Do you stand for something or against everything?

Protest by wikimedia

These days we live in an America that is sharply divided.  We have people that have opinions that are very far apart.  And we have people that make a living by fanning the flames of the anger between those differences.  We now have an America that is ruled more by hate, anger, rage, boycotting, and plain old ugliness than by the principles that it was founded upon. But does it have to be that way?  It's far to easy to say what you stand against than what you stand for because standing for something means actually doing something to prove you believe in that cause.


In today's social media driven world it is very convenient to re-post some link to a hateful rant, but if you stand for something that means you have to take that stand day after day.  Much like politicians using smear campaigns, stating what you are against is just an easy out.  Working toward what you stand for takes years of hard work and commitment.  Taking a stand for something takes a unwavering faith that requires all of your spare time, energy, and effort, and that's just not cool in today's convenient drive thru American lifestyle.  When you stand for something it permeates your entire life.  You don't just speak about it or post it on social media.  You actually live it out every day, in every facet of your life.  That's the hard part of being "for" something.  When you are against things, all you have to do is click on a link and re-post it and then you get to feel like you have accomplished something.  Not much of a commitment there.  The question is what does clicking on a link that states you are against something actually accomplish?  Did you make a difference in some one's life?  Did you change some one's mind?  Did you turn the tide of the overall argument?  The answer to all is sadly, no!

Volunteers

If you really want to make a difference in this life, take a stand for something and actually go out and stand with that someone or something.  Get up off the couch and go and do something for someone, that's what making a difference is all about.  That's the definition of standing up for something.  Don't be lulled to sleep by the talking heads on the news channels and political circuits, staying at home and being a part of poll numbers doesn't affect any one's life.  At least not in a positive way.  When your time here on Earth is done who do you think will come pay their respects at your funeral?  The people that had the links you clicked on that stated what you were against, or the people that you went out of your way to help?  People will always remember what you stood for, but few will remember what you stood against.  I hope you make a difference in some one's life today.

Sometimes teaching kids skills is more important than the luxuries of life!

Flag folding.

We just finished another successful camp out with the Boy Scout Troop.  Many skills were taught and learned.  Everything from compass skills, to lashings, to cooking, and even flag etiquette was accomplished. I'm very proud of my Troop and all the things they got done.  Their mastery of skills for their respective ages was very pleasing.  It's the reason we do the things we do.  To prepare these boys for life as a man.  To give them useful skills and more importantly, give them hands on training that will give them self confidence in other areas of life.  But it got me to thinking.  What do the rest of the kids in America do with their weekends?  What are we teaching them is important with their down time?  What skills are they learning?


Unfortunately, the answer is scary!  We are raising a generation of kids to only value the luxuries of life.  The weekends and the weeks off from school are for self serving purposes only.  Kids these days only use these holidays for movies, video games, and trips to theme parks.  Gone are the days of community service and duty to one's country.  This is not Monaco or Dubai for crying out loud.  This is America!  We were founded on hard work and extra effort. But that message falls on deaf ears.  Today all extra work is for the government to do.  And parents reinforce these horrible messages.  They tell their little ones that they don't need to do any thing extra.  Don't worry, mommy and daddy will make it all better and take you for ice cream later.  So much for equipping your child for his future.  If a kid can't use a day off from school to improve himself then there is no hope of him ever taking any control of his own life and making the most of it.


We as parents all have a desire to pamper our kids.  But we must be adult enough to see the bigger picture. We must take into account how this weekend's activities will affect Little Johnny in the long term of his life. How will this Easter Holiday off of school and the plans for it will make Little Johnny a better adult?  If you answer honestly, there will be fewer trips to the movie theater and more trips to the community center.  If you know what's best for your child there will be fewer video games and a few more trips to Uncle Tommy's mechanic shop to learn about hard work.  And if you really want to teach him the value of life, instead of that theme park you will send him to see his grandparent in that nursing home.  There's nothing wrong with a little luxury here and there, but if that's all your kid knows then he will be lost and confused when he hits the real world.  The time to start teaching your kids real world skills is now, not at 18, NOW!  The quicker your kid adjusts to the real world the easier time he will have once he gets there.  Those kids that are only shown the luxuries of life will be the ones that have the most trouble in adulthood.  They will either end up on you couch or on the public assistance dollar.  Either way, teaching kids skills is the key to a better America!

Have a great and productive day!

The loss of America's ability to think freely!

