Debtors Prison

We sold millions of stickers and temporary tattoos. Our sticker vending business was the largest company of it's kind in the Buffalo, N.Y. area. There was lot's of money to be made and we had a blast making that money. One of the stickers we sold was an "Alien Head." I put a sign on the front of the sticker machine that said:

 "If you hold an Alien Sticker up to your ear,
you can hear the sound of space.
If you hold an Alien Sticker up to both ears, 
you can hear the sound of space between your ears!"

For several years business was good and then we financed the purchase of additional machinery. The opportunity for expansion was alluring. Other vendors saw our success with sticker machines and the competition began. It was either grow or lose business. We financed our expansion and business grew. Then the bottom dropped out. A nation wide company came in and purchased most of the major bowling alleys in the Buffalo area. They brought in a nationwide vendor. We were told to pack up our newly financed equipment and leave. It was catastrophic financially as well as devastating to our family. Several years later, what remained of the business was sold at a great loss - nowhere near enough to pay what we owed. We had become incarcerated by credit or a servant to the lender. The wisdom gained through that failure is:

 "Whenever  possible pay cash.
Be patient, plan and save until you have enough to make a purchase.
Do not spend yourself into a position of financial insolvency." 

Today's Wise Saying is from Proverbs 22:26-27.

Proverbs 22:26-27

New International Version (NIV)

Saying 4

²⁶ Do not be one who shakes hands in pledge
    or puts up security for debts;
²⁷ if you lack the means to pay,
    your very bed will be snatched from under you.

Proverbs 22:26-27

The Message (MSG)

3

^26-27 Don’t gamble on the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,
    hocking your house against a lucky chance.
The time will come when you have to pay up;
    you’ll be left with nothing but the shirt on your back.

Proverbs 22:26-27

Amplified Bible (AMP)

²⁶ Be not one of those who strike hands and pledge themselves, or of those who become security for another’s debts.

²⁷ If you have nothing with which to pay, why should he take your bed from under you?

Proverbs 22:26-27

King James Version (KJV)

²⁶ Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts.
²⁷ If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?

In a sense, we shook hands with the bankers who lent us the money to expand our business. I gave them part of my life in exchange for money. I've seen many other people become slaves to the need for money. Addictions cause people to sell their soul. Prostitutes - both male and female walk the streets of our city. Human traffickers sell human beings for money. Children are bought and sold as slaves.because the love of money has caused an erosion of compassion. People have become pledges for debts. What is our responsibility as a compassionate people in regards to those who have been enslaved by lack of money?

You have lost everything and you now live on the street. This is the front entrance to your home. There is no need to shovel your sidewalk and there is no driveway. You don't bother with gardening because you won't live here long enough to see anything grow. Your new bed was found on the side of the road in a pile of trash and it doubles as the wall of your home. Your windows have lights behind them and offer little illumination into your dark home. You don't have a garbage can so your own garbage is littered around and in your home. You do not have a bathroom. You do not bathe and you relieve yourself wherever. You hear the sound of laughter coming from behind the windows with light. You don't remember what laughter is or maybe you never did.

 Our government routinely creates more opportunities for addiction that leads to a type of debtors prison. Casinos are being built all over the country beckoning gamblers into a potential addiction. The New York State Lottery advertises: "A Dollar and a Dream!" We are told to avoid debt and yet our government leaders provide a step ladder into a financial hole. Make a plan to pay off debt and stay out of debt. Don't be afraid to ask for help through financial counseling. Ask God to help you with a financial plan. If you already are in healthy financial standing, can you help somebody who is not? A gift from God is meant to be reciprocal - share it! We may not all be called to be financially wealthy but I believe that God does intend for us to have enough provision to focus on loving Him and our neighbors.

Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody.
Jesus loves you and so do we.

Who's Angry?

Anger is a funny emotion. Anger can be a negative and destructive force. Anger can be positive and bring about needed change. Angry, negative people are like poison that is contagious. Roots of bitterness can cause people to grow into a more destructive anger. Can anger be stopped or do we just ignore angry people?

