the past several weeks I might have lost another couple of pounds. Of course it didn’t help my cause moving here to the sweet tea capital of the world:( I have never been anywhere in my life where sweet tea was so popular, so readily available and sooooo good. It is like getting a direct IV of sugar right into your blood stream:) Even one of my new found friends “Bentley” who is the adopted son (BIG, BIG DOG) of two of my parishioners, drinks (slurps) a glass of sweet tea everyday from Lee’s Chicken. (They do have great iced tea, we went there on Bentley's recommendation)

Another frustration is that I have a nagging mid back pain that I know has been caused by swimming and my shoulders and upper back seems to stay in a constant state of muscle soreness. I realize that there is something to be said for no pain no gain, but I really am a wimp:) I do have a day and sometimes more in between workouts, but the discomfort seems to persist no matter what I do, so I just keep swimming.

So I am feeling a bit encouraged and frustrated. This doesn’t mean that I am "encrusted" does it? I hope not:)

Blessings

I Think That I Owe You An Apology!

As I sit here this evening pondering the past few days, I want to apologize for my last couple of posts. I have begun to realize that this health care debate has opened up some very deep wounds that I thought were basically buried or at least forgotten. I realize now that this just isn’t so. I know that I have shared with you that seminary was a wonderful and meaningful experience where I was challenged, and blessed with viewing the world from a multitude of perspectives. It was also a very painful time where I was often forced into positions of wanting to rebel with every fiber of my being but being unable to even speak out because of the risk of alienating myself from fellow classmates and more importantly from those in power who held certain things like grades over my head.

I still remember one sermon in homiletics class where I gave what I would consider a main stream sermon, but was ultimately chastised by both my classmates and professor for a conservative theology that they didn’t agree with. The result? I received a “B” on that sermon. It was funny that the next time, I gave a sermon that I knew was “acceptable” theologically and of course that was an “A.” I’m not stupid, I learned pretty quick what to say and what not to.

Why do I tell you this? Because I know that my rebelling against this health care debate and the anger in my words is centered 100% in the anger that I felt being marginalized and unable to speak out over the past four years.

So what do I do? I’m not sure. I guess I am most troubled by some of my “friends” on Facebook. Until today, I don’t think that I have ever said anything political or in anger on Facebook (I know, you will say that I save it all for you:) But some of my “friends” post articles and comments on almost a daily basis that to me (as a conservative) are totally unfair, derogatory, sometimes nasty, and frequently untrue.

The problem is that I don’t even think that they realize it. I would love to ask them what they would think if I decided to start posting thoughts or articles from Rush Limbaugh or Conservative Christian voices. I am sure that they would find these as annoying and irritating as I find theirs. The difference is, that I would never do that. I try as hard as possible to be positive, lifting up good things, sharing life and ministry, but admittedly my posts on Facebook have been fewer and farther between because I almost dread going on there because I know what I am going to see.

So here I am, I don’t want to go off Facebook completely because I have a lot of family and people that I really care about on there. Some of you are reading this right now, and chances are if you are reading this you are not one of those people that I am talking about:) (They don’t even know I have a blog, or care for that matter)

So what do I do? Go off Facebook all together? De-friend people? (I don’t want to do that) Just keep my mouth shut and head down? (I am pretty good at that most of the time) Continue to be angry? (I really hate feeling like this) Let these friends know that they have a much larger audience than just fellow liberals and that they could be a little more sensitive to other peoples thoughts and feelings? (would they even care?)

I think that I will just stay away from Facebook for a few days, chill out, and remember why God put me here to begin with, and I assure you that it wasn’t to argue over health care.

Blessings

I Love It When Politicians Tell The Truth!

Ok, I absolutely wasn’t going to do this, but I just read an article that I think everyone should read. It is titled “How to Fight Health Care Fearmongers and Demagogues”by Robert Reich. In case you don’t remember, Robert Reich is a professor at the University of California at Berkeley and is a former U.S. Secretary of Labor.

http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/512/obama-health-care.html

The reason I want you to read this is because of the absolutely remarkable and stunning admissions that appear in this article. As far as I am concerned, it proves every point (well almost every point, it doesn’t address the “death squad” thing:) that those on my side of the health care debate have been so vocal in complaining about. Let me address some of those issues that he brings up.

My friend, Keith, from New Orleans, just emailed to say he attended a local "town meeting" on health care and tried to get a word in favor but was almost hounded out of the room.

Why are these meetings brimming with so much anger? Because Republican Astroturfers have joined the same old right-wing broadcast demagogues that have been spewing hate and fear for years, to create a tempest.

But why are they getting away with it? Why aren't progressives—indeed, why aren't ordinary citizens—taking the meetings back?

Mainly because there's still no healthcare plan. All we have are some initial markups from several congressional committees, which differ from one another in significant ways. The White House's is waiting to see what emerges from the House and Senate before insisting on what it wants, maybe in conference committee.