Betsy Ross Flag

It's no secret that we are a country at a crossroads.  Some say we are headed for a socialist state, others say our best days are behind us.  I often ask why?  Why is it we are in such a crisis?  And the answers vary wildly.  The most common answer is laziness, or to many people leaching off the public payrolls. Hatemongers play the race card and the illegal alien rhetoric up. Others blame big governments while their opponents blame big business.  Politicians love this kind of banter, because it keeps them in power and it makes them relevant.  Which is half the problem in itself. While others are more philosophical and say we've had it to good for to long and need to be reminded what it's like to fight for our freedom.  I see all these things as outward signs of an inward problem.


If you take the time to read our Declaration of Independence, one thing sticks out.  The people who wrote this document thought independently.  The wording is full of references to "unalienable rights", "long train of abuses", "guards for future security", and "deaf to the voice of justice".  These men did not follow party lines. They did not read from the script of liberal or conservative.  They spoke as men who thought for themselves and others of their young nation.  They were thinking on a whole new level.  They wiped the slate clean and started over.  They were not protecting anybody, any program, or any party.  They were protecting humanity and it's right to freedom.  Free speech, free pursuits, and most importantly the right to think for one's self without being told what to think by some overbearing politician or news anchor.

Land of Free Thinkers

Our nation started it's path to crisis when we started letting news anchors, talking heads, politicians, and now even late night show clowns tell us what to think.  This is the information age, never accept someone else's word on who said what.  If a politician blames someone for the condition of your school district, then get on the internet and research it.  If a news anchor tells some sob story about big business doing things wrong then do some research and find out for yourself.  And for crying out loud, by no means fall for the late night TV clowns!  The bottom line, if you want America to be great again then act like those men and women of the 1700's did.  Think for yourself.  Think about others in your community.  Think about how the actions of your governing body affect everyone you know and make an informed decision to act based on your own thinking.


The ability to think freely is the greatest freedom of all!  Please don't surrender it to anyone!

All the world is Irish, but do any of them associate with the Shamrock?

Shamrock

Oh the beloved March 17th is upon us.  That means it's St. Patrick's Day and everybody and their grandma is Irish.  Even if only for a day.  A little disclaimer here, my grandmother's father was one of three brothers that came here directly from Ireland about 1910.  But everyone associates with the Irish and joins in the festivities.  Eating cabbage, drinking ale, and wearing green.  But how many know the meaning behind the man that is St. Patrick?  And how many know the message that made him famous enough to earn him Sainthood?  Like so many of our holidays in America, we just join in the party and don't pay any mind to the history or the significance of the event.  This man has an incredible story and there is a legitimate reason multiple churches claim him as their patron saint.


Mr. Patrick was born in a Britain that was under Roman rule.  This would be roughly around 400 A.D.  His Father and Grandfather were said to be either deacons or preachers in a "Christian" church.  There weren't as many denominations back then so it is unclear what "Christian" branch it was.  When he was 16 he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and made a slave somewhere on the west coast of Ireland.  While in captivity God gave Patrick a dream of fleeing to the beach and leaving by boat.  The dream came true and he sailed to Gaul.  This is modern day France.  Since God saved him, he studied to be a priest and returned to Ireland to Christianize his Irish captors away from their Celtic polytheism.  Interestingly Celtic polytheism and Roman mythology are parallel, but that's another story.  What set Patrick apart was he used the most common thing in Ireland as his teaching tool.  The common Shamrock was all he needed.  The Shamrock has three leaves and he used it to explain the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.  He spent thirty years walking the emerald isle that once enslaved him using a simple clover to spread the word of God.  He changed a nation and is for every immortalized.  This is why the Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, Eastern Orthodox, and Irish Christian Church all claim him as Saint Patrick.


We live in a day and age that it's all about marketing, name recognition, and the wow factor.  Sometimes, the simplest things in life can carry the biggest message.  I find that more often then not that word of mouth is the most effective tool of all.  Friend to friend makes some of the greatest impacts in most people's lives.  And sometimes one man walking for thirty years with a few clovers in his pockets and a simple message in his heart can change a world.  If someone ask you today, "Are you wearing your green?" remember it means "are you wearing your Holy Trinity?".  I hope you wear your green everyday.

The wussifying of America! AKA You don't have to try!