All life is precious, we should be angry when a child is hurt.

 
Here is today's Wise Saying from Proverbs 22:24-25

Proverbs 22:24-25

New International Version (NIV)

Saying 3

²⁴ Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person,
    do not associate with one easily angered,
²⁵ or you may learn their ways
    and get yourself ensnared.

Proverbs 22:24-25

The Message (MSG)

^24-25 Don’t hang out with angry people;
    don’t keep company with hotheads.
Bad temper is contagious—
    don’t get infected.

Proverbs 22:24-25

King James Version (KJV)

²⁴ Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go:
²⁵ Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.

Proverbs 22:24-25

Amplified Bible (AMP)

²⁴ Make no friendships with a man given to anger, and with a wrathful man do not associate,

²⁵ Lest you learn his ways and get yourself into a snare.

This Wise Saying seems to appear fairly simple: "Don't hang around angry folks or you will catch their angry attitude like a contagious disease." I tried to think of angry people that I knew and I couldn't think of any. The closest I could come to finding angry people was in our Youth Center. Sometimes when we play basketball, one of the guys will get mad and lose his cool. It doesn't last long and we nip any destructive behavior in the bud. If we have to, we ask him to leave. We will not tolerate angry behavior. Because I couldn't think of too many angry folks that I knew, I began to look over my own history of dealing with anger.

I remember losing my cool big time with  a young man who was taunting me over the outcome of an election a few years ago. The winning candidate was a prolific abortion supporter. I am a prolifically pro-life. I believe that all children are gifted on both sides of the womb. I began to feel the anger well up inside me. I started laundering my behavior through the detergent of rationalization. I feel pain and anger thinking about children who are sucked out of their mothers womb during an abortion. I raised my voice as I lost my temper and began to yell at him and tell him he was just as responsible for the murder of children as the candidate he voted for. My behavior was wrong and so was my misdirected anger. I did apologize a day or so later but the damage was done. My reputation in that young man's eyes was tarnished. Anger can leave scars. My anger at the destruction of human life is not wrong. My anger that does not produce positive change is wrong.

This morning at a very productive meeting in Buffalo's West Hertel Academy, we heard about anger of another sort. We have a mentoring program at Youth With A Purpose Inc. and we always receive calls for help. In the Buffalo Schools where we mentor, students are asked how many of them know a friend or relative who has been a victim of gun violence. A large number of them raise their hands. The children who have been secondary victims of violence are wounded themselves. Without understanding the wound, they eventually explode emotionally. If they don't explode, their behavior is generally self destructive. It was a a pleasure to be a part of a meeting with a group of people who genuinely have sincere compassion for the children they serve. These people are proactive in identifying children who are hurting emotionally. If a young person who is wounded emotionally is not mentored or counseled, anger can become a natural outlet. We can prevent anger.

Today's Wise Saying causes me to go angrily deep into the causes of anger. I have known many adults who are still taking out misplaced anger on other people. Both men and women who were abused as children take their unhealed emotions out on other adults. They might do it unconsciously but it is still destructive to themselves and their victims. Too often, victimized children become victimizers as adults. The cycle of anger continues. There is a time to walk away from angry people and there is a time to stay and pray.  

I saw this sign as I was driving home after a visit with a young inmate. It's true.

The best form of healing from anger that I know is through the study of Jesus. His story is one of wretched and complete brokenness. He healed many people who we would consider unworthy or responsible for their own woundedness. Whether you believe in sin or not, any willful act or word that can harm another person physically or emotionally is wrong. Jesus went to the cross for the wrongs that we do. He heals us and gives a model of living that leads to a peace that transcends all understanding.

Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody.
Jesus loves you and so do we.

The Platitude of Poverty

A baby in the womb doesn't worry about the things of the world.