But that's the problem: It's always easier to stir up fear and anger against something that's amorphous than to stir up enthusiasm for it.

“Mainly because there's still no healthcare plan” Well there you go, Duh! I am so glad that someone has the guts to say it! This is a significant part of the opposition's anger and concern. There is no plan! That is what he said. This is not the Republicans saying this, this is a diehard Democrat. Oh, there are plenty of ideas, but nothing solid and a great deal of rhetoric, but no plan! What the opposition (namely me) is concerned about is that just like the Stimulus Bill. Something, who knows what, will be rammed through the congress in the middle of the night and not even the legislators will really know what is in there until it is too late. This is way to important of an issue, affects too many lives, and costs way too much to be done in such haste. Thank-you Secretary Reich for your honesty!

But that’s not all…

“Admit that taxes will have to be raised and that cost-savings won't be sufficient to achieve nearly universal care. But be absolutely clear that taxes will be raised only be raised on the very top. He needs to decide whether he favors a surcharge on the top 2 percent, or a cap on tax-free employee benefits (which would affect only the very top), or some combination, and then announce which he prefers and why.”

Oh, so it’s ok, thank-goodness, they are only going to raise taxes on the top 2% whoo hooo that doesn’t include me so that makes it Ok. Uhhhhhh NO! It is not ok. We pay enough taxes. We should be looking for ways to reduce the burden not increase taxes. Oh and by the way, something else he said was important, cost-savings won't be sufficient to achieve nearly universal care, if you think that it will only be the top 2% who will pay more, then as my mother would say, You have another think a-coming!

Say unequivocally that the public option is essential for controlling costs and getting private insurers to offer people better deals, not at all a step toward a government takeover of health care.

Yeah Right! You have got to be kidding me, I didn't just fall off the turnip truck yesterday! Read on!

Being the one public plan, it will have large economies of scale that will enable it to negotiate more favorable terms with pharmaceutical companies and other providers. (Here, he must clear up any confusion about any deal made with Big Pharma.) But this won't lead to a government takeover of health care. The whole point of cost containment is to provide the public with health care on more favorable terms. If the public plan negotiates better terms—thereby demonstrating that drug companies and other providers can meet them—private plans can seek similar deals

“Being the one public plan, it will have large economies of scale that will enable it to negotiate more favorable terms with pharmaceutical companies and other providers.” I don’t want to be rude to my liberal friends, but this is exactly what my side is saying will happen. The government will by its very size be able to negotiate deals that private insurers couldn’t possibly receive. And going out of business is exactly what will happen to these businesses. (Which in case you haven’t figured it out already, that is exactly what Nancy Pelosi and President Obama want to have happen.)

Sorry, Not done yet…

It will have low administrative costs—Medicare's administrative costs per enrollee are a small fraction of typical private insurance costs—but that's no problem, it's a strength. One goal of health-care reform is to lower administrative costs. Competition with a public option is the only way to push private plans to trim their bureaucracies and become more efficient.


“It will have low administrative costs… a small fraction of typical private insurance costs.” Once again, this will not push private plans to become more efficient as Reich implies, it will drive them out of business. This isn’t rocket science people! This plan will ultimatly force all Americans into a one sized fits all government plan with a total government takeover of health care!

While it's true that the public won't have to show profits, plenty of private plans are already not-for-profit. And if nonprofit plans can offer high-quality health care more cheaply than for-profit plans, why should for-profit plans be coddled? The public plan would merely force profit-making private plans to take whatever steps were necessary to become more competitive. Once again, a plus.

Uhhhh Duh, Once again it shows how unfair, and if you ask me, un-American, this “Public Option Plan” is. First, the for profit insurance companies go out of business, then the "not for profit" ones follow suit, and then there is only ONE, the government plan! Trust me; these people know exactly what they are doing. And as much as they would like for us to simply follow along like “Lemmings,” to use their terms, I am personally grateful for those who have been willing to speak up and say. Not on my watch!

Now's the time for specifics. It's impossible to fight fearmongering lies with nothing but positive principles.

Well, I certainly agree that now is the time for specifics, perhaps it was time for those before they made every effort to pass this bill in the dark of the night to begin with! And, he is absolutely right, it is impossible to fight fearmongering with lies. He does a pretty good job making the case against this bill with his facts!

One final point and then I promise I will shut up and let this go. What was one of the biggest Democratic complaints about George Bush? That he went into war preemptively without even a plan for how to get out! Hmmmmm Does anyone see a comparison here? The American people are being expected to support a bill that really doesn’t exist, and simply trust that all the little details “like death squads” (LOL Sorry I had to put that in there just to cause a little more irritation than I already have:) will all work out in the end.

Put me down as a solid NO! on this one. Now, let’s put this government take over of insurance aside, and talk about the 15-20 things we could vote on tomorrow that we can all agree upon and make some real changes in insurance and in the lives of everyday Americans!.

Blessings