American Flags

I'm about fed up with the whole "everything has to be fair" fairy-tale we have weaved here in America.  It seems to have permeated every facet of our lives.  Oh, little Johnny has a lisp so we have to grade his test easier than the others.  Or little Susie has a hang nail so she shouldn't have to dress out for PE class today. Meanwhile, at your job your coworker has a belly ache from the bad take-out last night so he is a no-show today and that means twice the load for you.  Heaven forbid anyone do their job with a sour stomach.  After all, our Founding Fathers crossed the Ocean and fought the British for the right to use any excuse in the book to get out of anything and everything possible.  In two hundred short years we've managed to turn the land of fair opportunity into the land of whiny, excuse laden, slackers.


The source of my rant is this.  My 13 year old plays on his 8th grade football team.  The team plays in a small independent league.  There usually aren't organized football leagues on the state level below high school.  My Son's team has done exceptionally well this year.  So on this Saturday his team will host the first round of the league's playoffs.  Well the opponent contacted my Son's coach and said under no circumstances will they show up.  They know they can not win, so there's no point in coming.  Are you kidding me?  What lesson are we teaching the kids of the other team?  Oh good job boys, you made the playoffs but you can't win so we just aren't even going to try!  Really?  If you can't promise my kid a trophy then I won't let him go.  My older friends refer to this as, "the wussification of America".  The philosophy that says, "you probably aren't good enough so don't even try".  Just sit back and let someone else do it for you.  What if my Grandfather and his friends in the South Pacific had that attitude in 1941?  "Oh, those Japanese have really big battleships and they already beat us up at Pearl Harbor, so let's not even try".  Really?  What would this country look like it my Grandfather's generation had this wussified look on things?  How far has this country fallen in two short generations?


This whole notion of there are can't be any winners because it makes the other people (the losers) feel bad, is just some mamby pamby garbage.  If you have nothing to strive toward (winning) then we will all sit on the couch and become fat, lazy, apathetic, leaches of society.  In order to succeed you must take the risk of failing.  In order to win you must face losing head on.  In order to do anything in this life you must try, and if you don't succeed you must try again, and if you don't succeed you must try again.  The key is to try! Success does not come to those that wait or make excuses.  Good things do not happen to those that have the easy outs in life.  A strong America comes from hard work.  A strong country comes from strong competition.  It's time to stop giving out trophies to every kid just for showing up and start rewarding excellence again.  Then, just maybe, we will have the intestinal fortitude to stand up and be called the greatest nation on earth again.

Rant over!  For now!

Volunteerism. The backbone of children's extracurricular activities!

Volunteer Coaching.

In today's America it takes so much more than twelve years of education for a child to succeed.  Often times a child needs to be involved in one or more extracurricular activities.  These things can range from athletics such as baseball, football, tennis, golf, and others.  It can be music or dance.  It can be academics such as debate or math clubs.  They can be social clubs or hands on clubs such as Scouts or 4-H.  While all these clubs offer many different skills, they all offer something extra that is not taught in the class rooms of America. The thing these clubs most often have in common are the fact they are led by volunteers.


People are far to often naive to think that a Tee-ball coach is paid. Or the Merit Badge Counselor gets reimbursed for his time.  And contrary to popular belief, the chain gang at Friday night football games are not subsidized.  The parents that arrange for rides to the 4-H show often pay for the gas out of their own pocket.  This is truly the spirit of America.  Volunteerism and generosity is our calling card.  These people that do these things do them because they know the benefits that it brings to the kids. These people are willing to spend long hours booking hotel rooms for debate conventions because they know the long term implications.  These people are willing to sleep on the cold, hard campground because they know the value of the experience to the kids.  The problem is there seems to be a growing gap in America.  There are more and more parents that fit into the "show up and pay up" mold.  They don't believe they should have to lift a finger for these organizations because they have a life or a job.  This mentality is causing the numbers of volunteers to dwindle and thus putting more and more pressure on fewer and fewer people.  Sooner or later the numbers will no longer be able to sustain themselves.

It's all part of the elite/entitled mentality of America.  And it's like a cancer eating away from the inside out. Forget the fight in D.C., if the entitlement attitude has so permeated our society that we can no longer give freely of ourselves to our kids then we will fail in just one quick generation.  So I would encourage you to volunteer for you kid's PTO, Tee-ball, booster club, scout pack, 4-H club, etc, etc to give of yourself freely to whatever needs to be done to help not only your child but all children of these organizations.  And then go out of your way to thank the others that volunteer to lead these all volunteer organizations.  Those that have the vision to see past their own selfish needs.  Those that are willing to help more than their own flesh and blood.  Then we might become the true definition of the United States of America.

I hope you get a chance to help someone today.  Then I know it will be a great day.