The word platitude is generally defined as an old saying that has lost its flavor. It's like a saying that everybody has heard countless times so what's the sense in repeating it. People have lost interest in platitudes, they are boring. Here's a platitude about poor folks that you might find somewhat cliche`:

"For the poor shall never cease out of the land: 
 therefore I command thee, saying, 
Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother,
 to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land."

Deuteronomy 15:11 King James Version

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we will will always have poor people around. 
 
Poverty is mostly a sad word. We might define the word poverty as lacking what is socially acceptable. Someone who is impoverished would be viewed as living in destituteness as a pauper. In the grand scheme of life, maybe it's like brokenness, we are supposed to embrace poverty like we embrace brokenness.  We cannot grow without conflict. That's a deeper view that envelops a spiritual view on poverty. Let's set that thought aside for now and come back to spiritual poverty later. Today's Saying of the Wise is Proverbs 22:22-23. Let's examine 4 different versions of the Bible for some added flavor.

Proverbs 22:22-23 New International Version

Saying 2

²² Do not exploit the poor because they are poor
    and do not crush the needy in court,
²³ for the Lord will take up their case
    and will exact life for life.

Proverbs 22:22-23 King James Version

²² Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:
²³ For the Lord will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.

Proverbs 22:22-23 Amplified Bible

²² Rob not the poor [being tempted by their helplessness], neither oppress the afflicted at the gate [where the city court is held],

²³ For the Lord will plead their cause and deprive of life those who deprive [the poor or afflicted].

Proverbs 22:22-23 The Message

1

^22-23 Don’t walk on the poor just because they’re poor,
    and don’t use your position to crush the weak,
Because God will come to their defense;
    the life you took, he’ll take from you and give back to them.

For the last 12 years, I have worked on the streets of one of the poorest cities in America - Buffalo, NY. With poverty comes crime: Buffalo is one of the most violent cities in America. Buffalo is consistently ranked in the top 5 cities in poverty and the top 10 cities in violence. Poverty begets violence begets death begets court begets jail begets fatherlessness begets social services. Awhile ago on Facebook, I posted my definition of poverty:

"Poverty is a disease spread by government containment."

I have watched people beg and die, go to court and lie - and be lied to. I have watched judges mistreat innocent people and I have seen innocent people in jail. I sat in a courtroom and listened to a judge sentence a homeowner to 30 days in jail because he couldn't fix his house. It seems like the days of Debtor Prisons will soon return. Poverty is food for churches and governments. Housing projects are constructed on words of hope: "We will create jobs building homes for low and middle income people." The truth is, the jobs require skilled labor and they last less than 15 months. The mortgage is subsidized by the government and financing is paid to churches. Wouldn't we be better off creating employment that paid people enough to buy their own houses without government handouts?

The way we treat impoverished people is reciprocal. God will turn back on to our own heads the same treatment we have rendered to the destitute folks. Yeah, here's another beleaguered platitude:

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." - Jesus

The poverty of the world is a spiritual smokescreen that obscures our vision of what spiritual poverty is.  Here is the simplest understanding that works for me:

"There is nothing that exists physically that can fill you spiritually.
The race for riches and adrenalin producing rushes will only result in fading feelings.
Denial of worldly possessions is not a spiritual gateway to God.
Put God first, people second and possessions third.
Your possessions are worthless in the grave.
God doesn't need you to bring them to heaven and
 they would only burn in hell if that's where you're headed."

Matthew 6:33

The Message (MSG)

^30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met."

Yeah,
 Keep givin' and stop frettin' about what you're not gettin'

Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody.
Jesus loves you and so do we.

Do You Have 30 Days Left?

Do You Have 30 Days Left? 

05/07/2013

0 Comments

 

Do you have 30 days left? Nobody really knows the answer to that question - unless of course you are a condemned man walking down death row about to be executed. I want to live my life as if I might die at any minute with the belief and hope that I have many minutes ahead of me here on earth. Either way, when I die I know I'm going to heaven. What could you do for 30 days that will impact the rest of your days?

Wisdom is something most folks would love to have more of. In the Book of Proverbs there are 30 "Sayings of Wise" contained within Chapters 22:17-24:34. I've been reading one Chapter of Proverbs each day and I will continue this endeavor indefinitely. My Grandmother lived to be almost 103 years old. When Gram talked, we listened. She was alive during 3 centuries, the wisdom and knowledge in that little lady's head (she was shrinking with age!) was huge. If I want wisdom, I have to listen, learn and live what I have learned. At the end of these 30 days, I will tell you a little more about the wisdom of Grandma Larrabee. Each day I will study and reflect upon the wisdom contained in the "30 Sayings of the Wise" and share my thoughts with you. I know we will both grow wiser with a greater capacity for actions of love. Let me add a little nugget from Proverbs 22:6,  "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

"There's better days ahead."
Grandma Larrabee

Today is Day 1 on our wisdom journey. The text for today is taken from The Message Bible followed by the same passage in the Amplified Bible.

Proverbs 22:17-21 The Message (MSG)

The Thirty Precepts of the Sages
Don’t Move Back the Boundary Lines

17-21 Listen carefully to my wisdom;
    take to heart what I can teach you.
You’ll treasure its sweetness deep within;
    you’ll give it bold expression in your speech.
To make sure your foundation is trust in God,
    I’m laying it all out right now just for you.
I’m giving you thirty sterling principles--
    tested guidelines to live by.
Believe me—these are truths that work,
    and will keep you accountable
    to those who sent you.

Proverbs 22:17-21 Amplified Bible (AMP)

17 Listen (consent and submit) to the words of the wise, and apply your mind to my knowledge;

18 For it will be pleasant if you keep them in your mind [believing them]; your lips will be accustomed to [confessing] them.

19 So that your trust (belief, reliance, support, and confidence) may be in the Lord, I have made known these things to you today, even to you.

20 Have I not written to you [long ago] excellent things in counsels and knowledge,

21 To make you know the certainty of the words of truth, that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?

 

 

Grandma Larrabee was dispensing wisdom to children for as long as I can remember. This is a picture of Gram on her 100th birthday with my daughter Beauty. Her name is Michelle but she will always be her Dad's Beauty! Children soak up the time we spend with them. Sowing seeds of wisdom will bear fruit in time.

 

 

 

 

Here is a brief description of my thoughts regarding the First Saying:

1. Listen and  apply. When you learn something wise you need to live what you have learned. Practice what has been preached to you.

2. Honey in your heart is even sweeter on your lips. Speak the goodness within you. There is a sign in our Youth Center that says: "Positive words only are spoken, negative words make people feel broken." Speak honey boldly!

3. One of my favorite all time songs is: "Trust and Obey." Your first unconditional trust has to be with God. If you don't believe in God, ask Him to show Himself to you.I trust that He will. God never changes, He's rock solid always "Trust-able." Am I always "Trust-able?"

4. The history of well learned and time tested principles is here for your perusal. It's a choice to accept or reject. Wisdom is precious and is here for you freely. You are precious and God's love is freely given to you.

 

5. These truths are absolute. Your honesty in dealing with others should be absolutely rock solid. The words of your heart should be like a river of love that is honest and true.If you are not truthful with your neighbor, you are not truthful with God.

---

I'm soaking up "Saying 1." I'm going to live my soaking by pouring the sweetness of truth out of my heart.  There is a more excellent way of life in love for 30 days and all days. God is my foundation and I desire to be rock solid with my Redeemer because He lives.

Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody.
Jesus loves you and so do we.

Daddy, What's an Obscurity Tree?

"Daddy, what's an Obscurity Tree?" Asked the Heart Farmers Daughter. The Heart Farmer smiled with his eyes and his heart as he looked earthward to see his little girl. He paused for a moment as if he was realizing for the first time how fast his daughter was growing up. The big hearted farmer was experiencing a beautiful mind reflection, an intimate knowing that his daughter was hungering for the deeper meanings of life. The Farmer with the huge heart puffed up his chest as if his heart had just grown even larger and said: "Have a seat right here in this Adirondack Chair my little Beauty and I'll tell you the story of  the Obscurity Tree."

Obscured in a tree, can you see outstretched arms and a head hanging low?

"Once upon a minute, there was an obscure seed tucked away into the darkness of a lonely womb. Some folks would call this place the womb of mother earth. The seed had been planted there by father time and would be birthed in obscurity. The womb was a place of struggle and time was needed for the seed to grow. The very beginning of the seed was very obscure and unseen to most folks. The womb hid the growth of the seed from the naked eye.

 Time rewarded the seed at different stages of it's growth. Soon the seed would experience the emergence from the womb as it celebrated its first birthday. The emergence was accompanied by a new name. The seed was now called a sprout. During the emergence, the seed would spring forth from the womb as a new birth. The sprout was still very obscure and unable to live without support.  The tree was in its life stage of infancy and with a little coaxing and care it would grow deeper roots and stronger limbs.

Our actions create bridges for children to cross.

Time passed, the sun shined, the rain poured, seasons changed and the sprout grew. From infancy, the young obscure sprout would grow into its pre-tree stage. The young sprout who was now a pre-tree began to call attention to itself and even sometimes make demands on the other trees of the forest. 'I want more sunlight! Gimme some more room!' Storms of life change would bring pain, adversity and misunderstanding. A few of the older trees would blow an air of arrogance from their lofty boughs of wisdom. The pre-tree was still very vulnerable and easily influenced. As a young pre-tree, the damage done at this stage could have devastating effects resulting in the carnage of many trees in the future. If the pre-tree could be kept healthy and uninjured it would continue to grow.

Eventually, the pre-tree would become a treenager. This was potentially the most exciting time of a tree's life! New buds, new boughs, new roots, new seasons - the opportunity to escape obscurity seemed to abound with every breeze in the forest! The temptations around them caused a selfishness which made them want to shed their obscurity the way they shed their leaves every fall. Many of the trees were infatuated with recognition and prominence as they strove to escape the seemingly barrenness of obscurity. The strivings created winds of change and the gentle breeze of unity in the forest turned into a tsunami of selfish individuality.

The trees with deeper roots maintained their obscurity and formed solid, meaningful and lasting relationships. They grew together as a team. They knew the secret to life was becoming one in unconditional love. They knew they were loved because someone first loved them. To be obscure was to blend in with the efforts of the others. They desired to do what was best for the whole forest. The young obscurity trees began to understand deeply the wisdom of the elder trees;

There is a season to stand tall above the other trees, 
There is a season to stay in the shade. 
There is a season to stretch toward the heavens,
There is a season to support others as they stretch.
 There is a season to be strong, 
There is a season to lean on other trees. 
There is a season to be concealed, 
There is a season to be revealed. 
There is a season to be distinguished, 
There is a season to be obscure."

A season of rest precedes a season of growth.

The Heart Farmer finished his story and smiled at his daughter and asked:
"Do you understand obscurity my darling Beauty?" The preteen girl looked up at her dad and said:
 "I think so Daddy. Being obscure is like washing feet, sometimes you wash and sometimes you sit."
 The Heart Farmer laughed so loud he scared the hawks out of the trees. He scooped his daughter up into his diesel arms and hugged her to his heart as he smiled and said: "I love you Beauty to the stars and back!"

What's the moral to this story?
You decide!
Wisdom is gained through knowledge.
Selfish children become selfish adults.
Wounded children become wounding adults.
 It takes time for all of us to grow.
Patience is a womb, love is unconditional.
Go do something nice for somebody.
Be patient with growing children.

Be patient as a cactus flowers. Be patient with children.

Music of Marriage

Prayer covers a marriage unceasingly.

The MUSIC of MARRIAGE includes:
 cadence, fluctuation, lilt, measure,
 meter, motion, oscillation, rhythm,
stroke, sway, tempo, undulation,
and vibration.

The PENDULUM of MARRIAGE includes:
 alarm, chronograph, hourglass, metronome,
stopwatch, minute-minder, second-counter.
 sundial, tattler, tick-tock, and timekeeper.  

The PERCUSSION of MARRIAGE includes:
 collision, impact, jolt, shock, and sound.

The DISSONANCE of MARRIAGE includes:
 antagonism, conflict, contention, controversy,
discord, discrepancy, disharmony, disparity,
dissension, inconsistency, and strife.

MARRIAGE is a DUET
played as an ENCORE
through an ENHARMONIC INTERVAL
composed during an ETUDE.

I CHALLENGE YOU
TO FIT YOUR MARRIAGE
 INTO A GLOSSARY
OF MUSICAL TERMS!

Butterflies sing struggle.
Diamonds sing pressure.
Pearls sing irritate.
The falling leaf sings spring.
The Cross sings new life.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"A strong Angel reached for a boulder—huge, like a millstone—and heaved it into the sea, saying, Heaved and sunk, the great city Babylon, sunk in the sea, not a sign of her ever again. Silent the music of harpists and singers— you’ll never hear flutes and trumpets again. Artisans of every kind—gone; you’ll never see their likes again. The voice of a millstone grinding falls dumb; you’ll never hear that sound again. The light from lamps, never again; never again laughter of bride and groom. Her traders robbed the whole earth blind, and by black-magic arts deceived the nations. The only thing left of Babylon is blood— the blood of saints and prophets, the murdered and the martyred." Revelation 18:21-24 The Message

************************************************************************

"Then I heard the sound of massed choirs, the sound of a mighty cataract, the sound of strong thunder: Hallelujah! The Master reigns, our God, the Sovereign-Strong! Let us celebrate, let us rejoice, let us give him the glory! The Marriage of the Lamb has come; his Wife has made herself ready. She was given a bridal gown of bright and shining linen. The linen is the righteousness of the saints."
Revelation 19:6-8 The Message

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody.

"Daddy, What's Worthy?"

Once upon a minute the Heart Farmer and his daughter were working in their garden. The farmer was on his knees, whistling with his lips while his hands were deep in the dirt. He smiled at his daughter and said: "My darling Beauty, this here dirt is worthy of our affection!" The little girl's eyes brightened with admiration for her dad and her lips curled into a smile. Then she paused quizzically and asked:

 "Daddy, what's worthy?"

"Oh my little sweet pea, worthy is like hanging a sign on my overalls that says; "Dad." If people saw that sign, they would expect me to act like a Dad. If I didn't show my children love by the way I treated them, folks wouldn't think I should wear that sign. I would not be worthy of being called a Dad."

People might bug you. They are still worthy of being treated like a flower.

 For a moment there was silence between them. The Heart Farmers daughter soaked her fathers words into her heart. Her Dad could see that his little girl was growing like one of the plants in the garden. She was worthy of his efforts to shower her with love. Beauty's understanding was growing like the vegetables after a good rainfall. The little girls questions sometimes seemed as long as a cornfield. The Heart Farmer learned to love his daughters questions. It was if he knew how short a growing season was for his little girl. The years passed quickly and it seemed like only yesterday that she was just like the sprout of a sweet pea.

Cactus grow slowly as they save up water. Children grow quickly as they save up wisdom.

As the sun began it's trip to the evening side of the day, the Heart Farmer and his daughter slowly walked away from the garden towards their home. Beauty had one more question: "Daddy, why am I worthy of your love?" The farmers face lit up brighter than a 4th of July bonfire. He was almost overcome with joy and laughed as he spoke. "My love for you darling is an extension of God's love to me. You are His gift to me. My gratitude to God for you makes me love you to the stars and back. I see God in you the way you act towards other people. You are worthy of love because God made you in His image and God is love. You are a wonderfully made little girl and you will always be worthy in my eyes and in God's eyes!" With a tear in her eye and a smile on her face, the little girl said:

 "I love you Daddy!"

All relationships will have thorns. Will you patiently wait for the flower?

Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody.